Sam Dowling
Email: sam.dowling@draftfcb.com
Website: www.bikesontrains.org
A bit about me
After graduating Leeds university with a degree in Zoology I worked for a busy advertising photographer. Delighted to discover that this frequently involved shoots to far flung and exotic locations which were often fascinating both from a photographic & zoological point of view. The ecology of bat guano in Borneo springs to mind.
Used to make bad acid house music and the occasional composition for TV & radio commercials : great fun and hard work respectively. Did a stint at a film production company before winding up at an ad agency (Draft FCB) where I now work in the TV department producing… TV commercials.
Discovered mountain biking after a friend badgered me into buying a bike and going on a trip to the Alps. Despite being a clueless wally I survived and in fact thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It’s now 5 years, 1 broken arm, 6 stitches, 15 staples and a knee operation later (separate incidents!) and I still love riding my bikes all over the UK and abroad. I crash less often these days too. Have entered the ‘toughest bike race in the world’ the Ruta de los Conquistadores in Costa Rica in November. Hmmm.
LBV will help me to…
…. get the train companies to make it less of an ordeal to travel by train with a bike. In fact I would like them to make it an easy and if possible a pleasant experience. Sort of makes sense to encourage people out of their cars and onto bike & trains... You know the sort of thing we need : ample capacity, free, clean, secure. Where you are allowed to travel with a bike, even if you haven’t had the opportunity to go to a station in person before you travel to make a reservation. (Bonkers but true - in person because you can’t currently do bike bookings over the phone – Great Western, GNER, Virgin I’m looking at you).
Where you can turn up at a station. With your bike.
And put it on a train.
Happy trails !
Sam
My thoughts on the weekend
In a word, inspirational.
From the AV crew, the tent riggers, DJ's, musicians, cooks (the food, the food !) the fire keepers / vibe masters (Anja / Alison / Ade), porky the pig and SPEAKERS, everybody put in sheer bloody hard work to make it happen. Especially the pig.
Extraordinarily talented, helpful, speakers : delivered a wealth of information and resources to discover and exploit.
A great idea brilliantly executed - and a privilege to be invited.
Thank you Claire & David.
Next listener: Sara Novakovic