Traffic.
For the last week or so, ever since my comments about Katrina and the Gulf Coast blew up, traffic to this blog has tripled. It's not exactly how I would have preferred to build a reader base, but sometimes you take what you can get. I very much doubt many of them will keep reading, as I expect that a good portion are just clicking on links so they can be outraged. I'm no Trump, so eventually they move on. Some people like outrageous stuff and elevating their heart rate. To them, I say go for a bike ride.
Others may be people I have ridden with or may ride with in the future. That's a trickier proposition. I like people that ride bikes. I like fast ones and slow ones. I like ones that are like me- forever trapped in the middle. The main thing is that they're riding. While we may have disagreements about relatively small issues like form, function, and etiquette, at the core we all propel our bikes the same way... except e-bikers. Seriously, screw those guys.
I generally don't like controversy just to boost numbers. That's something that 24 hour news networks do, and it's a leading cause of the decline of western civilization. However, that doesn't mean I shy away from conflict. I thrive on that shit, especially when it leads to reasoned debate that causes people to reevaluate the validity of their positions. I've been known to throw an intentional controversy bomb into a crowd just to spin people up, especially when they've been making comments that are so blatantly ill-considered (in my opinion) that they deserve to be highlighted for what they are. I'll let them sputter and fume and then guide them to an understanding of how their statements could be seen from the outside. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. What's important is that I'm amused.
This latest bit really doesn't qualify. It's really the result of someone being offended by an offhand comment about the way I viewed something at one point in my life. Other people picked it up and put in their two cents, and a whole lot of people stopped to watch the train wreck. Maybe there would be stray body parts.
Sooner or later it will all die down, and all that will be left will be my faithful Micronesian reader base. If you're here for gore, I generally don't do that. I just provide the opinion of one untalented, wheel-sucking douchebag in a cycling backwater. If that interests you, keep reading and maybe I'll piss you off one day too.
Can't hurt the numbers.
Others may be people I have ridden with or may ride with in the future. That's a trickier proposition. I like people that ride bikes. I like fast ones and slow ones. I like ones that are like me- forever trapped in the middle. The main thing is that they're riding. While we may have disagreements about relatively small issues like form, function, and etiquette, at the core we all propel our bikes the same way... except e-bikers. Seriously, screw those guys.
I generally don't like controversy just to boost numbers. That's something that 24 hour news networks do, and it's a leading cause of the decline of western civilization. However, that doesn't mean I shy away from conflict. I thrive on that shit, especially when it leads to reasoned debate that causes people to reevaluate the validity of their positions. I've been known to throw an intentional controversy bomb into a crowd just to spin people up, especially when they've been making comments that are so blatantly ill-considered (in my opinion) that they deserve to be highlighted for what they are. I'll let them sputter and fume and then guide them to an understanding of how their statements could be seen from the outside. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. What's important is that I'm amused.
This latest bit really doesn't qualify. It's really the result of someone being offended by an offhand comment about the way I viewed something at one point in my life. Other people picked it up and put in their two cents, and a whole lot of people stopped to watch the train wreck. Maybe there would be stray body parts.
Sooner or later it will all die down, and all that will be left will be my faithful Micronesian reader base. If you're here for gore, I generally don't do that. I just provide the opinion of one untalented, wheel-sucking douchebag in a cycling backwater. If that interests you, keep reading and maybe I'll piss you off one day too.
Can't hurt the numbers.
Comments
Post a Comment