Hetook the job three years ago after spending seven at Nike, where he managedtheir US running,Slate Olsen is Rapha North America’s general manager in cycling and women’s advertizing campaigns. He was also intimately involved with the Livestrong sub-brandduring its creation.
Olsen is a former long-distance collegiate runner who turned to bicycles while working in the San Francisco Bay area. “I started riding road bikes as a commuter,” he said. “Ibought a Bianchi for $500 and that began that whole thing. I had the bestcommute in the world – over the Golden Gate [bridge] every day.”
A smart dresser and a cyclo-cross enthusiast, Olsen's introduction to Rapha came through cyclist friends during a Livestrong commercial. After his introduction to the niche British brand, hebecame a customer, well before taking his current role of spearheading thecompany’s push into the US market. “I was at Nike, so I got everything for free or half price,” he said. “And then I started paying full retail for this stuff.”
Three years into his work for Rapha in theUS, Olsen successfully pitched and put together the Rapha-Focuscyclo-cross program, which has established itself as one of the mostprofessional looking outfits on the domestic circuit. BikeRadar caughtup with him to talk about the North American arm of the company and 'cross – well, mostly the latter.
What does Rapha NorthAmerica look like today?
There are four-and-three-quarter employees, technically, so five folks; four inPortland and one in New York. We started for two reasons: one from amarketing standpoint, and the other is customer service.
What made it difficultto do business with the UK was if something didn’t fit. I inheritedsome ongoing returns that were probably three months into the process, with duty andcustom issues, etc. For all intents and purpose, we’re still mostly a marketingservices arm of the company.
How's it going inthe US? In the UK the company is a polarizing entity, to say the least...
Things are going well, and we have a lot of work todo. I went to the Smithfield Nocturne this summer and I was kind of amazed atfirst because everywhere I looked somebody seemed to be wearing Rapha, whereaswhen I go to an event in the US it’s still few and far between.
If someone is wearing it andI don’t know them, I’m like, ‘wow, we’re making it’. Even among those who arevery active in cycling, I still come across people who haven’t heard of us yetand that’s positive. I think it means we have space.
You mentioned thatthe US arm is more of a marketing branch of the company. How does sponsoringa cyclo-cross team fit into the brand’s plans? It must have been a push from you,as it seems that cyclo-cross is much less popular in the UK...
It’s pretty small. It’s kind of like ’cross in Boulder –no, just kidding, that was my Portland mentality! [Portland, Oregon and Boulder, Coloradohave an underground rivalry when it comes to all things bike ~ Ed.] In the UK,it’s not a hugely popular sport. Participation is growing, but it’s so farbehind what we’re at here in the States.
I love ’cross. Obviously we’re based here in Portland andit’s tough not to be aware of what’s going on locally. You know we have theRapha-Condor- Sharp [road] team, who basically end their season in September, sofor four or five months we’re more or less out of race mode, out of being fans andout of having great stories to tell and riders to admire, so that was where thisbegan.
It’s an effort to perpetuate this love of racing that we have and kindof evolve it to include cyclo-cross. About Nationals time last year, conversationsbegan with Chris Jones. He was a guy who we admired – the way hecarries himself and how he rides – and we started chatting with him about a Rapha-backed team.
Olsen is the man behind Rapha's involvement in US cyclo-cross
What do Rapha lookfor in a racer? Specifically, what drew you to Jones?
I think the fact that he has the road connection and theroad background [Jones will ride for UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis in 2011] made it easier forLondon to appreciate. He’s a guy who has a nice style to him. Last year he hadgreat success, but he’s not necessarily boisterous or standoff-ish. He justputs in the work.
He has an interesting background as well, as an engineer byschooling, and being in his early 30s he just fits right into the realityof what a lot of our customers are – but obviously he’s much, much faster. So Ithink he’s got cool stories that come out of that background and experience. Ithink he’s a good spokesperson for the sport of cycling and ’cross inparticular.
How did Focusbicycles make it into the mix?
It’s through Chris. He was a bit of a surf bum down in San Diegoand… when he got into cycling he quickly went from category 5 to category 1. The guys who own Focus USA had a bike shop down thereand they sponsored him back then and the relationship has just continued.
That’sanother thing; the more I learned about Chris, the more stories like this comeout; of people that he’s maintained really strong relationships with. It speaksto his character.
It was a bit of a question at first. Sometimes people mightnot equate Rapha and Focus together but, especially from [Focus's] stancein ’cross and their origins as a company that began with cyclo-cross, I thinkit’s a really great opportunity for us – and they’ve proven to be fantasticpeople and great partners.
Olsen is the man behind Rapha's involvement in US cyclo-cross
Who designed the teamkits?
The kit was a collaboration by James Selman at anagency called Weights and Pulleys and myself. We’ve been friends for a numberof years. He’s responsible for doing the Mellow Johnny’s [Lance Armstrong's bike shop in Austin, Texas] identity and did mostof the Nike stuff that had to do with Lance; he has a long background incycling and communications.
Then we worked with the design team in Londonto make the caps, umbrellas and the in-line kit – the ’cross jersey and bib shortsthat share the same colors, the blue and pink and red – to share theconnection with everybody to get into.
I’m not a team organizer but once Rapha-Focus materialized,guys like Fi:zi’k, Easton, Giro and SRAM came on [quick]. They’re greatpartners and it’s been really great to see.
What’s the pressurelike when putting together a Rapha team? There have got to be high expectations tohow it looks, right?
It’s funny. The response has been, ‘man, I’ve never seen akit from Rapha that wasn’t black'. The response has been good.
Is there an off-the-bike dress code written into the team contracts?
There’s not a dress code per se, but we made sure that theyhave a full kit of the around-the-bike or city-riding pieces which allows themto travel and look smart. The idea of being agentleman is important [to the team]. Respect and carrying yourself well; thereare certain attitudes that we want to make sure our guys convey.
I think thatChris naturally embodies a lot of that and I think that our other racer, ZachMcDonald, is a great young kid. He’s 19 years old and still figuring out hisway as he comes up from the junior ranks to the seniors, and I think it’s goodfor him to spend time with a guy like Chris.
Where did you findZach? He’s like the antithesis of Chris in terms of his background, having hisstart in downhill mountain bike racing...
He’s got a nice background of success in his own right. Icaught wind of him a couple of years ago after he won junior Nationals and thenI saw him race in Treviso. He’s funny and he’s still a young kid in a lot ofways. He’s got a lot to offer and a good road ahead of him [with cycling] if hewants.
He’s a bit of a Northwest project, with us being here in Portland; it wasa hope to fit him into a pro program and the focus that brings along to helphim mature and grow into something.
What are theRapha-Focus program’s goals? How will you measure its success and where is itgoing?
We’ve got this idea toward 2013 and beyond. Our goal is tomake sure that we’ve built something that will sustain and continue, and, lookingtowards 2013, will be really fun.
We hope to see if we can usecyclo-cross as a way to continue to find new customers and new fans of thebrands, both Rapha and Focus. Getting that exposure is something thatwe want to do.
Back to the kit, it’s slightly different than everybody else's andwe hope that we garner that attention. We’re also excited for these guys to deliver results. I’d bereally pleased if they both find themselves on podiums at the USGPs and also atNationals.
Our long-term goal is to continue to elevate ’cross into thegeneral offerings from Rapha from a clothing sort of standpoint. It’s a greatsort of racing and winter training marriage and story. From a team standpoint,we’re going to look to add a little bit more to it.
So, you might see anotherrider or two in the next year and then there’s an aspect of trying to play apositive role in US cyclo-cross to develop younger riders. We want to be one of those teams that people look for andlook at, so expect good things for the years to come.
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