It’s time to determine the top dogs of the cycling blogs once again.  This is the third time we’ve held the Crank Honors where people vote up their favorite cycling blogs and celebrate all the goodness they have to offer.

I want to start off by saying that Loving the Bike simply holds these honors each year and we don’t allow ourselves to be in on the running.  We have 6 categories again this year (Road, Mountain Bike, Commuter, Women’s, Travel, and Lifestyle) and below are each of the polls.

Feel free to also check out our Crank Listed Directory that includes the World’s Cycling Blogs.

Voting Information:

• Vote for one of the blogs that are included in the poll, or add your own favorite in the “Other” space provided.  If enough votes come in for a blog that isn’t listed in the poll, we’ll add them in.
• You can vote once per day for each category, so be sure to come back often and vote your favorite into the top dog spot.
• Polls are open from right now through June 1, 2012

Let the Voting Begin:

]]> http://lovingthebike.com/uncategorized/crank-honors-2012-top-dogs-of-cycling-blogs/feed 15 http://lovingthebike.com/guest-post/loving-the-mountain-bike-sonny-williams http://lovingthebike.com/guest-post/loving-the-mountain-bike-sonny-williams#comments Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:20:57 +0000 Darryl http://lovingthebike.com/?p=8194 Share/Bookmark

Today’s post is courtesy of Sonny from Jeep Gorilla, who just happens to be a mountain bike loving dude. Get set for a great read as to why he is Loving the Mountain Bike.

How I became a Mountain Bike Lover

by Sonny Williams

It was an orange Schwinn Roadrunner with a glittery white banana seat.  If that doesn’t give you an idea of the time period, then let’s say circa 1977.  Star Wars was just released and K.C. and the Sunshine Band had us boogeying the night away.  That Schwinn was a trusty steed, a true companion, one that enabled me to venture far from the confines of my suburban home in Texas and my ever-bothersome younger siblings.  I loved that bike so much, that while jumping ramps in a cleared field, I snapped the sissy bars right off at the head tube, and I cried right there, not caring what the other boy thought.  I slowly toted the broken rig back home in a friend’s wagon.  Fortunately, my dad knew someone who could weld it back together.  Not the fancy welds you see today on top-end bikes, but charred black like a scar.  It was awesome.

Probably my first real encounter with the off-road scene came as a 10-year-old or thereabouts at a homemade motocross track.  It was built by some dads and kids in the middle of a wooded area next to Duck Creek, the sylvan hideout and utopia for all the local hoodlums in my neighborhood.  Under a canopy of post oaks and pecan trees, the motor bikes had blazed wicked-smooth paths through the brush, and there were jumps and double jumps, and all the tracks led back to a large, open, sandy area that was like a large pit.  All the kids would gather on the higher plateau that looked out over the pit and the track, and the only way in was to take the steep drop.

We younger kids would watch in awe as the older ones, some with thin mustaches, rode shirtless in jeans on low-slung BMX-style bikes, like the Mongoose, some with those cool motomag wheels, and bunny pegs front and back.  These guys were fast as lightning and would spin in midair when they hit the jumps, their stringy hair whipping from their momentum, until they cruised back to the top of the plateau and frogged one of us in the arm.

Now I’m not sure if any of that led to my love of bicycles or if it remains some vestigial seed that continues to feed my current fondness for the mountain bike, but the memories are etched in my mind, clearer than any holiday or family outing.  I have always ridden bicycles, as a 7-year-old on vacation riding in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in New Mexico, to the hilly paths around my grandparents home in northern Georgia.

I was given a 10 speed when I got older, but I confess my love for it never matched that for the Schwinn.  Perhaps I was a bit daunted by the multiple gears and missed the simplicity and durability of the never-failing single-speed.  Later, however, I raced road bikes in college and even after, once again finding that sweet bond between boy and bike.  I became lost in the exotic world of Campagnolo bicycle parts, and I pulled my hair back into a pony tail to emulate my favorite rider, Laurent Fignon.  I even had the spectacles to boot!

But then somewhere down the line, I gave up the road for the trails.  Flowy singletrack, muddy creek crossings, rock gardens, steep drops — these must indeed harken back to those days upon the Schwinn on that old motocross track.  I’m all about coasting the berms, bunny hopping logs, barely holding a line (and sometimes losing it!) as I scorch a downhill, and my favorite, cranking up and grinding on tough, rocky climbs.

I do not have to worry about stop signs or stop lights.  There are neither pick-ups pushing me off the road nor passers-by hurling vulgarities or Coke cans. Instead, the more remote I get the better, lost in the forests, mountains, canyons and deserts, surprised by darting deer, otters swimming in a river or the adrenaline-pumping spotting of a black bear.  Now that will get the heart racing!  Perhaps mountain biking is after all, as it was in my youth, an escape, my adult sylvan utopia, where the only thing in the world is just me, my bike, the trail, and the occasional coyote.

Sonny Williams loves Jeeps, loves to build Jeeps, and loves being on the trail.  He’s a mountain biking, barbecue grilling, Texan who spends a lot of time being outdoors and enjoying his own Jeep lifestyle.  Be sure to visit his blog at www.jeepgorilla.com.

I know that a lot of those “how to blog” books and manuals tell you not to worry about how many comments you’re getting, and to focus on how many people are checking out your blog.  But the instant gratification of a comment going up on your post is a pretty hard thing not to get excited about.  Yeah, my fellow bloggers, you’re with me on this one right?  It’s nice to hear back from your readers for many reasons:

• To know someone is actually reading your post.
• To see what their reaction was to what was said.
• To get additional details or ideas on something that might have been missed in the post.
• To create some chat within your blog by those who are reading it.

Okay, but what’s the trick to getting 138 comments on one post?  Posting something that brings in a hugely insane amount of traffic is one way.  Another is posting something so controversial that it stirs the blood of all those around you and they just have to put in their two cents.  The way I did it was by getting involved with the Kickstand Cyclery Virtual Alleycat Powered By Cyclelicious.

If you’ve never heard of an Alleycat before…it’s an informal bike race where participants have to visit various checkpoints and perform some sort of task at each stop, and then make it to the finish faster than anyone else.  The good people from The Kickstand Cyclery and Cyclelicious teamed up to deliver the 2010 virtual Alleycat which had participants racing around the internet visiting bicycle related websites as checkpoints.  At each stop, they had to find the Yehuda Moon graphic which was hidden somewhere in the website and then click it and be directed to the next checkpoint.

I was very excited to be a part of this great race, and at my checkpoint the task that participants had to take part in was letting me know how they felt about the statement “Does a More Expensive Bike, Make a Better Cyclist”? BAM….138 instant comments to an interesting question.

Be sure to watch for next year’s Virtual Alleycat Race and take part as a competitor or checkpoint.

Congratulations to the Winners

Congratulations to all race participants! Of 389 registrants, 94 riders finished and we now have the results to post:

• 1st place finish – Andy Goodell. Andy wins a Performance Exclusive GT ZuM Commuter Bike ($550 retail value)
• 2nd place finish – Aaron Regberg. Aaron wins Yehuda Moon merchandise totalling $40.00
• 3rd place finish – Nicolas Paris. Nicolas wins a copy of David Herlihy’s “Lost Cyclist”
• Best comment left at a checkpoint – Luke Wilson. Luke wins Yehuda Moon merchandise totalling $20.00
• Random winner from all race finishers – Erik Hovland. Erik wins the Pedaler Clothing pullover hoodie ($125 retail value)
• Lanterne Rouge prize – Connie Kassor. Connie wins Yehuda Moon merchandise totalling $10.00

At the moment, I am living in a place called Saskatchewan….and today is the provincial holiday called Family Day.  Now, I say “at the moment” because as I will unfold in my blogging future, our family is on the mission of relocating to a warmer climate and  we plan to be there very soon.  All will be revealed in due time, and the stories of the adventure along the way should hopefully make for entertaining reading.

Family Day

Anyway, because it is Family Day, I wanted to take the opportunity to write about my online cycling blog family.  As the new kid on the block, I have been actively searching to see who all is swimming the blogging seas with me.  In my search, I have come across some fantastic blogs…each of them with their own slightly different take on the topic we love.

To comment on all the cycling blogs out there would be impossible, so for the purpose of this article I am going to focus on those blogs considered to be in the same cycling category as this one, but still won’t get to them all.  Okay, so what category is that, exactly?  Good question.

Well, as the name implies, this is a blog about all of us who love the bike.  No matter what skill level you are, what type of bike you ride, where you’re from, or who you are.  It’s also a blog celebrating the success of our own personal cycling victories…where every cyclist is a champion.  It’s a blog giving real world reviews of the products we feel will help any cyclist come closer to their personal goals.  Finally, it is a blog about a bike lover and his family in search of a new life.

So it’s a pretty diverse market that I’m dealing with here, but then again, it may just be a nice little sub category.  You see, there are blogs that primarily deal with competitive cycling.  Some that focus on the commuter cyclist. Bike shop blogs.  Bike organization blogs.  And the list goes on.  Each of them incredibly passionate about the bike, but tending to focus their attention on their own particular niche.

Can You Really Classify Us?

If I had to classify a category (or community) for www.lovingthebike.com, I would say it’s “a cycling blog created by someone who is simply passionate about biking in general”.  So with that said, I would like to highlight my family of bloggers who I consider part of this community.

Okay, I have to apologize right now because I can guarantee that I’m going to miss some incredible bloggers in this community.  (Shout back and me and let me know that I missed you so I can check you out).  I’m also going to miss out commenting on some amazing bloggers who are part of other cycling communities.  Like I said, every cyclist is a champion and I commend you on blogging about your passion….sorry I didn’t get you into this post.

Let Me Introduce You To My Family

I was going to start off the list with the one I consider to be king of the cycling blog….none other than www.fatcyclist.com.  Elden, aka “Fatty”, deserves all the recognition he has received, but I’m not going to include him in my direct community of bloggers.  He has done amazing things for the cyclists and for bloggers in general, and if you haven’t yet read his posts….get on over there.

www.bikingtolive.com is a great blog written by Bryan, and he says he does it for the purpose of developing a healthy lifestyle through cycling.  In my opinion, it is a down to earth blog from a guy that has passion for cycling oozing from every word he writes.  He provides inspirational material with passion, honesty, and humor.  Like he says, “I’m not a personal trainer”, but I feel his material will motivate people to be better and to find the love for the bike.

Kathleen King is an artist with a major “crush” on cycling.  Her passion for cycling comes through with an artistic spin and she can be found at www.surfeitofpassion.blogspot.com.  She doesn’t have a lot of posts, but what’s there is interesting and visually appealing.  Check out her “bike scribbles”.

There is something about the look of www.bikecrave.com that I really like.  The site itself has a nice clean look to it, and I want to credit Jeff for having a well put together site.  Jeff Bean is the author of this blog and he is, no doubt, loving the bike.  In his own words, he says that “to ride a bike is to be alive, to see the world in new ways, to feel exhilaration as well as challenges, and even disappointments.”  He also has a very cool and unique charity program called “Penny per mile” where he encourages riders to donate a penny for every mile they log on the bike.  Nice work.  Keep the insightful blogs and great charity flowing.

From Las Angeles, California comes a blogger known as GTinLA (www.gtinla.wordpress.com).  I believe that Gerhard is his name, and you can tell that he is a guy in love with his sport.  He’s not a competitive cyclist, but like any great rider, he loves a good challenge.  His blogs are generally about riding and the rides he has been on, but they unfold into deeper stories than that.  He has a way of drawing you into the story so that you feel like you’re actually there.  And since there is usually one fantastic ride involved, it’s a nice place to be.

Marijo Lamarche’s site is about “cycling and everything else” and you can find her at  www.marijolamarche.wordpress.com. But as you can tell from her huge list of “why I love cycling”, the bike is definitely at the top of her passion directory.  The story I liked best is the one about her emotional roller coaster that lasted from December 2, 2009 to February 6, 2010.  It started with a mammography and, as expected, became a life-changing event…the description of her journey is worth a read.  Being from Quebec, Canada there are parts of her blog written in French.  Although I couldn’t read those sections, it is nice to see her stay true to herself with a bilingual blog.

www.oldguy2wheels.wordpress.com hails from one of my favorite cities in the world…Austin, Texas.  This guy has used cycling to change his life and the lives of others as well.  Tim considers himself someone interested in bicycle advocacy and it definitely shines through.  It looks like he’s only been blogging for a couple months, but he’s got a load of great posts already.  He talks about a variety of topics, all with the underlying theme of a love for the bike and the benefits that come from it.

Okay, so www.mylifeonthebike.com may not exactly be a cycling blog, but I had to include it because of what they stand for.  They are more of a videocast all about “making the ride a way of life”.  They have a lot going on at their site so I’m still in the process of investigating all that they have been up to, but I do know that they are on a mission of cycling the world and meeting interesting people along the way.  And they are videoing it so that we all can share in the experience.  Keep it going Emily and Garbiel, I’ll be with you on the journey.

One of the most amazing stories I’ve come across in the last year is the Vogel’s bicycle journey from Alaska to Argentina.  This family of four left Alaska in June of 2008 and expect to make it to the Southern tip of South America sometime around December, 2010.  I personally find them a huge inspiration, not only for what they are doing on the bike, but what they are doing for their family.  What an amazing experience and I often find myself living vicariously through their adventures.  For a very interesting read and incredible stories, check them out at www.familyonbikes.org.

I could go on and on with other sites like www.bikenoob.wordpress.com, www.adventuresonabike.com, and www.lifeandbikes.blogspot.com, but I’m going to wrap this Family Day post up.

What A Nice Place To Call Home

I can honestly say….100% completely honestly say that I have been so impressed with the cycling sites I have come across so far.  I know there are many more out there and look forward to locating them in the near future.  This is a great community of cycling bloggers and I’m happy to be a part of it.  In essence, we are all a part of the huge cycling community out there….different aspects of cycling, but all of us genuinely loving the bike.  I take great joy in the fact that I’m meeting incredible people with amazing stories every day in the social media world, and it makes me even prouder to call myself a cyclist.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/nocklebeast