If Not Great, Then At Least “Grand”

This is my 1,000^th post on the Bike Washington County blog. I wanted to do something a little out of the ordinary for this occasion, so I waited until today, February 29. We get a February 29 only once every four years, and this one is extra special because it’s also the fifth Saturday this month. Squeezing five Saturdays into February is possible only in a leap year, and not even every leap year: it happens at 28-year intervals. I might be tired of blogging by 2048, so this seemed like a good date for a personal milestone.

When I started this blog almost 10 years ago, I imagined I would have a little bit to say every day. That idea lasted just one month! If I had continued on that pace, then today’s post would be number 3,585. Can you imagine? The only way I could have managed that feat would have been to opine on every piece of news from the cycling press, however insignificant. And perhaps not every post here has been a gem, but in giving you new content every 3.585 days on average I hope I have been more engaging than overwhelming.

There is weight, though, to 1,000 blog posts. It’s a big body of work. Take out all the training log entries and race reports—take me out—and it’s still a decade of the history of cycling. Yes, there has been opinion, but I have never misrepresented it as fact. I have always been honest with you, even when doing so shone a less than flattering light on my own performance or behavior or appearance or … you know, you can stop me anytime. Most people see self-deprecation for what it is: pushing you away weakly with one arm while drawing you awkwardly but inexorably to an embrace with the other. Bike Washington County has not changed the world, but it has influenced the cycling scene locally, across Wisconsin, and maybe even farther afield. My ideas and observations have been shared and debated on other social media platforms and have been seen here something like 175,000 times. So, yeah, I’m proud of what I have done.

Thanks for allowing me to be a little self-congratulatory today, but thanks even more for continuing to visit Bike Washington County. There’s more to come.