This is so exiting...my own blog at last! I can now face my daughter as a credible citizen of the 21st century. Forget the last two decades of being a lowly "columnist", this is 2008 baby and I'm stepping into the modern leagues of being a real somebody - I'm a blogger!

People have recently asked me, “Zap, are you going to write a blog for the RBA site?” “You mean a column?”, I would reply. Let’s be honest, blogs are stupid. As a person who has dedicated the last two decades to the written word (much of it about myself), it might seem strange that I have such a distaste for blogging. Still, I have my reasons... 

1. I ask you, when does a column become a blog? Or for that matter, when does a blog stop being a blog and becoming a column instead.

2. Not all blogging is an inherently stupid and trivial exercise, but in blogging’s quest to be the next big thing, I just find the exercise and hype a tad dishonest. It’s like all these trendy restaurants doing their best to be chic by repackaging the age old burrito as a “wrap”. Oh it can still  be wrapped in a flour tortilla, but as long as you throw a little pesto sauce on it and call it a wrap, well, I guess 500 years of authentic Mexican cuisine means nothing anymore. Blogging - basically the fruit of out of  work print writers looking for a new source of income and noteriety. 

3. I know there are “blogs” out there that have had a credible impact on the world, but would the blog of some Tibetan freedom fighter be any less worthy of reading if he called it a “column”?

4. Let’s face it, so, so, so many blogs are just diary entries masking themselves as quality content. So many of the blogs remind me of the Cheech & Chong comedy skit with the high school slacker giving an oral report of what he did over summer vacation. “…and then I woke up. And then I went downtown to look for a job…” And the same routine is repeated over and over until Sister Mary Elephant screams for it to stop. And so it goes – blogs, little more than public recantations of the daily lives of anyone and everyone with little more than a brain numbing recitation of the most sundry activities performed. For the bike geeks, we’re supposed to be entranced in the daily lunch ride shenanigans of people we don’t know and most likely wouldn’t want to know.

5. I don’t know about Andy Warhol’s adage that everybody will be enjoy their 15 minutes of fame, but I do know that right now everybody will at least have a blog to call their own. Which brings me to the number one reason why I hate blogs…people, certainly you must have something better to do with your time than be reading this…how about going out and riding your bike?!? Bit by bit our lives are diminished by the over abundance of information, both in its production and consumption. You probably have something better to do with your life than to sit here reading this and I know I have something better to do with my life than to sit here typing it - did I mention that we should both be out riding our bikes!!!

Look, I know that has editors/journalists and hosts of this web site we're supposed to be providing content, but when is enough enough? (Subliminal mesaage - agree with me and go ride your bike.) To me, blogs are similar to the rush of people running out and buying GPS units to slap on their windshields. You know, what with the epidemic of lost souls on the local streets there had to be a mad rush to Pep Boys to add another electronic gadget to their lives. Blogs are like a fishing expeditions trying to lure in more readers - "C'mon in, click around and stay awhile!" - blogs as bait.

Okay, that's enough of that. I promise to get with the program and come around next month. I'll be less cynical and wear my "Happy to be a Blogger" badge with pride. Of course knowing how fascinated everyone must be in what I do on a daily basis, I'll be forced to soon offer daily blog entries - right?

ALBUM OF THE MONTH

WIN ZAP’S SCHWAG CONTEST

Straight from Giant’s 2009 TCR Advanced SL roll-out in Mallorca comes this months premier installment of your chance to score some cool schwag that usually only comes the way of us pampered lot of cycling journos. Here’s how it works, find the answer to the following questions, e-mail me the answers and I’ll pick a random winner each month. The answers can be found throughout the web and either in the printed or digital pages of Road Bike Action. Send your answers (marked "contest") to: Zap@roadbikeaction.com. Here are the questions:

1.What manufacturing process does Giant use to build the TCR Advanced SL?

2. How many new models did Giant unveil at their press launch in Mallorca?

3. What rider is featured on page 36/37 in the Sept./Oct ’08 issue of RBA?

4. Who is Bob Dylan singing about in song # 6 from his seminal work, The Times They Are Changin’?

Quote of the Month: "Chickens are decent people." George Carlin.