One Month!
Photo by the incredible Russ Rocca, of Path Less Pedaled
Happy 1/12th Birthday, Riding on Roadways! Today, this blog turns one month old. Thanks so much for reading!
Here’s a late introduction.
Riding on Roadways, the Secret Origin
It was late May. Little Oil was asleep. I’d just returned earlier in the week to Seattle from an extended visit to New York, where I am from and where my family is going through some very tough times right now. I had been having a hard time centering myself and getting away from the worry I feel for my parents and sister and was wasting my free time and just running myself down. Mama Oil looked up from her computer, where I’d kind of assumed she was busy facebooking, and said, “I started your blog, write a post.” So I did.
I’ve wanted to keep a blog for a long time now. I am full of opinions, stories and recommendations and I can never stop talking about bicycling and transportation issues. I see a new era of bicycling for transportation coming and I am eager to participate. In a former life I self-published zines and comics and helped others to do the same. So far, blogging has felt like a satisfying return to feelings of putting myself out there while simultaneously shouting into the dark, attempting to communicate with an imagined friendly reader at some time in the future and connecting with a very real and very encouraging community of readers and writers right now. Actually, it has been a blast.
We started this blog to find a creative use for my bike obsession, to work on something productive during a difficult time In Real Life and find to a project we could share as a family. I write, Mama Oil takes care of the backend blog business and sometimes edits, Little Oil is cute and clever, she generates content. We are the family Oil and this is our (mostly) Family Biking Blog.
What We are Working On
- detailed, nerdy build reports on our bikes!
- more product reviews!
- interviews with cargo bikers, mechanics and makers, pedaling parents and non-drivers!
- more stories from before!
- more ride reports, when interesting things happen!
- more opinions, because everybody cares what I think!
- the chilling secret origin of my funny name!
- the depressing secret origin of this blog’s name!
- more link roundups, because the internet has already done the work for us!
- new features, like a trading post, maintenance tutorials and a bike glossary!
- tweaks to the format to make it easier to find the cutest posts more quickly!
Suggestions?
So, the blog’s only a month old, but we are pretty happy with it so far. We’ve been putting a lot of time into it and I don’t see that as needing to change any time soon. We’ll probably continue with a post a day but taking days off when we need to. Does that work for you? How abut the format? Would it work better if you could see more of the text of a post before needing to jump to its page? How about the jokes? The topics covered?
We want this site to meet your needs. Let us know in the comments of you have any suggestions for ways we can improve.
and Now, The Riding on Roadways Index:
- One month,
- 32 posts,
- a bunch of visitors,
- just more than half from Seattle,
- some comments, but not all that many,
- cute posts are most popular,
- riding with kids is the most popular topic,
- our readers are the best.
Thank you for reading! Tell your friends! We’ll be here until the Big Shutoff when the juice stops flowing and the internets go dark! Then we’ll just need to try letterpress.
That sounds pretty good, too.
Great blog so far, I really enjoy hitting everyday on my list of car-free/lite blogs
hello family oil, i am pleased to say that i’m a happy lurker of your blog. i very much enjoy seeing lil oil passenger panda pics. i very much enjoyed reading your three piece post on riding rainier. i’m a pretty satisfied (stealth) passenger panda on this here blog. thanks!
Inspiring blog, thanks for putting yourself out there, you read well and I too love the family bike stuff, a true niche. Keep it up but don’t burn out! Apathy can squash the passion sometimes if your not careful, take care of yourself, ride/write safe! Also, the jokes are working, since you asked.
i get to read your blog on my phone as I nurse sweet baby to sleep. Thanks for writing. Xoxo
One month? In that case, I’m long overdue to pop in and say that I’ve been following this blog since the beginning and am loving it! As a Seattle pedaler hoping to make the transition to pedal parent in the near future, seeing how gracefully you’ve handled it is very inspiring. And Little Oil…what a trooper! Gives me hope for Gen Z.
I’ll be sure to say hi when I (inevitably) run into you on the streets of Cap Hill!
Happy Birthday! I’m loving your blog. Glad Mama Oil gave you the nudge. Keep riding and writing!
I’m loving your blog– the writing is wonderful and witty. If we were in Seattle, I’d be gaming to set up a playdate with Little Oil and my kids just so we could chat with you!
Wow, thanks folks! It is great to know that someone is reading, especially nice people like you!
If you would indulge me, any suggestions? Requests?
My humble requests:
1) Anything to counter all the folks who think that having a kid without a car is impossible / irresponsible. In particular, tips on the basic logistics (which I see you’ve already started on, nice!), and all the reasons why growing up on the back of a bike will make Little Oil healthier, wealthier, and wiser than all of us (even if you can’t shuttle her to eight different “enriching” activities all over King County every week). And don’t worry, it’s ok to brag about the little one, you’ve earned it!
2) Musings on what a bike-powered economy will look like in the PNW.
3) What bike maintenance is worth learning to do yourself vs taking it into the shop.
4) Pictures, lots of pictures.
5) And yes, I must know the chilling secret origin of your funny name!
I’ve been enjoying this a lot! I think that one post a day is actually a blistering pace for someone who has a job that isn’t blogging and personal life and stuff, so don’t worry about skipping a day now and then. Then again, I’m not much of a writer. If you’re the kind of person who NEEDS to write every day, then right (write!) on.
Thanks, Melinda.
I’m glad to hear that it’s okay to skip a day because it certainly looks like I’m skipping today!
Yeah, I dunno about “needing” to write every day… I know that I’ve never really written a lot before now and it’s helping me to make it a daily ritual.
Anyway, thanks for reading. And yer cool twittering, too!
So glad you started writing! I look forward to every dang post.