More Butts On Bikes: Unplugged Wellness

Anyone who has glanced at a screen in the last five seconds has probably noticed the pervading sense of social malaise that follows, along with a frustrating urge to keep glancing. Many (like myself) took to outdoor sports for refuge, only to find that something is deeply amiss there as well. Every skier I know thinks they’re one good clip away from getting sponsored. Between Netflix deals and whatever the hell is happening at The Front Climbing Club, everyone seems to have forgotten that no one was ever supposed to make any money from rock climbing in the first place. The marketing schema surrounding adventure sports has us all forgetting they’re realistically just hobbies for most of us – with many convinced they need the newest, lightest, spendiest gear for marginal gains in performance that they don’t actually have the skill to access. Whatever happened to love of the game?

Lucas Matelich and Marshall Opel are childhood friends who came together to start Unplugged Wellness and foster mindfulness and community through adventure sports and, more broadly, bring public health back to its roots. “As an organization, we’re simply trying to help people feel more alive,” Matelich says. “The bicycle is our primary tool. Our main recipe, however, is more basic: Move your body away from screens in nature with others.”

“At the core, what Marshall and I care about is public health, and community and connection to place is the driving force behind it.” 

The original vision was to host four-day desert adventures on bikes, but now three years on, their programming has branched in two directions. Their digital detox bike camping trips, for example, include skill-building workshops, circling practices and guided meditations on top of Unplugged’s bread and butter: no screens, no booze, healthy food, challenging ourselves in nature. “That’s how we started, but we realized we’re only on these desert missions six times a year. The other 300 days of the year, we’re living in our community, here in the dopest town in the West.” Their response was to grow that community by hosting a huge range of events that capture their ethos of simplicity, fun and connection perfectly.

“The redbullification of adventure sports has trickled into Salt Lake and brought this elitist, egotistical, check-out-how-sick-I-am version of showmanship that is not inclusive,” Matelich says. “It’s not welcoming, and it doesn’t speak to the roots of these soul sports.” He’s a former pro-skier, and Opel is a former competitive cyclist — giving them each a unique perspective to see through the bullshit and ego that seems to be plaguing the industry, as well as the credibility to speak about it. “Now we realize riding bikes through town, listening to music and wearing regular clothes is where it’s at. At the core, what Marshall and I care about is public health, and community and connection to place is the driving force behind it.”

Even more credibly, Matelich once spent a full year entirely phoneless and never had an Instagram account until he downloaded it to promote Unplugged Wellness. The irony wasn’t lost on him; rather, it seems to be a motivating factor to grow Unplugged to a sustainable enough level so that he can delete it again. “We design people-first events that focus on the psychological needs of the people, and it turns out when you take care of your community, they want to show back up.” Their Discord has grown to 500 members, and you can find out about events and more in their weekly newsletter.

“So yeah, with the bike you have, in the jeans you’re already wearing, come to the Bike Club.”

Unplugged Wellness is available to hire privately for group retreats, team-building exercises and more. “We evolved to be in nature, so we do everything in beautiful outdoor spaces,” Matelich says. Even the professionals they bring in to teach workshops and lead group meditations can keep up on bikes for the whole trip. “One of the flags we wave is more butts on bikes. The more people riding, the cleaner our air is. The fewer traffic deaths there are, the healthier we are. The more exercise we get, the more connected the town feels. So yeah, with the bike you have, in the jeans you’re already wearing, come to the Bike Club.”

Read more about what’s happening around Salt Lake:
Sappho SLC: Enter the Sapphic Sphere With Noche de Lucha
Natural Law Apothecary: Old Medicine for a New Age

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