2010 Utility Cycling Year in Review

By Melanie Colavito Posted in The Archives Tagged with

On December 31, 2009, we published the first ever Utility Cycling Year in Review. At the time, Utility Cycling was actually only one 1/2 year old, but we had enough material to warrant a review nonetheless. Now, another year has passed, and Utility Cycling is continuing to grow and evolve, so we wanted to step back and reflect on the year 2010’s events and posts. At the end of any year, it is often useful to reflect back on the year’s events; take a little stroll down memory lane; stop to reflect; and then reboot and refresh for the coming year. So please join us for the 2010 Utility Cycling Year in Review.

Commute by Bike

In October of 2010, we were very excited to announce our new partnership with the well-known online resource for bike commuting that is the site Commute by Bike. Commute by Bike changed ownership in 2010, and moving forward it will be an important partner to Utility Cycling. For one, our video posts here at Utility Cycling are now appearing on the main page at Commute by Bike. Additionally, many of the writers work on both sites. We are very excited about this partnership and all of the great opportunities for collaboration in 2011 and beyond.

Utility Cycling Guest Posts & Interviews

In 2010, we had a number of great guest posts and opportunities to interview some great utility cyclists. In 2011, we hope to expand this section of the site, as we love to share great utility cycling stories. So, if you have any suggestions, please feel free to contact us.

A Conversation with Tucson Velo – This post reviews the Tuscon, AZ, bicycle news site Tucson Velo through a conversation with its creator, Mike McKisson. McKisson shared his story about creating the site and discusses the importance of bicycle-focused journalism. It’s a great story!

3000 Miles on a Hybrid Electric Bike by Matthew Zoll – This guest post by Matthew Zoll, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager for Pima County Arizona details his experience buying and owning an hybrid electric bike in Tucson, AZ.

A Utility Cycling Trailer Interview – In this post, we interviewed Rodney of Commute Orlando about his interest in utility cycling. The interview focused around his fantastic bike trailer, and his great stories of carrying large loads by bicycle.

Utility Cycling Events

The folks at Utility Cycling participated in numerous utility cycling-related events around the country and reported back to the readers here online.

Interbike 2010 – A number of the folks at Utility Cycling were at this year’s 2010 Interbike Trade Show. Of course, we were primarily interested in developments in utility cycling, and this year’s Interbike 2010 Reflections post reviews many of those exciting developments.

The Ride of Silence – Although not specifically focused on utility cycling, the Ride of Silence has a great deal of utility in that it honors and encourages awareness of bicycles and pedestrians on our streets. We went down to the Tucson Ride of Silence to document the event and remember those who we have lost.

Bike to Work Week – For National Bike Month and Bike to Work Week, the folks here at Utility Cycling made sure we biked to work (as usual, of course) and celebrated bikes in a Bike to Work Week post.

Cyclovia Tucson – Tucson, Arizona, had its first ever Cyclovia in April of 2010, and we were there to enjoy the car-free streets and take it all in!

April Fools! – We couldn’t help but play the old April Fools internet game by writing an outrageous post. So we declared on April 1, 2010, that we were making the switch to sport cycling as the focus of this site.

Utility Cycling Categories

One of our main goals here at Utility Cycling over the past year and half has been to define utility cycling. Our first post on the topic laid out all of the potential categories and subcategories of utility cycling that we could think of at the time. Since then, we have worked to fill in each of these categories and subcategories with informative and well-researched posts. In 2010, we added a number of categories and subcategories and continued to expand the definition of utility cycling. Of course, this is a never-ending project, as utility cycling is continually evolving, so we look forward to following along with it in the future. But for now, here is a summary of the categories and subcategories of utility cycling that we have written about on this site.

Utility Cycling in 2011

Moving forward into 2011, we are very excited first and foremost about our new partnership with Commute by Bike. There are many opportunities for collaboration, especially in the realm of bike mapping! We are also pondering the idea of a Utility Cycling book, which would be a fun project to compliment the site. And as always, we look forward to the conversations and comments from our readers, as we love to hear your feedback.

Thanks for a great 2010, and here’s to a great 2011! Happy New Year!

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