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A Bike Noob Milestone

02.17.2013 by Ray Niekamp // 18 Comments

No, I didn’t set a King of the Mountain on Strava. Nor did I do a personal best for mileage in one day. What I did do was survive.

Today is the Fifth Anniversary of the Bike Noob blog.

When  I started the blog, I never thought it would last this long. Instead, I figured I’d lose interest and fold the whole thing within the first year. But, like a bad penny, I keep turning up.

It’s been a labor of love. I look forward every week to Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday evenings, which is when I write the entries. Sometimes, I sit down at the keyboard with nothing to say. I force myself to crank something out, and often, that post generates more page views and comments than others that I thought had more substance. That’s something I haven’t done well here — really understand my audience.

But I know we all share an interest in riding our bikes, so I hope we can keep up this back-and-forth for another full year. Thanks to you all.

And thanks to my guest bloggers, Jeff Hemmel and Don Blount. Each brings a distinctive point of view to their contributions, and Bike Noob is made richer for their work.

To celebrate this anniversary, I’ve decided to perk things up a bit, so I’ve added a new look to this blog. Hope you like it. I’m not a flashy guy, and it’s not a flashy look, but it’s clean and minimalist, and that fits my personality.

And now, after a 38-mile ride in some tough wind, and an emotionally draining season finale to “Downton Abbey,” it’s time to get to bed, so I can do some more riding and writing later this week.

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Comments

  1. bikevcar says

    February 18, 2013 at 12:33 am

    5 years – congratulations. You’re more expert than noob by now!

    Reply
    • Bike Noob says

      February 18, 2013 at 9:01 am

      I’m still learning.

      Reply
  2. robin1953 says

    February 18, 2013 at 2:34 am

    Congratulations on 5 years. I only came in about a year back but have enjoyed it so far. Glad to hear you enjoy Downton, its big over here in the UK.

    Reply
    • Bike Noob says

      February 18, 2013 at 9:02 am

      Disappointed they had to kill off Matthew Crawley. I hope it doesn’t signal the beginning of the end for the show.

      Reply
  3. Darryl (@lovingthebike) says

    February 18, 2013 at 7:41 am

    Congratulations, Ray (Mr. Noob). Keep the good stuff coming.

    Darryl

    Reply
    • Bike Noob says

      February 18, 2013 at 9:03 am

      Thanks, Darryl.

      Reply
  4. Jeff A says

    February 18, 2013 at 8:40 am

    Congratulations, Bike Noob. I first started reading your blog about a year and a half in, but went back and read thru the archive to get grounded.

    Another thing that clubs/riders can do: our club (Highland Rim Bicycle Club) adopted about 2.5 miles of a local road that we always ride. So last Saturday morning when it was too cold to ride (26 degF), we got about 14 folks together and cleaned up our road.

    Reply
    • Bike Noob says

      February 18, 2013 at 9:03 am

      That’s a great idea, Jeff!

      Reply
  5. RamonH says

    February 18, 2013 at 11:09 am

    A big ‘WOOT’ and huge congratulations are in order. This site was instrumental when I got started in the world of cycling and many of the lessons have definitely left an imprint on the cycling-sphere. Thank you for your time and dedication. Definitely looking forward to many more posts and many many many more debates (CO2 vs. frame pump, carbon vs. steel, apple vs. orange, pepsi vs. coke, etc) 😀

    Your friend in the deep south Texas region

    -RamonH

    Reply
    • Bike Noob says

      February 18, 2013 at 11:30 am

      Gracias, amigo. I’ve enjoyed watching how far you’ve come since those early days. I don’t think I can keep up with you anymore.

      Reply
  6. Jeff says

    February 18, 2013 at 5:02 pm

    Congratulations Ray! Fun to be a small part of it…

    Reply
    • Bike Noob says

      February 18, 2013 at 8:53 pm

      Not such a small part…

      Reply
  7. Bryan says

    February 18, 2013 at 8:26 pm

    Congrats Ray.

    Reply
    • Bike Noob says

      February 18, 2013 at 8:54 pm

      Thanks, Bryan.

      Reply
  8. Steve says

    February 19, 2013 at 9:13 am

    Congratulations! Thank you once again for the very informative and entertaining reads. You are definitely on my “must read” list of bloggers.

    BTW, I hope this comment doesn’t go to your spam section. Akismet claims all is well, so we shall see!

    Reply
    • Bike Noob says

      February 19, 2013 at 11:01 am

      As you can see, Steve, you made it through this time.

      Reply
  9. garyparr924030021 says

    February 20, 2013 at 7:27 am

    Congratulations! Five years is a lot of writing. I’m a recent subscriber, have read many of the archives, and never miss a new post. I appreciate your contributions and have already learned several things from you. Keep writing and riding.
    Gary

    Reply
    • Bike Noob says

      February 20, 2013 at 9:08 am

      It’s that kind of encouragement that keeps me going. Thanks, Gary.

      Reply

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