Waching daily Dec 13 2017

I think it was my dad who once told me that the worst gift you could get a violinist,

is something violin related.

And he's right.

Try to buy a gift for a hobbyist of any activity and you're bound to get it wrong.

This includes mountain bikers, who could be engaging in cross country, trail, downhill,

fat biking, or a whole host of other disciplines, each with their own respective gear.

It sound intimidating, but I'm going to make it easy for you today.

Here are 10 great gifts, and how to get them right without knowing anything about mountain

biking.

Let's start with the f15 multitool from Crankbrothers.

At around $40 this is not a cheap multi tool, and that's exactly what makes it such a

great gift.

The quality is tops, and it has more features than almost anything else out there.

The cover has a bottle opener on it, and can also be used for leverage to crack pedals

loose.

The f15 also includes a chain tool with built in spoke wrenches.

It's attractive, useful, and actually very safe since the cover prevents tools from sticking

out in your pocket or bag.

The f15 would make a great gift for virtually any mountain biker.

And why stop with the f15?

Get a pair of mountain biking socks, and your gift wrap is taken care of as well.

Mountain biking socks, or any cycling socks are great gifts.

Not only can you put something else inside them, they're also important to have a lot

of.

We ruin these socks on a daily basis, through creek crossings, pedal strikes, and other

inevitabilities.

I find that you can't go wrong with a brand called Sock Guy, so I've linked to a bunch

of really fun options that will work for literally ANY mountain biker.

Recently, strapless gloves have become all the rage.

These are ridiculously comfortable and just pull on without any velcro or fasteners.

They're great gifts, and I recommend you get them from Tasco, or Handup.

Some riders prefer Tasco because of their sturdier feel and cleaner design.

They're also available in "double digit" packs with socks.

Tasco is out of Cali, so I saw a lot of riders wearing them out West.

Here on the East Coast, Handup is almost ubiquitous.

They all have crazy designs, and when you put your "Hands Up" they spell out messages.

I'll leave some notes in the video description to help you choose the right glove for that

special mountain biker.

This next gift may be a bit confusing to a non rider, but trust me: The tubeless tackle

box from Genuine Innovations is a great gift for any serious mountain biker.

The Tackle box comes with a valve wrench built into the bottom.

Inside are spare valve cores and bacon strips which are used to plug holes in mountain bike

tires.

The cap is an applicator for these bacon strips.

What I like most about the tubeless tackle box is that it resembles a miniature version

of a car tire repair kit, making it familiar and easy to use.

This kit can be a life saver out on the trails, but it's not a good gift for a beginner

since it only works on tubeless tires.

After repairing your tire you need to re-inflate it.

CO2 is good—when you have it, but most mountain bikers I know carry a hand pump.

Hand pumps are absolutely torturous to use which is why a good pump is such a great gift.

This Crankbrothers Klic HV Gauge is what I use, since it works fast, has a removable

tube to relieve stress on the valve, and a pressure gauge which is a rarity in portable

pumps.

The tube even stows away to make it compact—something a mountain biker will appreciate.

Since the tube attaches with a magnetic "click", it's easy to get up and running.

The next few gifts are for action cameras.

Anyone posting videos of themselves mountain biking is using an action camera to capture

it.

An inexpensive gift they will love are these aluminum thumbscrews.

Almost every action camera comes with these cheapo plastic screws which are difficult

to tighten down securely.

These aluminum ones not only look and feel better, but they're also way easier to tighten

down.

I linked to a multicolor pack that you can get on Amazon Prime.

Anyone who likes to film themselves out on the trails may want to switch things up with

a third person shot.

For that, they'll need a compact tripod.

These two are really good quality.

This bendy tripod can adapt to any surface, and even be wrapped around something to get

the shot.

But my personal favorite tripod is this very simple one from Manfrotto.

It works great as a handle, has a locking head, comes with a smartphone adapter, and

feels really refined.

Both of these are lightweight and easy to carry around, which makes them fantastic tools

for use on the trails.

But mountain bikers aren't the only ones on the trails, they often bring a trail dog.

Although my trail dog only rides park, he loves his camera harness.

It adjusts to fit most dogs comfortably, and works with any action camera.

This harness provides a hilarious perspective, and has two mounting options for either their

chest or back.

This is a great gift, and it doesn't cost much.

If your mountain biker friend is a fan of my channel, they may have seen my video on

building a workshop.

In fact, they may have even expressed interest in building one and never seem to get around

to it.

Well, you can actually buy them a workshop.

Just go to a home supply store and get a bench vice.

This is a key component to any workshop.

Gift wrap the vice, and attach a gift card for $150.

This will more than pay for the lumber and the pegboard.

If you're handy, you can even offer to help them build it.

I linked to my video below which has plenty of other goodies you can use to increase that

gift card amount.

In fact, I have the perfect gift for doing just that—a repair stand.

Anyone who works on their own bike should have a repair stand, and it's really easy

to see whether someone already does because it'll be standing their in the middle of

their garage.

This is how professional bike mechanics work on bikes, and for good reason.

It keeps the bike off the ground where you can pedal it, operate all the parts, and stand

upright while working on it.

The vast majority of bike shops use Park Tool, which makes a Park stand recognizable and

a great gift.

It'll make them feel like a real bike mechanic.

So that's it.

10 gifts for mountain bikers.

Of course every mountain biker is in the market for pedals or a new set of handlebars, but

those are the types of gifts that are easy to get wrong.

So, don't forget about Amazon and Visa gift cards which can just be placed inside of a

cycling sock.

You can't go wrong with that.

Also, peer into the comments below.

I have an audience of half a million mountain bikers that will be happy to give you advice

on what to buy them.

Check the description for more info on everything in this video.

Thanks for riding with me today and I'll see you next time.

For more infomation >> 10 Gifts for Mountain Bikers! - Duration: 7:15.

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City of Spokane passes its budget for next year - Duration: 2:01.

For more infomation >> City of Spokane passes its budget for next year - Duration: 2:01.

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Bill aims to make transferring college credits easier for high school students - Duration: 2:45.

For more infomation >> Bill aims to make transferring college credits easier for high school students - Duration: 2:45.

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3 Meaningful Gifts for Staff Appreciation - Duration: 5:13.

Hello church leaders, this is Pam Marmon and here we are in December getting ready to

celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And with that comes

a lot of excitement and programs at church, special things that are happening,

special foods, special traditions, and of course, gifts!

And for anybody who knows me, I'm actually a gift giver. It's one of my love languages and so I thoroughly

enjoy the gift preparation and the gift thoughtfulness that comes with it.

But I know that there are people who don't like gift-giving and actually are quite

anxious about it and feel obligated and confused about how to make a special

gift for somebody that really matters to them and something that's going to be truly appreciated.

So the topic of today's conversation is: How can we give gifts to our staff and the people who serve in our church?

And I want to bring to you some thoughtful ways you can do that backed by research and

understanding of human motivation and human behavior that's gonna have lasting

impact on your staff and truly make a difference for them.

I want to share with you three things that are gonna make incredible impact on staff engagement

and participation and just feeling appreciate it for doing work in the church.

So the first thing to consider is give them meaningful work.

People thrive on meaningful work; things that they can really embrace; things that they can really sink their skills and time into and know that it matters.

It's connected to bigger picture, it's bigger vision, ultimately growing the church and the mission that we have as believers.

But meaningful work goes beyond just activities or tasks. It's being able to articulate the vision of the church and

how that individual person is doing work that's going to make a difference in your church.

So number one is meaningful work. So the question for you is in what

ways are you allowing your staff to do meaningful work and are you able to

articulate and connect the vision of the church to the actual work that they are performing.

Number two is autonomy. What do I mean by autonomy?

So autonomy is a really interesting one because you as a leader have to provide

some sort of guidance for people. They need to know what is expected of them

and how to do it perhaps. But autonomy is allowing them and trusting them and demonstrating that

trust to do their work in a way that's going to be productive and in a way that's gonna unleash their creativity.

So autonomy is really important for people who are doing more than just

rudimentary work, people who are really thinking and are engaged for them to

come up with creative solutions creative way of doing things and not be

micromanaged, so that's the key word here, and not be micromanaged,

but to have the autonomy to do the work as it needs to get done to the best of their ability and of course with guidance.

Allowing them to be more autonomous in their work it's gonna give them more ownership, it's gonna give them

more empowerment, it's gonna give them more creativity these are wonderful things that you want

in your staff. And so the question for you as a leader is am I allowing my

staff to be more autonomous? And what does autonomy mean for each individual on my staff?

That's a great conversation to have with them directly and be able to brainstorm ways that they can really make the most out of autonomy.

Number three is mastery. And what do we mean by mastery?

So mastery is the interest that we all as individuals have to perfect a skill and maybe not perfect but just to

excel in a skill. So it's our ability to take a skill set whether it's playing an

instrument or we're learning how to be really good with technology or a

specific tool that were that we're working with. It's taking that interest

that we have and being able to dive deeper. So the question here is you as a

leader: Are you allowing your people to reach that mastery? Are you encouraging

their development? Are you providing the ability for them to continue to grow in

that skill set and just to support them through that mastery and celebrate and

recognize that when they have achieved mastery in a certain skill set.

So those are the three most important things to consider. This is based on research on

human motivation and behavior and understanding what people truly want in

order to feel appreciated. Certainly a small token of appreciation will be

well accepted by most people. But if you want to make a difference that goes

beyond an actual item or just thank you, it's taking their work and giving it

meaning, autonomy, and purpose and just allowing them to go deeper on their skill set.

I hope that you found this information encouraging and I hope that

as you're thinking of gifts for your staff that you consider ways that you

can make them meaningful, you can give them work that's autonomous

and also help them become masters of whatever skill set that they're developing.

So cheers from me, merry Christmas to all and God bless! See you soon. Bye now!