Rear View 2022: Top Ten Posts Of 2022

 Last year I posted concerning the top posts of the past year. I thought it was another fun way to look back over the year via the perspective of what caught the reader's attention here. 

So, I thought it would be fun to rank the Top Ten posts from the blog during the calendar year 2022. These posts are ranked according to what Blogger stats tell me were the most read posts of the year. 

I'll start with #10 and work up to #1. Each post will be linked so you can go back and read it if you so choose. Then I will comment a bit on each post. 

 #10: Two Things For Today 

This made the top ten, which really surprised me because this was just a really disjointed post about two completely different subjects. I almost dubbed it a "Randomonium" post, but I only had two things to discuss, so there ya go- That's how the post was entitled. 

The Specialized gravel bike has since been panned pretty hard by those on social media, and as far as the article I linked and discussed, well, that has been a hot topic of discussion all year. I'm not sure which part of the article drove the numbers here, but judging from the comments, I'd say it was the bike in this case.  

#9: (Tie) Country Views: Focusing On The Good & Not The Bad and Country Views: Red, White, & Blue Ride

Now this was a complete surprise to me for this year. Not only has a "Country Views" post never been on the Top Ten Posts list before, but I also have never had two posts tie each other for views. 

I guess I shouldn't be surprised though, because I have heard from several of you readers that have told me that these posts are some of your favorites that I write up. (See the end of the "Top Ten Posts of 2020" for a reference) While that may have always been true for many of you, I am guessing that many more of you are deciding that is the case as well, because the numbers of views has been going higher for these posts. 

#8: Trans Iowa Stories: Acknowledgements & Credits

Posting a single view more than the two tied at #9, this was the only Trans Iowa related post to have ever made this Top Ten List. Not all that surprising since none of the Trans Iowa Stories posts ever drew that many views. But this one? It out-did the others by six times the views on average. Why? I wondered about that for several weeks as I saw the numbers for this post climb. 

I think, and this is only a guess, that this particular post was a synopsis of the entire series. A 'condensed history', if you will, and I feel that my listing of all the important checkpoint towns was somewhat interesting for many of you. (Note: We went through many more towns and villages than what I listed there.) Obviously all the names associated with the event was another interesting point for many, I would think.

But whatever! It sticks in as the #8th most read post of 2022.  

#7: Country Views: Boulders, Flowers, & Birds 

Another Country Views post! Again, a Summer post and I noted that the the three Country View posts that made this year's list were all in the Summertime of 2022. Did that make a difference? I don't understand, really, so who knows?

This would end up being the highest drawing post of its type for 2020, but all three were within four views of each other! how odd is THAT?!  

#6: A Comparison & Contrast: GPS Computer Experiences

Uggh! Okay, I admit up front that I have issues with interfacing with 'technology'. (Just ask Mrs. Guitar Ted) So, when it comes to GPS computers for cycling, my experiences perhaps are not all that representative of the masses. That said, I feel that a lot of technology misses the boat when it comes to user experiences, and this is not limited to cycling computers. 

So, this post must have resonated with a lot of you out there as well,since it slots in at #5 for the most read posts of 2022.  

#5: Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame: The Induction & After-Party

Not much of a surprise here, as the GCHoF thing was the biggest thing that happened to me all year, and obviously it was of great interest to my readers as well. Makes sense to me that this would end up on the list somewhere. 

This day was a really surreal experience, and even after six months, I find it hard to believe it happened. I still have trouble contextualizing this deal. What does being in this organization or being recognized in this way even mean for me? I don't know. 

So, while it was indeed the "biggest thing" to have happened to me all year, I also think it is "not that life-changing" either. At least, not yet it hasn't been. So, I have mixed feelings about it all right now. But the experience's documentation ranks as #5 on the most read posts for 2022. 

#4: Guitar Ted's Massive, Huge Flared Drop Bar Review 

Flared drop bars have been a subject for posts on my blog since the early days of blogging here. I figured that there might be some interest in my collection of flared drops and the history of this type of handle bar since the year 2000.  

I had fun doing the post and it would seem that, judging by the numbers this post is still drawing, that readers find it interesting. I would not at all be surprised that later on this would end up becoming #2 or perhaps even #1 on this list in the years and months to come, but for now it resides at a solid #4 on this list.

#3: A Twofold Anniversary: The Story Of The Warbird & A Disclaimer

Appearing as the number three most read post for 2022 is this one that I had been anticipating on writing for quite sometime. The whole "gloppy dollops" thing comes up a lot when I write my opinions for this blog. I knew that the ten year anniversary of the beginning of that disclaimer's usage was coming up this year. I figured that the story behind all of that would be of interest to many of you readers. I guess I was correct in thinking that.

But I also think that a lot of people have forgotten what the original Warbird model was all about, so the telling of that part of this story may have been the actual draw here. Just think what may have happened had Salsa decided to offer a Warbird back then in steel instead of aluminum and if they had allowed for bigger tires. I think the whole trajectory of the gravel scene may have been altered had that happened.

But it didn't, so that's the story and I'm sticking to it! 

#2: More Cleaning Up & A Favor To Ask

Well, you never know what people will read here, and this post is evidence of that as it was a pretty random post to end up at #2 for 2022. I was writing about having a big scrap pile to wade through at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective, which was my brand new job at that time in February when I posted this one. 

But apparently the donation of a Sarto carbon fiber frame and fork was the draw for this post. I have no reason to believe that it wasn't, because the first part of the post was pretty mundane. I will tell you that we ended up selling the frame and fork for a song, so if you did not contact me about that, and thought maybe you should have, well.....you should have! 

Anyway, I feel like this is a very strange post to have ended up so high on the list, or to be on it at all. Weird! 

#1: The Bicycle Retail & Service Model Is Ripe For Disruption

And with the #1 slot, this post was - by far and away - the top read post here all year long.  I'll be honest here and tell you that I am immensely proud that this post ended up #1. It also - again - points out the absurdity of the previous #2 post being #2. Yeah.....it makes no sense to me! 

 But back to the post at hand here- This post is important, and not because I wrote it, but because it is pretty much going to be reality. I really don't think that is 'my opinion' either. Something has to give, and I feel that if all the things I detailed out in that post come true, and at the same time we take off a laser focus on automobile infrastructure and importance, we could literally change the world. 

Wouldn't THAT be cool? 

To Summarize 2022's Posts: Overall 2022 has seen bigger numbers for views here. Typically a post scores a certain amount of views, and has for several years here, but for whatever reasons, 2022 saw an uptick. I also can tell you that all the posts on this year's Top Ten List outperformed, on average, any of the rest of the year's posts by 3 to 4 times. 

Looking at all of that, 2022 was a banner year here on Guitar Ted Productions, and all of those views and successes are due to you, the readers. 'Thank you' doesn't even come close to expressing the gratitude I have for your patronizing this site throughout 2022 and for all the years this blog has existed. But that's all I have other than my promise to all of you that I will do my level best in 2023 to keep up the standards I have set, and hopefully higher, for my work here. 

Stay tuned for a look at what I think is to come for 2023.