NewHavenBIZ

n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 8 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 17 T R E N D I N G The Road Less Traveled G len McDermott doesn't cycle for fitness, although the cardio benefits of his weekly regimen are undeniable. He does it to escape. Growing up in the outback of Canberra, Australia, McDermott as a boy fancied himself an explorer, "drooling over maps and reading of faraway exotic lands, planning my exit," he recalls. "e world atlas was my bible." en, for his 10th birthday, he got his first bicycle. Overnight, his ability to escape his four siblings went from five miles on foot to 20 miles on his bike. Today McDermott, 59, uses cycling as a different kind of escape. e principal of New Haven-based Red Rock Branding, McDermott spends as much of his downtime as he can on two wheels, frequently commuting from the Woodmont section of Milford to his office in New Haven's District co-working space. He has cycled much of the globe, from Scotland to Tasmania to Indonesia, including a three- month excursion to Turkey and the Middle East that opened his eyes to a seeing the world in a way motorists simply can't. "When you're on a bike, you have none of the protections of a car, so people respond to you differently," he explains. "You are out there with the people. You are vulnerable. "For me it's about self- propulsion," he says. "I enjoy the silence and the oneness with nature." at's the same reason he enjoys sailing every Monday in season in a 27-foot sloop out of Milford Harbor. "Within 20 minutes we are offshore. We look back, and the world looks very different." In the end, McDermott says, whether on two wheels or on the water, "It's a way to recharge, reboot, rethink — it's about separation. You're in your office all day. To move as far away from that as you can in your recreational time, that is very profound." n McDermott biking in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts: 'It's about separation,' he says. " F o r m e i t 's a b o u t s e l f p r o p u l s i o n , I e n j o y t h e s i l e n c e a n d t h e o n e n e s s w i t h n a t u r e . " — Glen McDermott on how he likes to spend his down time D O W N T I M E

• Cover