tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817618840776532991.post3443050621943921808..comments2024-03-28T09:11:03.191-07:00Comments on bikelovejones: it's too complicated: a rantbikelovejoneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141991025526354179noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817618840776532991.post-64170123871164814152018-09-25T12:25:21.573-07:002018-09-25T12:25:21.573-07:00Hi Beth,
I've been binge-reading your blog th...Hi Beth,<br /><br />I've been binge-reading your blog the last 2 weeks, and have really enjoyed the thoughtful comments on <br /><br />bicycling<br />bicycles<br />aging<br />living with illness<br />riding and maintaining simpler machines<br />spiritual insights<br />gentrification and homelessness in Portland<br />the changing bike advocacy scene<br />the twists and turns of the last 10 years in your own professional and personal life<br /><br />A bit about me<br /><br />retired engineer<br />60ish<br />dabbled in San Francisco Bay Area bicycle activism<br />utility rider with a Trek 970, a HPM cargo bike for shopping, and a BAW dog trailer<br />California native plant afficionado<br />sea kayaker, love paddling the Bay and the Pacific Ocean<br />struggling with thoughts about purpose and meaning in retirement<br />culturally Christian but agnostic / searching / eclectic<br />looking around at the booming of Silicon Valley and the social and housing issues it raises<br />slow rider, not out on the highways doing the "John Forester" thing anymore<br /><br />Like you, I feel I sit at the intersection of several different cultures/communities/passions, and it makes life interesting.<br /><br />Keep up the good work, I enjoy reading your words. It's comforting to know there are other thoughtful people out there for whom the bicycle is both a practical and a sometimes spiritual tool for "walking the labyrinth" of the world, as it were (a Christian tradition).<br /><br />Best regards, Eric<br /><br />PS - on the question of monetizing your blog, I think it would be OK in moderation - if there's something you bought that really is the "bee's knees", why not give it a fair review and share it with your readers. So many product reviews are written by apparent newbies that don't have a lot of road mileage and real world experience, and I find the reviews are shallow and lack information about practical things like weather resistance, repair/maintainability, ease of use, etc. <br /><br />On the other hand, there is a slippery slope here - for example, on Kent's Bike Blog, I've noticed an increase in product reviews, and we read a bit less about Kent at times. (I know, I know, the muse doesn't always speak to writers all the time...)<br /><br />And some blogs on bicycles and kayaking have gone over to the dark side - I open them up and they're chock full of HTML links to products with little writing except to highlight the links.<br /><br />But as the ancient Greeks said, "all things in moderation".<br />Eric in Californiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10781503322232931529noreply@blogger.com