Where Did The Time Go?

     It seems like it was only yesterday I was writing about Good King Sauerkraut but it was over 13 years ago. What in the hell happened? Maybe I decided I didn't need the diversion of writing a blog, maybe I ran  out  of things to write about. The need for gainful employment might have superseded the desire to write. More than likely it was all of the above.

    My devotion to cycling hasn't wavered over the years. I'm older and ride a little differently now. I'm also collecting social security. I used to ride 200 miles a week and now I ride a little over a hundred. Most of my riding now is done in the early hours of the morning much of it before dawn. It's a wee bit cooler then and the traffic is light albeit just as sketchy. 

    A few years back, maybe a decade, (decades are such tenuous concepts when you're older) I went to my first handmade bike show. I volunteered at NAHBS (North American Hand Made Bike Show). It was a game changer. I met builders worthy of worship and bikes beyond belief. I waited a couple of years before my next show. I told myself it was pointless since I didn't have two nickels to rub together but I volunteered anyway. Long story short there was a blizzard in Louisville and I was promoted from bike valet to badged volunteer. We could get into a long discussion about herding cats but the job evolved from "who's he?" to wearing a radio and traveling the country.

    Covid came along and pretty much killed that show. There was some structural weakness involved but the show was fun while it lasted. I worked The Philly Bike Expo one year and then Last year I worked the MADE bike show in Portland. There are many friends from all over the world who will be there this year. It will be part reunion and part business. I still don't have two nickels but you can expect to see more of my writing, here on Cyclophile and you just might see my byline in a real publication.

    I'm back.