02 June 2016

Six Years: Thanks For Reading, Again!

Six years ago today, there was an Event.




All right, I'll dispense with the capital "E".  Undeniably, though, something started that day.  I know:  I started it.

It may not have changed the world at all, or even my own life very much.  Well, at least not in ways most people would see.  But it has made my life a little more interesting.  After all, it's brought me into contact with people I never would have expected to encounter.



It's also caused me to reflect on some of my experiences, which has been, at times, enlightening. 

I am talking, of course, about this blog.  On this date, six years ago, I posted my first "dispatch", if you will.  At the time, I really had no idea of what directions it would take.  My only intention was that it would be related, in some way or another, to cycling.



I also had no idea of whether anyone would actually want to read it--well, except for one person: "Velouria", the author of Lovely Bicycle. She encouraged me to write about some of my cycling experiences and reflections after reading my other blog.



Anyway...I've never come close to having as many readers as she's had.  That's all right.  I never felt discouraged about how few readers I've had at certain times, though I'll admit I was delighted to see that last month, I had more than 40 percent more page views than I had in any previous month (just over 20,000 vs. just over 14,000 in my best previous month). Also, I am thrilled to see that page views are coming from places I never would have expected, like Finland and the Ukraine. 

The thing that keeps me going, however, is that I purely and simply enjoy doing this.  Hopefully, you get at least as much pleasure out of reading my posts!

12 comments:

  1. Congrats! Here's to six more!

    And yeah, if we based our blogging audience expectations on what Velouria gets, we'd all be depressed!

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  2. Congratulations Justine. Yours is one of the few blogs I read every day. You maintain a pretty high standard for content and some of your posts are so well researched they make very good reference material. You really should consider writing a book. Bravo!

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  3. Urban and Phillip--Thank you!

    Urban--Velouria's blog is a phenomenon, or something. Will anyone ever match her readership?

    Phillip--Funny you should mention writing a book. I have been working on one, though unrelated to this. Now you're putting ideas into my head! ;-)

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  4. please keep on blogging. I really do enjoy it, as well as LovelyBicycle's

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  5. Thanks for hanging in there Justine, these past six years.
    It's always a joy to read this blog:) It is my hope that you continue sharing your creative spirit.

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  6. Anon and Chris--Thank you!

    Anon--Lovely Bicycle! inspired me to do this in the first place. So by all means, enjoy her blog as well as mine!

    Chris--As much as I love cycling, this blog really is about sharing my creative spirit. It's what keeps me going!

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  7. congrats justine, i love your blog and you. thank you for being here +

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  8. Congratulations from Finland!

    L.

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  9. I check this blog religiously, every morning. And while "bike" was what brought me here, I definitely enjoy when you share other little bits of creativity.

    Thanks for writing.


    Wolf.

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  10. Meli, Leo and Wolf--Thanks!

    Meli--What would the blogosphere (or the world) be without you?

    Leo--If someone had told me, six years ago, that one of my most loyal readers would be in Finland, I'd wonder whether that person had drunk too much vodka. But here we are. Great to have you here.

    Wolf--Biking is the ostensible subject of this blog. But being creative--or just having fun is what keeps me going. Thanks again!

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  11. Congratulations & happy blog birthday !

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  12. Accordion--Thank you. Just make sure my blog birthday cake has fair-trade, organically-grown soy vanilla mocha latte frosting. And make sure the cherries (strawberries are fine, too) on top are non-GMO and fertilized by Jamaican Blue Mountain goats.

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