Holy Shit! On my way home today I realized that I almost missed an opportunity to gloat, reflect, air guitar, and give myself a high five. My front loaded November has meant that I completely spaced that this blog is now five years old. FIVE GOD DAMN YEARS OLD! If this blog was a child I would be sending it to kindergarten. How do ya like them apples?
Now trust me, I get that the bike community in Eau Claire is much much larger than any one person and any one stupid internet page, but I do feel lucky to be a part of the collection of stupid internet pages that help prop it's digital form up. By and large what I've been trying to do with this thing since day one is harness some of the energy and passion people in this city have for cycling and share it with others. Shit, people in Eau Claire ride their bikes in the rain, snow, sun, over fire, through water, off road, off ramps, up hills, and all while drinking monstrous amounts of beer smiling ear to ear and looking quite dapper.
That said every year around this time I turn into a total sap when I look back at the highs and lows of years past using this blog as a reference. November is a rough time of year. It gets busy and cold and dark and depressing in a hurry. It's easy to get pissed and forget about gorgeous summer rides when you can't feel your toes.
Of course every year has it's lows and its even lower lows. That is why it is so endearing to see and know so many people who actually give a shit about the place they live and whether it be by organizing events, sponsoring them, attending them, or just riding and hanging out on a TNR actively support an amazing cycling community here in Eau Claire.
Since the inception of this blog that has always been part of the intent. To take all of those little elements of riding in Eau Claire and provide a place to showcase even a fraction of them if for no other reason than posterity's sake. The fan mail, champagne brunches, whirlwind speaking tours, movie guest appearances, and sponsorship's are all nice, but really the biggest thing that keeps this thing going is the people in this community, coffee, and a desire to share something I really care deeply about with others.
So in closing thanks to everyone reading this for giving me shit to write about, and giving me an audience to write it to. I know sometimes it can be painful to read (like the past 3 minutes) but I appreciate it and hope we can keep this relationship going for a while. And to me, nice work David, you managed to find some time between checking bonktown and playing toy tank arena to run a blog about bicycles for the past five years. Whoop de dooo. Seriously though, I have learned and done so much in the past five years I am completely humbled. Every fall, every goof, every fuckup, every mishap, every dumb little thing has been 100% worth it. No regrets, ever.
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