Ten Years, The Anniversary Edition - 2021/12/25

Ten years ago to the day I started something new, that new endeavor being the creation of this Blog.  It sounded and looked like fun, something that I'd enjoy and I most certainly have.  The how and why of what started all of this.....well....the following says it all...

Doug,
 Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog! It's nice to know
someone reads it.

 I started my blogs because my riding buddies would always ask, "what
year did we ....?" With the blog, I can note some of the daily
activities from our anual Sturgis trips. I also spend a lot of time
riding solo, and the blogs are a great way to keep track of, who,
what, where, and when, and it makes it easy to share info with them.

I'm guessing that you found the link to my blog on the MotoCampers.com
web site? I really need to spend more nights camping and fewer nights
in hotels, but staying in hotels on a road trip make it so easy to
pack. I enjoy the camping that we (my riding buddies) do in Belle
Fourche, SD. But after the rally is over most of the guys go home, and
it's usually John and I going somewhere for a week or so. I have to
look into UPS'ing the camp equipment out and back home to make packing
easier!

If you haven't started to blog your trips, you should. Blogspot.com
makes things very easy. It's pretty much pick a design and fill in the
words and pictures.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Erik ......123456@gmail.com>	Sat, Dec 24, 2011, 5:34 PM

Erik,

I've looked at so many blogs and wondered but then wrote them off.....that is until today and something about yours (maybe the holiday spirit??) made me determined to do something.  I take lots of photos, mostly ride alone and need a better format to write what I see and do, something a blog should do.  

My photos are here, this year's highlights were my week down in the Flint Hills.  I trailered down, other than a weekend up around Bayfield this summer, was my first try at that and I'll definitely do it again.  Been doing brand rallies in the region, getting very fond of the people I've met and befriended there.  I enjoy everyone's compnay in the morning and in the evening, but go out and ride alone during the day.

Thanks again for the inspiration.  Doug

 

Here it is, my first one and not as long-winded as so many have been.  As you can see by the Posting date, I did not dally.  As Erik mentioned, I picked a design, have not changed it and will not.  If you see that the Layout has changed, we've been hacked.  I then filled in the words and pictures.  No ads, no $$, I'm far short of 1M subscribers and we all know that will not change (more on this below).

 

So there you have it.  Erik and I made the Blog connection and from there I was quickly and very warmly welcomed into his circle of bloggers.  A few of them are still very active, some others appear to be off and on.  As can be expected a few have disappeared, at least from what I can tell.  When Blogger changed the format of the home pages, access to my blog friends required one extra click of the mouse and sadly, I've been negligent and too lazy to always make the effort to check up on everyone.  Not in any way justification but as an explanation, over these last few years when I sit down to compose, report and publish my recent antics, the process goes fast, the time I spend on the blog posting seems to get pinched more and more with the other things that occupy my Computer Time.

 

Erik and I have actually met face to face (his wife too) more than once.  Richard & Bridget, VStar Lady and A Redleg's Rides have been part of my 'actual' world as well.  All of these fine folks entering my neighborhood rather than me entering theirs.  I'm grateful for their efforts and honored to have actually met them for real.

 

For the most part I'm a Point and Shoot photo taker, my writings and composition are the equivalent.  But then if you've spent any time with me, you already know that.  By far and away most of what has appeared here is motorcycle related but as I stated from the outset, other topics might appear.  An overriding goal has been to enjoy some exploring, have fun sharing the story and let mom know that I'm avoiding any big, dangerous trouble behaving myself.

A few things I've found fascinating as I examine some of the stats that Blogger keeps track of shown below.  As you've seen, I don't go out of my way to title each Post with very accurate headings or titles, a choice that has been deliberate and I appreciate that quick searches end up here at my 'Corner that weren't necessarily interested in my writings.  It's only obvious that searches for "...that motorcycle guy in Minnesota with poor grammar and sentence structure...." would in fact end up here.  150 hits in 2 minutes from Russia were not all that interested in my chicken knowledge, GPS Tracks or mileage ridden for the day.

 

There must be some mistake....5469 Comments??  Though I missed a few, not certain about responding in the early days, it didn't take me long to decide that I'd answer every single one, something I've tried to faithfully continue.  With that, 49.98% of those comments are mine.  You'd expect that I'd have calluses from Commenting alone.  310,942 / 3650 = 85.2 visits / day and that's anecdotally what I'd have told anyone....something under 100 hits per day is what I see as an average.

 

I understand that not every one of these hits is a 'real' visit to my blog, that the search algorithms and methods aren't necessarily bringing visitors that truly intend to visit ol' Coop but even at that, these source locations fascinate me.  

Really, these are my most popular Posts??

 

I'll quote the famous motorcycle rider Chico who once quipped, "Motorcyling has been berry berry good to me".   I couldn't agree more Chico, I'm certainly the richer for the people, the roads and rides that I've so enjoyed, that content the majority of everything that has been shared here.

Thanks to all of you visitors, you Subscribers especially who for the most part have stayed with me.  I'm so looking forward to 10 more years.

One more time, thanks Erik.