I get tired of all the lists, the resolutions, and the retrospectives, but no matter what you say the new year is a good reason to reflect on the past and look forward to the future - even if it is corny. So I went back through the GC archives to review my handiwork and thought I'd resurrect some of the more interesting or fun posts I wrote throughout the year.
Of course, when you review your own work you tend to look at it with a critical eye. So before I get started let me make a few observations, both about my work on the blog and your participation:
- I may have lost my "voice" somewhere along the way. In the early part of the year I was simply more entertaining than I am now. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I may work on this in the upcoming year.
- Some of the posts that I regard as "filler" or that take me the least time tend to be the most viral. The posts that take me the most time often seem to die on the vine. I'm usually surprised by the viral posts, but I can understand why they become that way once they get spread around. I'll need to do more analysis as to why my longer commentary pieces tend to fall all EKG flat-line pancake-ass style. I won't stop doing them, because they are the most fun.
- You are a passive aggressive lot. If you read most blogging "experts" they always tell you that if you want to elicit more comments from the audience you must ask them to participate. You, on the other hand do not like to be told (or even asked) what to do. I know this because you comment in droves to some things, but never when I ask you. Instead you leave me hanging out there naked with my d*ck in my hand.
So with that, I give you the highlights from the last twelve months:
January started with my story of poor service at one of my local bike shops that happens to be a Top 100 Retailer. Next there was the launch of the Biking Hub which started off with a bang, but inexplicably faded away over the last half of '06 - too bad because it was a good resource.
In February I posted some photos of POTUS's mountain bike (still waiting to see what the new Carbon Rush version looks like). You'd be amazed at how many discussion groups picked up on this from outside of the U.S. One of my favorites was this filler post of my middle finger rant for the slovenly car drivers that are too lazy to clear the snow from the top of their cars.
In March I was forced to comment yet again on the insane behavior of the promoter of the 24 Hour World Championship. Do you know how many people search for images of body painted women? Finally, I took some time to update Go Clipless and "released" version 3.0. Come to think of it version 4.0 is probably due soon.
April saw big news from Shimano regarding the new XTR group. It was a good move for Shimano, but they still have work to do if they want to regain share against SRAM. Then there was this viral hit where people say FU to the H2.
In May I explored several issues faced by bike commuters as I started a year without my own car. First there was commuting to lunch in the middle of the day, a debate over the bike path versus the street, and a rant about my observations of Bike to Work Day. I posted this diddy about the stratification of the mountain bike market. And finally, there was one of my favorite moments in 2006 with my recount of my family's ride on the famous C&O Canal Towpath.
I kept up the commuting theme in June with this fun one on the power of the Incredibell. I learned that GC was accepted into the 9rules network. Incidentally there are now two more cycling blogs joining 9rules - Velochimp and Publicenergy - check them out. Also, consider sprucing up your cycling blog and watch the 9rules blog for the next submission round. We need more cycling blogs in the network. I wrapped up June with this round up of the coolest cycling t-shirts.
July was a short month with not too much going on around here. There was this comparison of Digg Sports versus Crankk. Unfortunately Crankk has closed up shop and Digg Sports is mostly a failure in the cycling arena. Looks like Missing Saddle is going to give the social cycling news thing a go though...I hope they succeed. People seemed to like this one on the White Van Man and their propensity to buzz cyclists.
Sometimes it's fun to look at the science of cycling. This was a popular post in August regarding the hilliness of climbs. I also went on vacation and cycled to the local general store with my son and ate this yummy pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwhich. So what does Viagra and Titus bicycles have in common?
In September I bought a new bike and of course there was Interbike.
In October I did a roundup of all the dual suspension 29ers I rode while at Interbike. I also closed the loop on the Marla Streb pregnancy story as I met her new baby girl.
In November we found out that the best way to slow drivers down is to have topless women yell at them. There was my rant on the mainstream media calling cycling the "new golf." And, finally the Eurobike versus Interbike debacle.
December saw the promulgation of another viral video of amazing trick riding. Don't forget my rant about USA Cycling and their terrible Web site. Guess what? A week later they announced their intent to update the site.
Whew...that should keep you busy for a while...haha. Ok...I'll give this another try. So do you have a favorite GC post I missed? Any advice for me in 2007? What do you like...what don't you like? Give it to me baby...I can take it. Thanks.
What about it? Would you ride naked on your bike with a bunch of others through a crowded city? Is it different if you do it painted, since you are not really "naked?" Kgirl really wants to be painted like this but she says that she wouldn't want to be seen on a bike like that. Says nobody looks good naked all hunched over. I say what the hell, you only live once.
8 great cycling logos
A few months ago Mountain Bike Action magazine (Nov, 2006) did an article about memorable cycling logos. As a marketing person I really liked this idea and have been meaning to do my own post on cycling logos ever since.
Of course this is a total copy of MBA's idea, but at least it will be interactive. Also, I didn't agree with all of the choices they made for memorable logos, however, some of this is admittedly subjective. So I went hunting around the Web to find some cool or memorable logos to start a conversation with you. Nothing deep here, just some good old fashioned fun and well, maybe I'll throw a little of my marketing speak at you, but we'll see.
Before we get started, I have just got to say that it ain't easy pulling logos from companies sites. They've got them baked into flash animations, embedded in layered .gif images, and/or in formats that just do not do them justice. I say that because I need you to know that this post took me way more time to construct then it looks. Why do I need you to know that? No good reason. Just that I'm here on the road traveling and am a bit cranky right now...but I'll get over it.
Ok...so here we go:
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