Onward and offwards

Thorry not thorry about the break.  Life got busy.  Work got busy.  I won't blame post-election feelings, although on drive to Florida for a vacation with The Pie last Thursday, I did have some strange unexplained chills and aches that went away some twenty hours hours later.  I'm sure it was just something I ate or touched or looked at in a side-eyed manner.

Speaking of the election (sorta), I deleted Twitter from my phone this past weekend.  I only joined a million years ago because it was considered a social media format that was desirable to bike cycle athlete sponsors.  I barely ever posted there initially, and soon after considered it pointless, but then eventually found it to be a reputable source for finding actual bona fide journalism.  Then a certain someone bought it, thus commencing some insane shittery to include loads of pronbots (making it almost impossible to look at while at work) which were then magically quieted to allow for an immense flow of disinformation (who knows why?).  Immediately after the election, everything was almost normal for a day or two... almost like someone didn't need this outlet anymore... and then the pronbots returned as well as a certain amount of dipshittery... so I decided I was out.  Whilst I will miss some of the actual real information I was able to glean from certain people I followed, I'll gain back the time I would spend looking for reliable sources vetting through all the turds I was voluntarily allowing to be dangled in front of my eyes.

Speaking of sponsors... 

This will be a lame but what I would call "necessary" update.  I've taken the time to whittle down my "Dick Supporters" list on the sidebar.  Some painful departures in there, some probably more business-related, non-emotional cuts.

Vertigo. 

While I still own the decade plus old frame and will probably keep it until I'm ded or in a nursing home room with limited storage space, Vertigo as a brand ceased to exist earlier this year.  Sean will no longer be assembling titanium pipes into rideable art.  Sigh.  That said, I've mostly been riding my new Optimus exclusively since I built it up, but the Vertigo Meatplow V.7 will still have purpose.  It's probably the last custom frame I'll ever have built, so I can't let it go.  We've had many adventures together, and there will be many more to come.

Topeak & GORE Wear

They kinda go hand-in-hand for me.  Both companies were brought into my world by Thorpe Marketing at the same time.  It was a most fortunate relationship, especially the GORE Wear part of it.  Being a "bike commuter/bike messenger/bike cycle sport athlete" since '96, I've enjoyed a lot of bad weather over the years.  If I can't say their gear has saved my ass, I can at least say it kept it a whole lot drier.  For their part, Topeak has supplied me with enough useful tools, stands, bike storage solutions and whatnot to probably keep me happy for the rest of my lifetime.  I hate to see the lights go out, and I'm not sure if the ambassador program just went away or in another direction (young people who use social media correctly?), but it was a good ride.  It's been more than a year since an unsexpected mystery package has showed up on my porch, so probably time for an official goodbye.  

Last but certainly not least...

Backcountry Research

Honestly, it's been since early Covid days when I last had contact with my main man there, Richard.  Magically, I was the first customer way back in 2009.  It ended up being a very mutually beneficial relationship, especially after I came up with the idea for the Tülbag.  I handstitched the prototype, and BR improved on it one thousand fold in terms of materials, design, and construction.

I still use it to hold my money on Sad Dad™ rides around town tho.  Love dem member berries.

I can't foresee a day when every single one of my bikes doesn't have flat-fixing gear strapped under the saddle (aside from the ones that get locked up where there's a potential for anything that isn't bolted on to be stolen).  I still consider the Super 8 top tube strap to be the most ingenious yet elegantly simple bike thing in the world.  I'll love BR with all my heart till I die, but...

Cleansing the "Dick Support" serves two purposes.  I don't want to be coming off as something I'm not, and it seems disingenuous to leave them up there any longer.  Like in a "look at me, Mr Big Time Sponsored Bike Cycle Athlete!" when in reality, I'm an old dude who still blogs (jeebus, for almost twenty years), and these people still are down with my current activities.  The other reason is to give full credit where credit is due.  Those that are left up there have been long time super duper Dick Supporters, and I have a personal relationship with one or more people in each company.  Bleth.

I've made a commitment to myself to at least keep this blerhg alive'ish through the end of 2025.  That would make it twenty whole years (the first three years are lost to the wind when blogger.com ceased to exist).  It's a silly goal, but at least it is a goal... so there's that.  I'm guessing that once I let this go, so will go some (all?) of the support... or not.  Perhaps I'll do what most bloggers from days of yore have done and swap to a more relevant short form version of communicating on social media things.  Dunno.  Mebbe.  I've never been one to be brief.

We'll see.