2024 Gran Fondo Badlands, July 6th - Register Now!
United States | Midwest | Ohio >> The Col Collective - Cycling Inspiration & Education

The Col Collective - Cycling Inspiration & Education

Welcome to The Col Collective a brand new online resource dedicated to providing cyclists with the inspiration, education and support needed to reach the summit of the greatest mountain passes in the world.

In Association with MAVICIn the first season they climbed over 115,000 feet in the Alps, Dolomites and Pyrenees bringing you closer to nature and the unique beauty, character and challenge that each mountain has.

Further more they partnered with experts across every area of cycling - from equipment, nutrition, training, travel, maintenance and a whole lot more - creating a platform that will allow riders to not only learn from others but also get direct answers to the cycling questions that keep them awake at night.

Mountain specialist and creator of The Col Collective Mike Cotty explains “I’ve ridden in the mountains for years and every time I’m completely captivated by the experience. It’s as if the higher you climb, the mountain evolves to form a new world right before your eyes. Landscapes, wildlife, natural beauty. It’s true that to climb any mountain is a difficult task, but it shouldn’t all be about pain and suffering. I wanted to try and bring the special moments of every climb to life in a unique way that hasn’t been seen before, and that are sometimes easy to miss as you pass on by, whilst also using my experience and industry relationships to form a resource that’s really interactive and focused on helping cyclists to experience the same feelings when they ride. That’s the essence of The Col Collective”.

If it makes you smile or feel like taking a deep breath of mountain air then subscribe to their channel or follow them online. And if you know someone that may benefit from it then tell a friend, after all The Col Collective is here to try and help inspire and educate as many cyclists as possible.

Last autumn they released their first round of climb videos with plenty more being added each week to get you through the winter and beyond!

Join Mike as he climbs the most famous cols in the Alps, Dolomites and Pyrenees. Here's a taster below of him tackling the infamous and legendary Mount Ventoux in the French Provence.

 

A bit about Mike Cotty

Mike started working for Cannondale in 2000 (aged 21) based at their European HQ in Basel Switzerland. He was racing a ton back then both on and off road, cycling really was what his life revolved around. He's always had a creative streak, writing articles and features for magazines on events and climbs in my spare time. It wasn’t until 2006 when he met Markus Neuert (who’d just started a company called Cyclefilm that this progressed into video work. He made a series of videos and how-to’s over the years together, e.g. event recon’s to help riders prepare in the best way for things like Etape du Tour and the larger European Gran Fondo's like the Gran Fondo Marmotte
 
Late in 2012 Mike left Cannondale to start his own business Media-24 so that he could use all of his skills, experience and passion to really try and help educate and inspire cyclists as best as he could. The Col Collective was a gradual evolution of over a decade until the moment he could finally let it take its first breath in the world in 2014. 
 
Aside from this he's always had a fascination for how the body and mind can work together to accomplish far more than initially thought possible. He's been fortunate enough to attempt some pretty unique mountain rides (a video of the last one can be seen here). Everything he's achieved has been through pure passion for the sport of cycling and continually asking himself how he can bring the mountains to life to hopefully help others realise how magical this world on two wheels really is. 
 
That’s the essence of it!
 
Get the latest videos, news, inspirattion and advice over at http://thecolcollective.com.

The Col Collective a brand new online resource dedicated to providing cyclists with the inspiration, educa-tion and support needed to reach the summit of the greatest mountain passes in the world