Why am I writing?

About a month ago, a mentor of mine, who also happens to be my marketing and creative services guy, J. Steadman, came to me after reading my website biography and said, Phil, you can write. You've always voiced valuable and intriguing knowledge and opinions, and since you are a part of such a unique professional cycling community, why don't you put your word in the public eye through a blog. A little hesitant at first, seeing that I'm also working a full time job for Club Colorado Fitness, training full time through the Athletic Improvement Center, trying to finish graduate school at Colorado State University, and always consumed with thoughts of Jordan's foundation, how am I to find time and energy to dedicate towards blogging? A month later and upon substantial reflection, I decided that yes, I would commit to a blog, and that it can be a forum for me to discuss not just cycling but also LIFE!

Before embarking on my maiden-voyage I found myself asking, what really is a blog and why am I blogging? To answer my questions, of course I went to the most knowledgeable of all information sources, Wikipedia, where I found that a blog is a type of website usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Not entirely intrigued by the general definition of the blog I continued reading. About halfway down the page I came across the definition for a 'Corporate Blog', which is written for the purposes of marketing, branding, and public relations. Aha! Although I wouldn't consider myself, Phillip Mann, a corporation, I'm constantly surrounded by the business of cycling and its products and services, so I think the definition of a corporate blog may provide the focus for which I am blogging.

After pondering my research and deliberating my purposes for developing this blog, I have decided my intent is two-fold. One, this blog provides a platform for me to provide both objective and subjective information on cycling-related topics, products, services, news, etc. And two, this blog is to help you, the reader, relate to what my father has coined the 'starving artist' lifestyle...a lifestyle where rational choices like making a stable income are often trumped by the passion for pushing your body to the limit, for merciless competition, for using a gift granted only to very few, and for overcoming physical and mental challenges...by choice. This is the lifestyle of a professional cyclist.

May you find enjoyment and enlightenment in future publications.

All the best,
Phillip Mann