Reflections On 20 Years of Blogging

 Public Service Announcement: I am entering the final day of this series of posts. May 11th, 2025 will mark the start of my 20th year of blogging here on "Guitar Ted Productions". There will be a special post for this tomorrow. 

I never thought I'd have my image emblazoned on a t-shirt.

Tomorrow marks the twentieth anniversary of this blog. As I close out this series of posts celebrating the stories of the past twenty years of blogging, I wanted to make a few points and thank a few people for helping me get here and for supporting me throughout all of this.

Thanks: Obviously, the success of this blog and the things which have come out of it are multitudinous and I am incapable of singling out every important person, company, or group which had a hand in this success and the benefits which I have enjoyed. So, I think it is safe to say if you are reading this, you are to be thanked. 

I know this may seem like a cop out, but twenty years is a long time and I would feel badly if I left anyone out of a "thank-you list". I'm sure many of those folks who are part of this blog's success probably wouldn't feel as though they needed any recognition anyway, such is the character of the folks I know. But you do deserve thanks, so please, accept my humble gesture here.

Many things happened to me as a result of the blog. Doing reviews, becoming a figure in both the early twenty nine inch wheeled mountain bike scene and in the gravel cycling scene. Getting to fly across this country from one end to the other to cover events. Meeting famous cycling personalities. Meeting top-tier athletes. Getting bicycles, gear, and more as gifts or from reviews. Meeting fans of the blog from all over. It has all been far more than I would have ever hoped or dreamed. In fact, I never imagined any of it. I didn't really think anyone would notice what I wrote, much less care about any of it. I guess Jeff Kerkove was right to think people would find what I wrote interesting. Had he not goaded me into this, you would not be reading this now.

Getting into a Hall of Fame wasn't on my "to-do" list in 2005.

I will also say I never wanted or expected anything from this blog. There was no plan, desire, or scheme to make money, get things, or to enjoy benefits. In fact, I don't make a dime off the blog - Never have. You'll also note that there has never been a sponsor, ad, or "click here" Google thingy ever on this blog. I'm not monetized here, and never will be. Yes....I am a bit proud of this.

I decided early on to do a daily blog. This was hard in the beginning, but now I find this is not a burden, although you might see it differently. I still enjoy writing things up, thinking about topic ideas, and the process of planning ahead for the blog. It is fun. I enjoy all of it yet. One day this may change. Obviously I won't be blogging forever. Things beyond my control may make the decision for me, but I hope to graciously bow out under my own terms at some point in the not too distant future. Is that a hint? No, it is a recognition of a reality which I can accept or have forced upon me.

But leaving this for another day, the past, my past, has been heavily influenced by this blog. Some of you dear readers can probably say you've also been influenced by what I have been doing here. I am eternally thankful for the mostly positive outcomes of this blog on people. This has been greatly satisfying to me.

I hope you enjoyed the looks back in this series. Tomorrow I will post the entire inaugural post of this blog with the original header in the post. The header tomorrow will be the modified header inspired by Jeff Kerkove's last effort for me which he placed on the blog around 2007 or so and was used until probably 2014 at the least, maybe a bit longer than that. I cannot recall!

Thanks, as always, for reading Guitar Ted Productions!