February 18. That’s the day I put up my first post on Bike Noob. Three years ago.
Unbelievable. A blog I started just to get a feel for writing a blog has turned into something that I would be hard pressed to do without. The greatest reward for me in writing this thing is how much I have learned — about blogging, about biking, and about other seemingly unrelated topics.
Certainly, my cycling horizons have broadened in the last three years. I started by just taking bike rides that were a little longer than most of my acquaintances took, and what happened? I started riding with a club (which showed me how much room for improvement there was), I bought a new bike (which is now a not-so-new bike — it’s three years old, too, and I’m looking enviously at other velocipedes — I just have no idea what I want), I started doing organized rides and eventually worked my way up to a century, I did organized time trials (but haven’t gotten into actual bike racing, and don’t plan to), I devoured every book, article, magazine, blog, online forum, Twitter feed, etc., I could find about biking (and I’m still hungry for more).
I’m seeing a lot more biking blogs out there than there were when I started. A lot of them are better than this one, and I’m wondering if I can maintain the freshness of my posts with all the “competition.” But as long as I can stay interested, I’ll keep trying to be interesting.
The best part about Bike Noob, as far as this noob is concerned, is you — the reader. I’ve enjoyed the feedback I get in the comments. I promise to do my part to make this place more two-way than it has been, and try to engage you in online conversations via the comments. I know your time is precious, so when you take a few minutes to add your thoughts to my posts, I truly appreciate it. I’ve already made some virtual friends as a result of this venture — I hope to make more in the coming year.
In the meantime, get out and ride! (And keep the rubber side down.)