The Lunch Ride is a tasty new concept for cycling media. A single post per week, recapping only the coolest new road, gravel, and mountain bikes and tech. And only a few sentences for each item.
Just enough to stay on top of things, nothing more, nothing less, served up fresh every Friday as an email newsletter, and posted here so you can catch up on back issues.
Who’s behind this?
A long-time cycling journalist who loves this s#!t and wanted to try something newer and simpler. You’ll probably figure it out, and I’ll probably bring some friends along to post now and then, too.
Why?
Because everything’s gotten too complex, too corporate, and too formulaic. Most media is written to appeal to search algorithms, creating a lousy user experience.
The Lunch Ride is written to appeal to Riders.
This hurts us in search rankings, so, if you like it, please share it.
It’s once-a-week because, like you, I’d rather be out riding than posting or reading 20 stories a day. A weekly recap of the very best new stuff is usually enough.
How does this make money?
Here’s how we won’t make money: There will be no banner advertising from ad networks, tracking from Facebook pixels, etc.
That’s important because it means you’re not being tracked by them by viewing this site. I believe these things not only ruin the experience, they are also an unnecessary violation of all of our privacies.
We do use Google Analytics so we can track our traffic, but that does not personally identify you.
Some brands may sponsor us, but any “ads” are manually placed and may use link code to indicate that you clicked from this site to go to theirs. This does not personally identify you, but it lets us prove that their sponsorships work, which keeps them coming back.
I do use brand and retailer affiliate links, and as an Amazon Associate I/we earn from qualifying purchases. I do this because this is a business, and it takes considerable time, energy, and many years of industry experience, relationship building, and knowledge to be able to produce this content.
And because I like to eat.
Is that it?
For now, yes. The goal is to keep it simple, giving you quickly skimmable highlights so you have something to talk about on the Friday lunch ride.
Occasionally, I’ll write a deeper technical story or buyer’s guide if something is deserving, because some things deserve a little more digital ink.
Like it? SUBSCRIBE HERE or just check out the latest posts.
Let’s Ride!
