Bike Blog Comments Podium

Either the cleverness hasn’t splashed on the seat post of this blog yet or I’m just jealous.  It hasn’t started at the Two Johns Podcast blog yet either.  However, they’re still sort of new compared to Bike Snob NYC and haven’t posted anything new since I noticed this phenomenon in the cycling blogosphere.  I’m talking about grabbing podium spots in the comments section.  Quick!  You could be in yellow right now and take home this lovely virtual trophy!

It’s one of those things that makes me laugh every time, mainly due to the creativeness of the grab, like pointing at your jersey while crossing the finish line.  Better yet, it wouldn’t make sense on a non-racing blog, like football or hockey.  It works like this.  For every blog entry, readers compete for who gets the first, second and third place in the comments.  And, like real cycling, it’s more about the glory.

Some shout “first!”  Others brag “top spot.”  Sometimes there’s so many jumping at the comments, that the commenter isn’t sure where they’ll end up and virtually throw the bike and write something like “podium?” or “tire width?” with a question mark when going for it.  With the comments being time/date stamped, there can actually be sort of a virtual sprint or a breakaway.  The best part is, like celebrating before the finish, if you linger too long on a creative grab, you could get swept up by the peloton…well, maybe not here, where the number of comments is about the same as the amount of locals on a January group ride, but the established blogs have comment pelotons of sometimes 100 or more riders.  So, grab some glory in the off season.  You may be quick on the bike, but how quick are you on the keyboard?