FEATURE
“From the beginning there has been a loose cooperation between Ortlieb and Rider Resilience,” said Eslinger. “As the organisation is
quite new, we are still jointly defining the best way to support Rider Resilience with its activities. “As producing great products is our natural strength, we figured that putting out a special edition would be the easiest and quickest first step to use our outreach to spread the word about Rider Resilience while generating additional financial resources for its activities.” The Velocity Design was
determination to keep moving forward. The fulfilment Amelinckx got from riding bikes and the camaraderie of the cycling community was like no other. This experience inspired him to create Rider Resilience, a
not-for-profit organisation that would offer support to others facing similar challenges. “Every time I rode a bike, I felt more resilient to deal with the next blow of chemotherapy, or felt better prepared to go in for major surgery,” said Amelinckx.
“However I sensed that Rider Resilience had the right mix of ingredients to resonate with a lot of people, and to do it justice would need more time than what I had at my disposal. “Whilst I was well enough, I didn’t want to close a work
laptop at the end of the day and open another one to work on a fully fledged CIC. When I eventually stepped back from my position as brand manager I had the opportunity to launch the movement, strongly wanting to pay back into the bicycle community that had given me so much.” Martin Eslinger, the CEO of Ortlieb, added: “Nils has been a vital member and strong promoter of Ortlieb in the UK for many years already, for which Rider Resilience and its great cause is close to our heart not only as company, but also to many people within our organisation including our founder Hartmut Ortlieb.”
The collaboration
With such a strong relationship between the brand and Amelinckx, Ortlieb wanted to do what they do best and use its global platform to spread the message of Rider Resilience. The idea was born to create a limited run of backpacks, of which a proportion of profits would be donated to Rider Resilience.
8 | November 2023
chosen as a starting point of the collaboration because it’s one of Ortlieb’s best-known products that can easily be customised. “We had already worked with Graeme Stewart, better known as Stormstatic, on a graphic that encapsulates all the feel good hormones, mindfulness and restorative powers you get from a bike ride, but we hadn’t found the right place to use it,” explained Amelinckx. “The Ortlieb Velocity was the perfect canvas for it, and from the initial conversation to the first one rolling off the production line was an incredibly quick process.”
Positive reaction The Rider Resilience Velocity is a departure from Ortlieb’s traditional design range, but has already received a plethora of positive comments online and creates a talking point about the movement.
“So far we are really happy with the media coverage that we
have seen, not only in the UK,” commented Eslinger. The bag is not the culmination of the relationship between
Ortlieb and Rider Resilience – it’s just the beginning. “Ortlieb have already committed to supporting our 25
minute mini documentary that is being shot by Jacob Gibbins at Aspect Media and longer term we are looking at Ortlieb carrying out the 3PL for our merchandise throughout Europe,” said Amelinckx. “We very much want Rider Resilience to become a global movement that riders, pros and brands are proud to affiliate themselves with, paying it forward in a community filled with camaraderie where riders look out for each other and hopefully inspire non riders to turn to the humble bicycle during times of hardship.”
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