The End Of One Thing And The Beginning Of Another

An old Gravel Grinder News header

Well, that was a quiet ending. Gravel Grinder News, the stand-alone site that I launched as a spin off of a recurring feature of this blog, "went dark" the other day. Of course, I knew it was going to at some point. That was the plan after all.

The site was mainly a calendar and a bit about the events happening all over which I began to compile in 2008 here on this blog. That got to be kind of a distraction so I had to break it off on its own at the very end of '08 and I launched the site proper in '09. That cooked along just peachy until 2013 in June, when Grannygear helped me launch the "new and improved" GGN. That lasted a year and a half until I merged with RidingGravel.com. That happened on December 1st or so.

The new livery- RidingGravel.com

The entire effort all along was and still is focused on bringing a calendar of events that is updated and made as accurate as possible so that anyone that wants to seek out a gravel adventure can do it more easily. I think that with over 220 events and counting, that has happened at the RidingGravel.com calendar.

The funny thing about the name- Gravel Grinder News- is that is angered some folks. It was a flashpoint for folks and I have read, heard, and got wind of plenty of comments that were derogatory and degrading.

Whatever...

That's never bothered me in the least. Most make those types of negative comments because they have an agenda- getting more hits on their sites, or are doing that simply as an outlet of "cycling based rage and anger". They don't care, don't "get it", and don't want to. That's all good. Why? Because there are a whole bunch of folks that do "get it" and are out "grinding gravel" miles and having a lot of fun doing it. I started Gravel Grinder News for those folks. You know what? There are a whole lot more of them than I ever thought there would be.

So, the "something new" part? Yeah...that's all the other facets of RidingGravel.com. The forums, the reviews, and the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch podcasts. Of all the things I've done "on the web", I have the most fun doing these podcasts. This sort of feature is something I am really glad to be a part of. It's something that just wasn't possible for me with Gravel Grinder News. So, while it is kind of sad to see GGN pass away, I am stoked to have become a partner in RidingGravel.com and I think most of you folks will find it has all of the "old" with a lot of "new" stuff that makes the whole even better.