JBar Cycling: Nine Months In

Nine months isn't much of a milestone, but I was asked just Monday night how long I'd been writing this blog. I stuttered a little bit and said,"uh, I don't know....since Spring...maybe"

Well, as has been the case with disturbing frequency of late, I was wrong, though close. My first post was of February 25th, 2009, though I had set up the blog in May 2008 with no idea what I'd do with it. After my first article or two, I sent a link out to a couple of folks of the nonjudgemental friend variety, then later posted a link to the ABC site, which, unfortunately, has got to be one of the loneliest forums around. In spite of the fact that I assumed that I had maybe two or three mildly interested readers, I've plugged away to the tune of 135 posts. At times, I feel like a guy who talks to himself as he walks through the woods. If somebody is listening, then he's not really crazy and if nobody hears him, then, what the hell, it doesn't really matter.

I still enjoy the writing and wish I had more time for it but I feel that I'm meeting my own small goals of providing some information and insight about our local cycling community, pulling in some pro racing and technical stuff (some homegrown, much flagrantly lifted from other media), along with some off-cycling stuff related to boating and universally interesting subjects such as our dogs, coots, fashion and nuts.

It is very gratifying to me when a rider tells me that he's learned something useful or just enjoyed reading something that I've written and, lately, I've received some good feedback. Of course, well-mannered folks are more likely to say, "that's nice" than "you suck", so I prefer to take well-mannered folks literally when it is in my interest to do so. Many of the people who have commented are surprised that I've been at this as long as I have. I have no idea how many hits I get. I tried a counter widget, but it doesn't seem to have a report function, so I don't know what it is counting or who it is telling about it. Based on the positive feedback, I've spread the word a little via an e-mail signature and by posting links when I see somebody ask on a forum about some topic that I've covered.

If there is a point to this post, it is just to say thank-you for reading. Feel free to drop me a note if there's a topic you'd like to see covered, particularly if it has to do with our local cycling scene. If I don't know anything about the subject, I can readily make some stuff up. I'm also eager for information about anything happening locally that has to do with bikes. There are a lot of positive developments for cycling in Central Arkansas and I look forward to things just getting better and better. I hope that this space can be a small part of it.