Happy Belated Birthday Masiguy... the blog.

I can't believe I let it pass without mentioning. I had all kinds of plans for a series of posts about reaching the one year mark here at Masiguy. That's what happens when you actually have a lot of real work to do... stupid work getting in the way all the time.

It's kind of amazing to me that this little project has been so very successful and that I have been lucky enough to become a part of the blogging community. This site has received a lot of attention in and out of the cycling industry and by a lot of people who I find to be amazingly smart, funny and entertaining.

March 4th was the official 1 year mark. In the space of a year I've posted more than 400 times. Yeah, I know, some were real stinkers. Some were pretty good and I am proud of them. Most of all, I am proud of the community of people who come here and that I have met through blogging. The comments here have been great. A lot of really cool conversations have taken place here and I have also gotten great product feedback here. If there is any such thing as "celebrity status" in the bicycling industry, what little I have has been created through this site. I have learned that family members read this blog (hi George in Iowa, Steve & Maria in San Diego, Masiwife and Mom & Rick, Mandy & Jeff and others I haven't already heard from) to find out what is happening in my life and work. Many of my friends use this space as a way to check in and see if I am alive when they haven't heard from me in a while.

Best of all, retailers and consumers have come to see this space as a resource. Bike stuff and non bike stuff. I can't tell you all how proud I am that retailers have told me of leaving their shop computer on the Masiguy site so that consumers can read it while in the shop. Or how they use the blog to keep up to date with what is happening with the brand. Recently, while in Texas to support one of our retailers, I had a consumer tell me that he came to the event because of reading about it on the blog and wanting to get the chance to say hello. Now, I have developed a good relationship with a great blogger in Australia who I hope to meet when I am there at the end of the month launching Masi there. People in Australia know who I am now and that I will be coming to their great country to try and overtake them with my bikes, like a two-wheeled Cane Toad. Philip- I'm really looking forward to that beer!

During last year's Tour de France, I posted daily stage updates. During that time, readership started to jump significantly. This site was getting linked to something like 14 different Tour sites and blogs. I was getting daily emails from people asking me what it was like to travel in the Tour and what the riders were like... but all I was doing was using other sites like VeloNews and CyclingNews reports and rehashing them in my own way. I was really flattered that people enjoyed my coverage so much and thought I was a real journalist. Several people even suggested I get a press credential and attend the event and others this year- you people are way too kind.

Thanks to the blog, I can wax on and on about the wonderful A&F/ Inferno and Masi-Adobe teams and spread the word about all things Masi related. This is an incredible portal to reach a crazy number of people each and every day. I'd be a liar if I said it hasn't created some friction internally here from time to time. I've said things that have made some folks here really uncomfortable. I've even gotten a little flack for spending a bit too much time blogging. I can't say any of those concerns were unfounded. You may have noticed that blogging here has been a little less frequent. With the amount of work I have here, it is harder to blog during the day and then when I get home I have to maintain a relationship with my family. I've been put on computer restriction more than once for excessive blogging while at home too. Sorry Honey, I'm trying to create a better balance in life.

I consider myself to be a lucky guy in many ways. This blog has been a great tool for sharing that gratitude. I love my family. I love my job. I love the industry I get to work in. I love you folks too. Like I said above, I've made some great friends all over the world through this blog. That makes me a pretty lucky person. I've been given the title of being a "pioneer" as a blogging bike industry insider/ manufacturer. I take that compliment with a lot of pride, but I know others were blogging before me. Personally, I think the folks at Surly get far less credit than they deserve for their blogging efforts. They are one of my biggest inspirations in blogging. If you've never spent any time on the Surly blog, you should check it out some time. They do a fabulous job of feeding their cult following with Surly culture, activism, product information and simple goofy fun. Surly- You guys ROCK!

So now that this little corner of total bike gooberdom is one year old, what's next? I don't really know. I think podcasting is likely to happen. I would really like to conduct some more interviews, especially from the floor of the Interbike tradeshow. We'll see if I can figure that out- remember, I'm a tech idiot. It's a miracle I've gotten this far. I want to return to more frequent polls, especially for product development feedback. I want to get back into a more regular schedule of posting and posting from the road when I'm traveling. We'll see what develops...

Most of all, after one year, I have to thank each and every reader who has visited the site. I honestly can't believe it's been a year and that this space has gotten as much attention as it has. I obviously hoped for the attention, since it was my attempt to market my brand, but I never dreamed it would be like this. Thank you all for taking the time to visit and comment and become a part of this space. I owe all of you a great debt of gratitude. This space would be nothing without you and I am keenly aware of that.

Thank you,
Masiguy