Grassroots the New Mainstream

As I hang out a new sign and move forward in '09 embarking on a new career which includes an attempt at freelance writing on a few sites about health, wellness, training, my cycling, new gear; one point I ponder about is how one gets their message across to those still in the mainstream.

When one starts a blog; the hope is it garners enough grass root support that the message grows to a target audience. As I talk and write about mountain biking, cycling, support for these two communities, training, racing, what gear is working, and the good it brings to my life; I hope that others read, comment and push the message along.

As I've looked at various outlets I came across a site that has been gaining momentum over the last couple of months; The Printed Blog. A little blurb; which I pulled from their site; that describes what the mission of their service is about;

theprintedblog an independent media outlet that aggregates user-generated content from the Internet and publishes it twice daily via print. The result is a revolutionary newspaper that reads and functions like a web feed – yet can still be unfolded on the train or spread across the breakfast table, for an uninterrupted, pleasurably tactile read.

I look forward to it's launch and first issue in print. It may be what the newspaper/publishing industry needs in finding new life as it tries to maintain existence. Will it be what is called a "market disruption"; if the continued growth of supporters and watchers on various Social networking sites is a indicator; this may be the start of the next revolution. Time will tell.

It gives us a chance to get the grass roots support of cycling out there, the various local coalitions, riding groups, events, along with training advice that might encourage others. I challenge those who read this; to send them cycling pictures, various event recaps, and all that is good about cycling.