Today is quite the interesting day.
One reason has nothing--that I know of, anyway--to do with cycling. It is, of course, the confirmation hearing about Judge Brett Kavanugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
I have great respect for Christine Blasey Ford, who is testifying about the sexual assault she experienced from a drunken Kavanaugh when they were in high school. For a number of reasons, I believe her, as I did Anita Hill, and am sympathetic to both.
The other thing that makes today interesting is actually even more related to cycling than most people realize. Twenty years ago today, the ubiquitous search engine Google was launched, when the Internet was just starting to gain wide usage among the general public.
Google, along with the Internet itself, has changed the world of cycling in all sorts of ways. For one thing, I assume that some of you reading this found your way to this blog via a Google search. Now, I don't think too many people type "transgender woman bike blog" into their search bars. But I suspect at least some of you ended up here after looking up something or another related to cycling and followed other related links or websites.
Also, it's changed the way many of us find information related to cycling and purchase cycling equipment. I'm sure that most of you have, by now, investigated a repair question or did a comparison of, say, one saddle or tire vs. another with a Google search. And, I'd bet that a good portion of internet sales for retailers like Modern Bike, Velo Orange, Tree Fort Bikes and Harris Cyclery--and most, if not all, Amazon purchases--come by way of Google.
Through the bike-related sites and blogs we find as a result of Google searches, I think many of us are aware of a greater variety of bicycles and ways of riding them, not to mention accessories and other equipment related to them, than we had been (or might have been if we weren't around before the Internet). Ironically, Google--a development of the digital age--has had much to do with the interest in retro (and retro-inspired and -styled) bikes and accessories.
Finally, this increased access to products and information has led, for some of us, to contact with cyclists we might otherwise never have encountered. Some I have met in person and accompany on rides. Others, though--you know who you are--converse with me on bikes and a variety of other topics from California, Illinois, Finland, Ohio, Scotland, France and other places far from where I live.
I can't predict what will come of the hearings or Google. Good things, I hope.
One reason has nothing--that I know of, anyway--to do with cycling. It is, of course, the confirmation hearing about Judge Brett Kavanugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
I have great respect for Christine Blasey Ford, who is testifying about the sexual assault she experienced from a drunken Kavanaugh when they were in high school. For a number of reasons, I believe her, as I did Anita Hill, and am sympathetic to both.
The other thing that makes today interesting is actually even more related to cycling than most people realize. Twenty years ago today, the ubiquitous search engine Google was launched, when the Internet was just starting to gain wide usage among the general public.
Google, along with the Internet itself, has changed the world of cycling in all sorts of ways. For one thing, I assume that some of you reading this found your way to this blog via a Google search. Now, I don't think too many people type "transgender woman bike blog" into their search bars. But I suspect at least some of you ended up here after looking up something or another related to cycling and followed other related links or websites.
Also, it's changed the way many of us find information related to cycling and purchase cycling equipment. I'm sure that most of you have, by now, investigated a repair question or did a comparison of, say, one saddle or tire vs. another with a Google search. And, I'd bet that a good portion of internet sales for retailers like Modern Bike, Velo Orange, Tree Fort Bikes and Harris Cyclery--and most, if not all, Amazon purchases--come by way of Google.
Through the bike-related sites and blogs we find as a result of Google searches, I think many of us are aware of a greater variety of bicycles and ways of riding them, not to mention accessories and other equipment related to them, than we had been (or might have been if we weren't around before the Internet). Ironically, Google--a development of the digital age--has had much to do with the interest in retro (and retro-inspired and -styled) bikes and accessories.
Finally, this increased access to products and information has led, for some of us, to contact with cyclists we might otherwise never have encountered. Some I have met in person and accompany on rides. Others, though--you know who you are--converse with me on bikes and a variety of other topics from California, Illinois, Finland, Ohio, Scotland, France and other places far from where I live.
I can't predict what will come of the hearings or Google. Good things, I hope.
