With Fat Bikes, riders can go where they’ve never been able to before, and we needed a place that mirrored that. Mt. Washington Auto Road opened to the public in 1861 and is home to both the oldest race in America as well as the “World’s Worst Weather.” With an average grade of 11.8% up 11.5km and 42kts winds in negative temperatures, it provided a mechanically and physically daunting task that had never been done before. Operating with a $35k overall budget, we couldn’t bank on helicopters or stereotypical Red Bull set ups for documenting. Instead, the creative idea was to capture Tim Johnson’s vulnerability, both physically and emotionally, up this punishing road. Production looked for subtle cues in Tim's preparation, mannerisms, and psyche to tell a genuine story about a revered athlete otherwise defined by his resume.

On the night of February 1st, Tim Johnson was filmed in preparation for the ride, which would offer no second chance to complete or capture. The planned release of the video revolved around weather, giving production less than three weeks to complete with an inevitable storm looming in the region. Days before the looming winter storm, the team sent out the video, images, and story on February 24th to our endemic partners (Strava, Teton Gravity Research, Velo News, Bicycling). When an impending winter storm hit, the story was picked up by mainstream print/broadcast media (Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Discovery, ABC-Boston, Sports Illustrated). The audience engaged our athlete on both a personal and professional level, and the release of his Point-of-View footage continued the shelf life of the project. Overall, the production and distribution achieved significant scale relative to initial scope and budget, which included zero paid promotion.

The outcome had both quantified results and an immeasurable impact.

- 6.6 million impressions on non-owned digital channels

- 370,000 YouTube views to date

- 60 media outlets covering the story

- 16,000+ positive social interactions

- 47,000 story reads on our .com property

More important than data, Tim’s personal connection to Mt. Washington created an impact beyond measure, both to himself and the surrounding community. On the Strava social platform, Tim received hundreds of congratulatory messages relating his memories to similar family ones of their own. From our brand’s perspective, the impact is about doing justice to one of our most accomplished, humble, and generous athletes in the past 15 years. Tim Johnson is a machine. Tim Johnson is a human. The project, from concept to distribution, brought a niche athlete into the spotlight and reinforced his position as the sport’s deserving leader.