I always enjoy looking back at the top stories of the previous year.
Although the BikingBis blog is hardly the arbiter of the top bicycling news of the day, my stories occasionally seem to strike a chord with readers. Take, for instance, the photo at left that goes with the top story of 2008.
Here are the month-by-month stories at my blog with the most hits last year. In a couple of cases, they were actually legitimate bicycling news stories.
January: “Top 10 bicycling websites” — I published this list Dec. 31, 2007, but it was still popular at the beginning of the following year. These were the websites that I refer to the most for bicycle news; they probably still are.
February : “Scotsman sets record for around the world solo bike tour” — This was the story of Mike Beaumont, who traveled 18,000 miles by bicycle over 195 days. He carried his own gear and passed through 20 countries. Amazing.
March: “Cyclists Kristy Gough and Matt Peterson struck down Cupertino” — The tragic story of two up and coming amateur cyclists who were killed when a Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputy allegedly dozed off and crossed the center line. A very sad episode that touched many.
April: “Bicycle lust at Interbike” — Interesting that an Interbike story would get the most hits in April; more interesting that the story is essentially about Interbike 2005. Could the picture of the booth hostess for Dangerboy Components have something to do with the story's popularity? (Photo above)
May: “Cyclist killed in TOSRV bike ride in Ohio” — A Michigan surgeon was run down while returning to Columbus on the popular Tour of Scioto River Valley bike tour. It was the first fatality in the event's 47th anniversary. The motorist returned to the scene and told police she thought she had hit a road sign.
June: “Motorist slams into bike tour in Mexican border town; 1 dead” — The horrific photo accompanying this story shows the moment the car hit the cyclists, who are seen tumbling in mid-air. One dead, 10-14 injured. Police say the driver was under the influence of drugs.
July: “Who is Christian Vande Velde” — I originally wrote this shortly after the beginning of the Giro d'Italia in May when Team Slipstream-Chipotle won the open team time trial and catapulted Vande Velde into the pink jersey. The story started getting hits again during the Tour de France when Vande Velde, riding for the newly rebranded Team Garmin, became a GC contender. He finished in 5th place overall.
August: “Video stream and TV for Olympic cycling” — A smorgasbord of online and broadcast cycling coverage by NBC created a headache for anyone trying to find live action of the road racing, mountain biking and BMX. This was my attempt to create a guide for cycling fans.
September: “Bicycle lust at Interbike” — See April.
October: “Pork in bailout bill includes bicycle commuter fringe benefits” — One of the few aspects of the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry that actually did some good. An add-on to get some reluctant congressmen to agree to the bailout, it's cost was estimated at $10 million. See your employer about this on Friday, or Monday. You might have $20 per month coming your way.
November: “50,000-mile bicycle route network in US wins approval” — A nationwide group of state and federal transportation planners approves this interstate bicycle route system. The action opens the door for states to work together to designate the routes.
December: “Another Iowa county “bans” group bicycle rides; update — ordinance will be repealed” — In August Hardin County voted to require any bike ride with more than 10 persons to carry $1 million liability insurance. Hit with immediate and vociferous opposition from bicyclists, the supervisors said they'd repeal it. In December, the original county to ban RAGBRAI — Crawford County — voted to rescind it's prohibition. Maybe that's what drew so many hits to this story.
Most hits for 2008? What else, the 2005 story “Bicycle lust at Interbike.”
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