It used to be that every once in awhile television shows would put out a “remember when” type episode. If it was a sitcom, the characters would find themselves sitting around in a livingr oom or coffee house or something, reminiscing which would lead to flash back sequences of footage from past episodes. I always figured these were the episodes thrown together when most of the writing staff was on vacation or something.

I guess you could say that this post is kind of like that – only I am the writing staff and I’m not actually on vacation.

What I thought I would do is point out the 5 top posts from both of our websites – JustAnotherCyclist.com and VeloReviews.com. These are the stories that google’s pagerank the readers have decided are the most important, relevant, and/or entertaining. So without further ado, here they are listed by number of views, with #1 being the most popular:

Top 5 posts on VeloReviews.com

1. Is Aluminum the New Carbon? The Cannondale CAAD10. This review alone represents over 12% of the total page views since I started recording after the big VeloReviews move to our new format, with over 21% more views then the #2 page. This makes me pretty pleased, given my particular fondness for the bike being reviewed.
2. Bicycle component terminology explained. Written by Shane Russell – who also served a term as the resident wrench for VeloReviews. This post provides a great explanation of the names of the different parts of the bike.
3. Looking for, finding and fixing irritating bike noises. Another excellent wrenching story from Shane Russell, providing great insight into those annoying noises that often creep into our bikes and distract from otherwise blissful (or painful) rides.
4. Elliptical Machine: Friend or Foe? From the fitness archives of the Master of Sweat Al Painter, we get a look at common assumptions and mistakes made about Elliptical Machines. These days you can also find Al Painter spreading his wisdom over on the Facebook group ‘The Trainers.’
5. Crossfit and Cycling: Doesn’t Seem to Match Up. Rounding out the top 5 is another fitness post that stirs up the expected bit of controversy with Al Painter’s hard hitting, no-nonsense honesty.

Top 5 posts on JustAnotherCyclist.com

1. Cycling through Netflix. A look at some of the cycling-themed movies offered by Netflix. Probably about time for me to update this one now that I think about it…
2. Quill stem conversion. A look at what I did to convert my old Cannondale CAAD2 commuter’s stem from quill to threadless.
3. Mounting tail lights on bikes. This was one of those posts I thought was no big deal. Turns out there are a fair number of people that also struggled with the confusing bike light mounting formats.
4. How to spoil your children. A look at road bikes for kids. Not quite sure what has made this post particularly attractive to readers. Maybe we all fantasize about what we wish we could have had as kids.
5. How to measure your bike frame. Simple, concise, and to the point article about why bike frame sizes are never simple, concise nor to the point.

There you have it. One thing I’ve learned during my time writing cycling related blogs – it is damn near impossible to figure out which of your stories are going to be the ones that people respond to. Who knows, whatever I write tomorrow may end up blowing all of these out of the water.

If you are reading this, there is a fair chance you are a fan of cycling blogs.  Obviously I am…  So in true Follow Friday (#FF) fashion, I thought I share some of my favorite cycling blogs.  Well – favorite other than JustAnotherCyclist.com or VeloReviews.com that is.

The Lazy Randonneur is a recent discovery for me.  Based on the number of comments on the posts it appears to have a pretty active following.  While technically not exclusively about cycling (there are surfing, kayaking, snowboarding and other sports throw in there as well) that vast majority of the articles are indeed about casual cycling.  The author also has a rather extensive collection of photos and each post if full of images along with the text.

Australian blog Cycling Tips always has a well-grounded view on cycling, while tending to focus more on performance and racing.  While their logo is fairly simple, it has the distinction of being one of my favorite blog logos out there.  Oh yea – and they sell “Shut Up Legs” shirts.  How can you not like that…

The prolific writer Richard Masoner brings us Cyclelicious.  While there is an emphasis on commuting and casual cycling, there doesn’t seem to be any area of cycling that the blog doesn’t touch on.  Cycling advocacy, racing, products – you name it and you can find something related to it at Cyclelicious.  Richard is also an avid photographer with an amazingly large collection of photos.  This blog also has the (perhaps dubious) distinction of being what inspired me to start the now-defunct blog SacraFrisco.com which eventually evolved into JustAnotherCyclist.com.  On twitter @cyclelicious.

With consistent daily updates that usually included an extensive collection of cycling related links after an interesting story, BikingInLA could easily be your starting point for any days cycle-related reading.  While the stories are usually focused on advocacy or the legal issues surrounding cycling, the links included in the posts cover the entire range of cycling interest.  If this blog isn’t on your list of regular reads, it should be.  On twitter @bikinginla

EcoVelo is an amazing blog catering to the classics/cycle chic/lifestyle cyclist crowd.  He also has some of the most beautiful photos of bikes to be found.  It is also the only blog on the list that exists at a .info web domain – which somehow just makes it cool.

Author of a book, writer for Bicycling magazine and freakin’ hilarious.  What more is there to say about Bike Snob NYC?

Twisted Spoke provides in-depth and insightful updates from the world of pro-cycling, all with the tounge firmly planted in their cheek.  Another one for the “hilarious” category.

Another great commuter-oriented blog is Bike Hugger.  I mean – c’mon…  Doesn’t the title of the blog say it all

Well, that’s all for today.  This is obviously not an exhaustive list – there are hundreds of cycling blogs out worth reading (and a couple perhaps not worth reading.)  What else are your going to do with your time and internet connection when you’re sitting in your cubicle at work?