August 6, 2026 Craft / Process

The Felt, the Miles, and What You're Missing

A 100,000-mile bike, a man who rode 3,007 miles at age 85 on a 50-year-old Schwinn, and what companies get wrong about experienced professionals.

Felt AR4 carbon road bicycle leaning against a stucco wall in Southern California

I have a bike that's old enough to vote.

The Felt AR4 leaning against my garage wall was new in 2008. Carbon fiber, lithe as a greyhound, fast as a bad decision. Over 100,000 miles on it now. Replaced the rims a couple of times, chains and sprockets, the usual wear items. Everything else is original.

It's taken me to some places. The Belgian Waffle Ride — 150 miles, 11,000 feet of climbing, eight hours in the saddle, which is as brutal as it sounds and then considerably worse. Countless 120-mile days down the coast to San Diego and back, through every hill South Orange County can come up with, which turns out to be quite a few. For years it was my commute: 76 miles round trip, North OC to home, through those same hills, both ways, every day. I've watched more SoCal sunsets from that saddle than I could accurately account for.

If someone wanted to give me a new bike, I wouldn't say no. But the Felt hasn't given me reason to ask.

Age and Will

I read recently about a man who, shortly after turning 85, rode 3,007 miles from San Diego to St. Augustine, Florida in 44 days. On a Schwinn Varsity 10-speed he bought 50 years ago. My first thought was admiration. My second was: of course he did. Age matters less than will, and will is something you either develop or you don't. My mother is 87 and still exercising. I'm fairly convinced that's not entirely separate from my own ability to occasionally embarrass someone forty years younger on a climb. Genetics hands you the cards. But you still have to play them.

Endurance cycling teaches things that don't show up on a resume and appear everywhere else. You learn that pain is information, not a stop sign. You learn that the voice telling you to quit is a liar who sounds reasonable, especially around mile 90. You learn to be honest about your actual state — not the state you'd prefer to be in — because miscalculating on a long climb in the desert has consequences that aren't theoretical. And you learn that showing up, day after day, before the sun, through hills, both ways, is how things actually get built. Not inspiration. Not the right conditions. Showing up.

These are not abstract virtues. They are operating principles, and they transfer.

What This Has to Do With You

I've been a working writer and creative director for a long time. The discipline that got me through eight hours on Belgian gravel is the same discipline that keeps a client's project moving when the brief falls apart, the stakeholders disagree, and the deadline doesn't care that any of this happened. The ability to sustain a productive internal conversation under pressure — not panicked, not falsely cheerful, just honest and pointed forward — is genuinely rare. You don't develop it in a seminar. You develop it somewhere long and hard, usually alone, with no one watching.

There are a lot of us out here. Experienced professionals who also happen to be athletes. Some of us freelance. Some of us are looking for positions at your company. Many have been doing hard things for a long time and have found out, in the process, exactly what they're made of.

Companies miss this. The instinct runs toward youth and speed, and speed is fine when speed is what you need. But most companies need someone who can sustain. Who can adapt under load. Who has enough accumulated judgment to know when a problem is serious and when it just feels that way at 2am. Who won't fold when the road gets long and the results haven't shown up yet.

Are You Coming?

The Felt AR4 doesn't know it's 2026. It doesn't know it went to market the same year the first iPhone did. It knows the road, and the hills, and the long quiet mornings before anyone else is awake. Ask it to work and it works. Same as it ever did.

I like to think — and we anthropomorphize our things, I'm no exception — that it wakes up every morning with the same question: are you ready? We've got places to go. Are you coming?

That's what I'm asking you. We may have some miles on us, but we bring something to your company that takes a long time to develop and doesn't cost you what it saves. Experience. Depth. The specific kind of honesty that comes from having made the hard call before and lived with the result.

We're here. We're ready. You just have to know what you're looking for.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does endurance athletics teach that applies to business?

Endurance athletes learn that pain is information rather than a stop signal, that the internal voice urging you to quit is unreliable, and that showing up consistently — regardless of conditions — is how sustained results get built. These aren't motivational abstractions. They are operating principles that transfer directly to long-form professional work: client relationships, complex projects, and the ability to sustain quality output under pressure.

Why should companies hire experienced professionals?

Experienced professionals bring accumulated judgment that cannot be replicated quickly. They know the difference between a problem that is serious and one that merely feels serious at 2am. They have made the hard call before and lived with the result. The instinct to hire for speed and youth makes sense for some roles. For most roles, the capacity to sustain, adapt under load, and not fold when results take time is more valuable — and that capacity takes years to develop.

What makes an endurance athlete a stronger business partner or employee?

Endurance athletes have developed a specific kind of self-honesty: they know their actual state, not just the state they would prefer to be in, because overstating your condition on a long climb in the desert has real consequences. They also carry a productive internal dialogue under pressure — not panicked, not falsely optimistic, just honest and forward-moving. Both of these qualities are rare and directly useful in high-stakes professional environments.

How far has Steven Mitchell ridden his Felt AR4?

Steven Mitchell has put over 100,000 miles on his 2008 Felt AR4 since it was new. Notable rides include the Belgian Waffle Ride (150 miles, 11,000 feet of climbing, eight hours in the saddle), numerous 120-mile coast runs from South Orange County to San Diego and back, and years of daily commuting covering 76 miles round trip through Southern California hills.

Does age affect professional or athletic performance?

Age matters less than will, and will is a capacity that either gets developed or it doesn't. Genetics plays a role — but the consistent evidence from endurance athletics is that people who train consistently over decades sustain remarkably high performance well past the age at which they are typically written off. The same pattern holds in professional work: depth, judgment, and the ability to sustain effort are qualities that accumulate, not decline.

What services does Steven Mitchell offer?

Steven Mitchell is a freelance automotive and B2B content writer and former Executive Creative Director. He works with OEMs, fleet operators, SaaS companies, and B2B brands on embedded content retainers, content audits, article and editorial writing, and ghostwriting. He is based in Southern California and works with clients across the United States.