What's your favorite journal? (that you've written) - CycleBlaze

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What's your favorite journal? (that you've written)

Mark Bingham

I have some free time coming up (I'm lying... I'm going to use this as an excuse to avoid things I need to be doing) and plan to use the time to read some journals. 

What's your favorite journal? I'm asking about the ones YOU'VE written, not someone else's. I'm not asking about your favorite trip, but your favorite journal.... that is, of all the journals you've written, which would you most like others to read? Which do you believe is the best-written and the most engaging? 

Give it some thought, because I'm planning on eventually reading every journal that gets posted. It may take a while, but I'm determined to do it. 

As for me, I wish the original poster had asked about specific days in journals because in every journal there are some sections which are pretty good and others that are pretty boring. Cherry picking would be the best, but that's not what the OP asked. He's pretty stubborn so I doubt I can get him to change his mind. 

I'm going to select two instead of one, but only because the first one is literally only a thirty-second read. They would be my oldest two:

https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/markonabike1961/

https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/markonabike82/

I'm looking forward to enjoying some journals!

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1 year ago
George HallTo Mark Bingham

I've read those 2 journals of yours and thought they were outstanding!  Many of us had similar mis-adventures in our cycling youth as we learned the hard way about all the things one can learn nowadays from the internet.   It's amazing how the resilience of youth can make up for some of the un-smart things we all did. 

I've only written 5 journals so it's not too hard to pick my favorite; here it is, my Transam adventure --> 2015 Transam.

You wrote; "I wish the original poster had asked about specific days in journals..." - well, my Transam journal has some of my favorite days listed and linked in the first section of the Epilogue titled "If You Just Want To Read The Good Stuff" - here's the page with links to my favorite days in that journal --> The Good Stuff.  

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1 year ago
Mark BinghamTo George Hall

Thanks, Bud!  I'll be reading both!  One of your comments on my 1982 journal really struck home because it was so accurate:  "...no idea what I was doing, but the energy and wildness of youth made up for that lack." It's similar to your comment above about the resilience of youth.

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1 year ago
Gregory GarceauTo Mark Bingham

I'll try to answer both of your forum topics right here.  

I think you might not get many replies to the "Favorite Journals You've Written" question because most journal writers are too modest to toot their own horn.  I have no such reservations.  ALL of mine are my favorites.  I read them more often than anybody else's, and I'm pretty sure that is true of all bike touring journal writers.  There is NO WAY I'll pick one over another.  Not even my first long-distance tour journal.  (Greg's Questionable Judgement - CycleBlaze )  Just because it was my first doesn't necessarily mean it was my best.  (Yes it was.)  I like it because it was my best effort at editing it for brevity.

Aside from my amazing journals (ha), there are as many other fine bike touring journals as there are cars on a Minneapolis freeway.  But I don't think you can go wrong with "The Really Long Way Round."  I'm sure many others here will agree.

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1 year ago
Mark BinghamTo Gregory Garceau

"Most journal writers are too modest to toot their own horn." <-- You might be right. There are some modest people on Cycleblaze. If you're one of them, simply start your response with, "Most of my journals are terribly boring, and you'd probably want to read the shipping news or advertisements for hemorrhoid creams instead, but after you've read every single word in the English language and are still looking for something to help with your insomnia, then try [my favorite journal]. But you'll probably hate it."

Greg, if you're not going to pick a favorite journal, I'll just have to read them all, starting with Greg's Questionable Judgement, as well as "The Really Long Way Around."

Thanks!

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1 year ago
Wayne EstesTo Mark Bingham

I don't recommend any of my journals to readers who appreciate outstanding literature. That's okay with me because I don't aspire to be an expert writer. My main objective is to supply great photos and planning information useful to cyclists.

I find it difficult to separate the notion of "my favorite tour journal" from the notion of "my favorite tour".  My personal favorite bike tours are probably a 1992 tour in southern Utah and a 1995 tour in Hawaii. Both were long before my first online tour journal.

Among my favorite online bike tours I would have to divide them into categories.

Best pictures: Death Valley

Most unique theme: Waterfalls of Calapooya

Most physically challenging: Sacramento to Loveland via 11 National Parks

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1 year ago
Graham SmithTo Mark Bingham

Mark my favourite own journal constantly changes, because the favourite is almost always my most recently completed journal.

Currently that favourite is the journal of a long tour I did with two friends across Australia about two years ago. It was also the most challenging tour I’ve completed in many decades. It was long; it was when covid restrictions were waxing & waning and it was a fundraising tour which I’d never tried before.

In comparison to many other journals on CB it isn’t exceptional quality, but it means a lot to me because I’ll probably never do another ride as challenging as that one was. 

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1 year ago
Mark BinghamTo Wayne Estes

As a person who considers comic books to be outstanding literature, I'm uniquely qualified to rate the sophistication of your journals. Also, I took a quick peek at the Best Pictures and there are some spectacular shots... very stark and beautiful scenery, nicely photographed. I'm looking forward to perusing it at a more leisurely pace, as well as checking out the other two! Thanks!

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1 year ago
Mark BinghamTo Graham Smith

Graham:  interestingly, I started your journal last week and am several days into enjoying it. Considering what I've read so far, definitely don't discount your writing skills... I'm looking forward to continuing it!

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1 year ago
John PickettTo Mark Bingham

I can't chose. My journals are like my kids. But the one with the best title, hands down is A Fistful of Advil.  It was my first, from 2003. And the 31st journal on Crazyguy. I posted it using a Pocketmail device. The pix were all made with a really poor quality digital camera. Those were the days.

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1 year ago