Max saw the world and lived his life in colors, with a unique willingness to see beyond what was immediately visible.
In landscapes, in people, and in what might be possible if we chose to act together.
Until we arrive at our next GPX junction, we invite you all to join the ride.
Where tracks crossed, got entangled, colors and wavelengths met, and resonance happened.
And if you ride with Max in spirit, open your eyes to the colors of the world and those who roam it. Open your hearts to everything beyond.
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye,” says Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince.
And if anyone ever penned that down for you in a little book, well.
Max really lived it.
The things Max envisioned, dreamt of, created, and inspired were always about collective effort. The traces of his spirit live on in the hearts of people, in routes, races, pictures, stories, friendships, and communities that grew around them.
We would like to collect some of those traces.
If you would like to share a memory: a story, a photograph, a few words, from either Max or you. It can be a place, a route, or an idea you shared. Or simply something you want to tell him.
We’d be grateful to receive it.
For now, these submissions will remain private.
After the final farewell, we will carefully curate them and explore how they might become part of a virtual guestbook and the wider gravgrav archive in Max’s honor.
Nothing will be published or shared publicly without your explicit consent.
Feel free to upload your memory here, or send an email to:
[email protected]
For all other enquiries, to get in touch, or to discuss the future of gravgrav, you can reach us at [email protected]
So, I, Lisa, found myself tuning in to the wavelength of some cherished memories, took my inspiration from the Black Pumas (exquisite road-trip music…), and wrote a little about Colors.
To start sharing, and to invite you to do the same. And please, keep wearing colors for Max (unless black is your happy color, goth or architect).
“Blue-grey-green”: What kind of person gets to have that in their passport under “eye color”?
For Max, one color was never enough. The nuances, combinations, the different wavelengths, way beyond what meets the eye.
I woke up to the morning sky, first
Baby blue, just like we rehearsed
When I get up off this ground,
I shake leaves back down
To the brown, brown, brown, brown
'Til I'm clean
Although he was far from a morning person when it came to leaving an actual bed, Max loved riding into the moments right before sunrise.
When the darkness of the night you’ve just crossed gives way to the first light of dawn, and color is slowly reintroduced to this world, it trickles in slowly at first, then is poured onto Earth with the golden first light of day.
Pure energy. Drink it all up. Shake the metaphorical leaves off, and keep moving forward with your spirit renewed.
Oh my. I will never forget how he told me about this experience during ultra races, and how his eyes used to light up: “You’ll have to experience it.”
Then I walk where I'd be shaded by the trees
By a meadow of green
For about a mile
I'm headed to town, town, town
In style
Whenever spring would spring in the mountainous regions around Salzburg, and some green sneaked back into the dormant landscapes muted by an increasingly less white winter, the time for discussion would arrive: was it already time for a short-sleeved jersey with arm warmers, or was it still time for the long merino gear?
Merino usually won, with a colorful vest. But I was the one stubbornly declaring it bib-shorts- season in April, because who would want to wear leg warmers by then? (Max did. And when he didn't, the goosebumps gave him away.)
How hungry can one become for sun and greenery? Hungry as nature to flourish again. Riding outside, always, and being right there in the fast-changing, blossoming landscape. Bushes, shrubs, meadows, trees exploding in full bloom, endless sneezing (now caused by pollen, not the cold).
The excitement after a training ride: “It’s greener than last week.”
Once the style choices became short-short without further discussion, he savoured the shades of green, even at speed. We exchanged many satisfied, affirmative looks. Yes. You see it, too.
Roaming the forest roads, double tracks, single tracks, and the occasional “grassel” path (when it was supposed to be a gravel ride, but a little nature got in the way, “for about a mile“).
How come we don’t have that many words ready for the shades of nature’s green through spring, summer, and autumn? Actually, we didn’t need them. There was a mutual understanding and respect for nature, and for our home planet.
There’s a quiet magic in letting your eyes get lost in the landscape after riding focused for some time. A subtle level of appreciation, always present besides the watts, and beneath the season’s style, the sleeve and sock lengths.
With all my favorite colors, yes, sir [and: ma’am]
All my favorite colors, right on
My sisters and my brothers
See 'em like no other
Finding wavelengths in common with people anywhere. Max himself wouldn’t always call it easily, but rather with curiosity and openness, and “why not?”, getting along on a soul-deep level that allowed so many colors of connection and friendship to unfold.
Being kind. Immersing himself in genuine conversations and lively discussions. Being able to agree to disagree and still remain connected in mutual understanding as humans.
Offering honesty and honouring transparency in return. Always looking behind a curated façade, and never putting one up himself. That was so innate in Max.
Lifting up those he felt might need it.
What a gift, what an aim, what a challenge, what a reward, to try to see yourself through his kind eyes.
Because: why not? You might as well try.
It's a good day (To be)
A good day for me (A good day for me)
A good day to see (A good day to see)
My favorite colors
A vision in vivid colors precedes the action, and perseverance with a dash of obsession will get you through.
Max’s way of doing things, and of inspiring those alongside him, moved from a dream almost too big to grasp to a concept sketched out, followed by concrete action and attention to the smallest details.
Particles or waves, particles and waves, ready to adapt and flow, so as to shine in the end. Whole. In its very own color of life.
But what if it doesn’t work out?
"Today is a good day to start."
A smile. A wink of an eye.
It takes some courage and a willingness to take a leap of faith, to step up, to move from idea to action, and to give it a try simply by starting. And by inviting your friends, inviting strangers to come closer and connect, opening up to community.
You don’t have to ride alone.
Back in 2021, Max interviewed Allan Shaw.
We talked about that conversation often, and about what Max continued to reflect on afterwards. How do we, you and I, move from an ideal or a desire to action, to achieve something bigger than any one of us?
Share your vision. Stay open. Invite.
Allan: [...] The desire to have this diversity in cycling is already there, but the athletes are already there, too, if we choose to give visibility to a more diverse group. Of course, we still have a long way to go.
Max: How do we achieve equality in cycling? What can we all do?
Allan: There’s not one thing we can do. There are many tactics [...] to encourage diversity and promote positive change.
One example I really like is when big race sponsors offer to cover registration costs for WTNB, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC participants. Actively encouraging those people to come and join — and showing where their priorities lie as organisations.
Build better role models.
Now take me to other side
Little bitty blues bird flies
And gray clouds, or white walls, or blue skies
We gon' fly, feel alright
Do two people ever see a color the same? Does it matter, if we can share the wavelength?
Seeing the world through our very own eyes, looking beyond and seeing with our hearts. What a privilege! Looking each other in the eyes as equals, as humans who can share amazing visions, perspectives, and inspiration. Soul deep.
We can resonate, amplify, fly… feel alright.
Max, your life was lived in colors, in music.
Way beyond what meets the eye and ear.
With all your heart.
The least I can say, I anticipate
A homecoming parade as we renegade
In the morning, right on
Ride on.
Right on.
