I didn’t see that coming! It kind of threw me off my stride, looking at my stats for the first time, to see I had 99 posts.
The Hundredth Post Big Retrospective and Giveaway Post
I asked my wife, who reads blogs for a living, “isn’t that supposed to be a big deal? The Hundredth Post? In the blog world?”Apparently yes, but she heaped scorn upon all the things people normally do to mark the occasion, like “flashback episodes” and giveaways, so I’ll sneak those things in later when she’s not looking.
I was thinking, though, that it’s a little weird that now I have a semi-pseudo alternate identity as “Bike Tinker.” I haven’t had an internet “handle” since before the internet, after growing out of and throwing off a succession of teenage BBS and young-adult art-making handles. I’ve been participating in the internet under my own name for a long long time. Google me, you find me. I’m the one who owns Dickies pants the pants, not Dickies Pants the company (“hook me up, bra!“).
The reasons I have a silly bike name are few and boring:
- I wanted a bike site to sell bike stuff (Identity through Commerce – like opening a cafe that plays Edith Piaf 78s and has a lever-pull espresso machine, or a bar with only Johnny Cash on the jukebox and all the drinks come in pint glasses or shot glasses).
- I read the Bicycle Quarterly, and all the old French cyclists that wrote of their exploits have great ‘noms de velo’ like “Velocio” and “Cyclotard.”
- Half my internet friends also have killer noms de velo! Cyclofiend, cyclotourist, Protorio, Pondero. Some of them have one for bike lists and a whole ‘nother one for Flickr. I felt a little envy, maybe.
- There are a LOT of “Philips” in the bike world.
Seriously. Any bike nerd who isn’t named Jim, Mike or Bill is named Philip. There are a disproportionate number of Joels, too. Which is my middle name.
Cases in point:
I met an online acquaintance at a bike show, and said, “Hey! I’m Philip – from the nerdy bike list!” and she said, “I know about FIVE Philips.” I was like, “yeah, you would, huh.” Kind of killed that spark of recognition.
I called a bike magazine about an assignment I was working on, and the editor was like, “uh… this is weird, but I’m expecting phone calls today from three different Philips. When they transferred the call… they didn’t say which one you were!”
About a month after starting the blog, I showed up at the Oregon Handmade show and introduced myself to someone who said, “Oh! BikeTinker!”
Ah, that’s more like it!
Blog friendships are fascinating. When I read, I think all you guys are all super-human. Elite athletes, skilled outdoorsmen, and/or genius mechanics. But when I’ve had occasion to actually met some of you, I find out (to my delight), that you’re real, normal people with wonderful gifts or knowledge, and eager to help. Hopefully, I’ll meet more in the future.