This Just In: End-Of-Summer High-Ate-Us!

I am an extremely humble individual.

At the same time, it would be disingenuous of me to pretend that I'm not the world's greatest living cycling writer.

Yeah, relax there, Sammy, I said living writer.

And yes, I do consider Mark Twain a cycling writer, since he wrote probably the most entertaining essay ever written on the subject before the safety bicycle was even invented.

Alas, if only he'd had access to lifesaving bicycle helmet technology he might still be alive today:

Just kidding!  I really shouldn't joke about that stuff, because last time I made an obviously false statement about a literary figure the Paris Review picked it up and ran with it:

Fake news indeed.

So where am I going with all this?  Well, all of this is an extremely long-winded way for me to tell you that after today I'll be signing off of this blog [with some important exceptions]* until...September 5th, 2017:

(What I'm assuming things will look like by then.)

See, after ten (10) whole years of blogging I've officially reached the point where I can take a great big selfish end-of-summer hiatus.  Plus, as the world's greatest living cycling writer I need longer-than-usual breaks in order to nurture and cultivate my genius.  You know how giant animals have longer gestation periods?  It's the same when you possess the massive intellect and bottomless spiritual profundity that I do.

Also, now that I'm on Strava I need to devote more time to data analysis:

(Strava is going to destroy my life, I see that now.)

Then there's the family stuff:

(Some other family, not mine.  They look like vacuous people who contribute nothing.)

I'd like to spend more time with them before the summer's up, even if the feeling's not entirely mutual.

Hey, when they get tired of me there's always Strava.

So what about those exceptions I referred to earlier?  Well, here they are:

*Hiatus Exceptions

1) The Bike Forecast: I'll still be updating that daily through the end of this week;

2) Outside: My acclaimed column will continue to take the world by storm on a weekly basis during my absence, so I'll be sure to duck in here whenever they put up a new one;

3) Miscellaneous: If any other media outlet publishes some of my genius while I'm gone I'll pop in and flog that as well.  (Or, if they publish someone else's idiocy and I'm sufficiently inflamed I might come here to vent about it.)

Then there's always Twitter, a medium in which I am delightfully pithy and frothily provocative.

As you can see, winding down my vast media empire for a simple end-of-summer recess is like stopping a freight train...or a brakeless fixie, depending on which cliché you prefer.

Speaking of my extracurricular writings, I do recommend you check out today's Bike Forecast update as it pertains to a New York Times op-ed I found rather troubling:

Also, regarding my latest for Outside:

It generated the usual enthusiasm on their Facebook page:

Sarah Bell Eben Weiss perhaps you are the problem. As both a cyclist and runner I use the pedestrian paths in Colorado extensively. For both safety and courtesy I say "on your left" and appreciate anyone who does the same. You seem really uptight. Maybe you should try getting some exercise.

Colorado, huh?

Yeah, sounds about right.

And with that, I bid you a-doo.  Thank you very much for indulging me during this lengthy but necessary leave-taking, enjoy the rest of August, and may all your rides be transcendent, or at the very least free from flats.

Thank you also for reading the words I type into this magical box, I remain eternally grateful.

Yours sincerely,

And so forth,

Etc, and so on,



--Wildcat Rock Machine, Fredsquire