For some time now I've been trying to remember to tell you about something else I do with my abundant free time (do you hear the sarcasm dripping?): I am the BellaOnline Cycling Editor. BellaOnline is a non-profit website that has volunteers writing about nearly every topic under the sun, principally by women and for women. It lays claim to being the second largest women's website with over 20 million page views per month.
As the editor of the Cycling site, I have been writing one article per week for over a year on anything and everything to do with cycling. I also moderate a forum (without much enthusiasm, I have to admit) and manage an e-mail account. Topics I've written on range from bike tools to tour locations to book reviews. Sometimes I wonder about my "right" to write on a given topic, but I figure no one is an expert on all aspects of anything. All it really takes to do well with something like this is a passion for the subject and the ability to do decent research.
What reminded me to tell you about my site today? I received an e-mail today from Bob Neubauer, the author of Two Wheels and a Map. I wrote a review of this book a few months ago and he happened to come across it when conducting an internet search on his own name. He just wrote to thank me for the nice review, but I thought it was pretty cool to get feedback from the focus of one of my articles.
This wasn't the first time I've received a response to an article. Happily, the few I've gotten have been positive. The best were when a college bike shop asked permission to distribute copies of my article on how to make sure your bicycle fits you and when the head of BellaOnline featured my article on driving safely around cyclists on the front page of the website.
Anyway, if you have a chance, check out BellaOnline and let me know what you think. Even if you're not interested in cycling, I'm sure you'll find something of interest. If you have any thoughts on cycling-related topics about which I could write, please, please let me know. After nearly 60 articles, I'm starting to run out of ideas!
