Floating around the blogosphere

By Josh Patterson

There’s a lot going on the interweb these days. And the little corner of the blogosphere—yes, that is in fact a word—inhabited by cycling-related blogs and bloggers keeps expanding.

Here are four of the bicycling blogs I frequent:

Bad Idea Racing

A blog that needs no introduction, but I’ll give it one anyway. Bad Idea Racing is penned (more like hunt and pecked) by endurance racer, singlespeeder and Dirt Rag contributor Rich “Dicky” Dillen.

Dicky’s persnickety perspective on riding is always entertaining. His musings cover the gamut of the mountain bike experience. Over the course of an hour wasted spent browsing his epoch-worth of posts (Dicky is an O.G. blogger.) you will learn how to use Photoshop, poorly; how to service your bike with a mallet; which female racers have the largest cleavage; and what Mr. Dillen looks like naked—Dicky is an equal opportunity offender. Most importantly, you will learn what not to do when preparing for a race. Dicky is a sage of wisdom in this respect. Do as he says, not as he does.

Steve Tilford

Jens Voight is frequently cited as being the hardman of professional road racing. I beg to differ. In my opinion, there is no racer more deserving of this title than fellow Kansan and, as of this weekend, reigning masters worlds cyclocross champion, Steve Tilford.

Nobody has been doing it as long and as well,as Tilford. He’s as masterful at sewing himself up after a bad crash as he is at racing. Both are skills he has spent a lifetime mastering. On his blog he frequently weighs in on the state of professional cycling and, more often than he would like, comments on the sport’s ongoing doping problems. It’s on thing to read about from the media, its quite another to read the lamentations of an athlete who has been robbed of podium finishes because of other’s cheating.

Salsa Cycles

Many bike brands have a company blog, though few do as good a job of connecting with readers as Salsa Cycles.

Salsa’s blog documents the adventures of the Salsa staff. They’re not professional racers; they’re the type of riders you meet and the trailhead and trade stories with over post-ride beers.

The company relies heavily on input from blog readers to chart the course for product development. One recent example is Salsa’s post about the possible development of the first production full suspension snowbike. Is there a market for it? Who knows? But is certainly is innovative and got a lot of people talking.

Landon Monholland

When I’m feeling down about my local riding conditions this is my go-to blog. Landon is the head wrench at Over The Edge Fruita, though from his blog you would think all he does is ride picturesque singletrack with his wife and dog in the Rockies and desert Southwest—which is not far from the truth. Landon’s photos and stories inspire awe and envy in equal portions.

So that’s me. What blogs do you waste time on?