Veloria, I'm not sure I would think of you as an advocate in that sense, either. I think of you as an advocate of cycling. I know that around here, that's often seen as meaning "not driving," but I certainly didn't get into it so I wouldn't have to drive. I'm a mom in the suburbs of Seattle, for god's sake: driving is at least half my existence (ever tried to take a 50lb. kid sixteen miles each way in the rain to his soccer game in another city on a bike? Didn't think so). Sure, I have colleagues who commute over the bridges and steep hills through the rain. Their wives drive their kids to school in the SUV .

I had my old hybrid for years, but never really liked it, so I decided I needed a different bike. In my research, I discovered Lovely Bicycle! As I dug into your site a bit, I was totally hooked. You had just the right tone, giving me technical info but also explaining in simple terms why you liked your bikes and how I, too, could like my bike again. You gave me the confidence to buy my '69 Raleigh Sports off Ebay and ship it clear across the country without ever having ridden one! I sold the K2, and have not looked back. Now I've got the Panasonic (and I <heart> the Panasonic in a way I haven't loved any machine since my 1983 Mercedes Turbodiesel wagon bit the dust. I used to go out in the garage just to stare at that thing. Now I do that to my bike!), and the Shogun. I can talk saddles and crankshafts and cantilever brakes. In the end, riding is FUN again, like it was when I was a kid. If you hadn't explained all this in a far more eloquent, meaningful way than I just did, I'd probably have ended up with the wrong bike (again), and then I wouldn't ride nearly as much.

I guess this is why, while I like the Royal H and the Rivendell well enough, I enjoy most your posts about your vintage bikes. I can buy a vintage bike. I may not really have the good taste or the LBS to make it look like yours, but I can buy one and try. I will never be able to justify a custom build or a Rivendell frame, given that I must continue driving and I am a teacher, and therefore not rich. Since you have the info on both the newer bikes, and the older bikes, you can attract women (and men -- nods to the Co-Habitant) who are into either. You advocate for cyclists, and despite the car sitting in my driveway, that's what I am. I think that's super cool, and advocacy enough for me!