Some years ago on discovering the internet party line, I had a good time for as long as it took me to realize that the medium tends to reward wallflowers and tone-deaf bullies; us middle class surfers aren't so well catered for. The lesson was a painful one, and truth to tell I never really learned how to dance.
The newsgroup uk.rec.cycling was my introduction to the exchanging of information packets with the added frisson of not knowing if my next delivery would be hurled back at me or cheerfully welcomed. Onward to Cycling Plus.
Thanks to the deep pockets of its parent publishing empire and the long memory of Google, the C+ forum has maintained a respectability through sheer longevity and weight of the cyber equivalent of back-bencher OAPs. As anyone reading these words is likely to be aware, the past year(s) have been troubled ones, at least for the loyal stalwarts, who have shed many a tear over many a beer as one crisis after another has unfolded.
My own association with
C+F has been a rocky one. I, too, would now qualify as an elder if I had grown a monstrously thick all-weather skin impervious to freelance libertarians seemingly allied with technologically savvy trolls genetically modified for the kill. Uninterested in throwing myself into the breach, I decided to go it alone.
acf probably would've remained quiet for a good long time but for a number of maladies which conspired to lay Future's troubled child prostrate on the ground. Thus was acf given the spark of life - a gift which has also been a burden. I have toiled from the beginning to establish a separate identity for this place; very difficult, when most of its patrons remember the taste of stomping grounds past. You never forget the first one.
I continued to rubberneck for the simple reason that it was a useful resource to an administrator, if only to monitor disinformation. It has also served as an open university in learning from other's mistakes. And one of the things I've learned is to never say never. Nevertheless, here goes: I've walked across the road for the last time and posted my final message on that rambunctious server.
I do have one request which dual citizens are free to ignore, especially as they are now armed with the knowledge that I'm no longer interested in even keeping up the appearance of being omniscient: if you are partaking of acf hospitality, enjoying the fruits of my labour, and drinking from the cup of what is after all finite bandwidth, please consider sparing a kind word for acf next time you cross the road. Or at least not loosing a harsh one.
On edit: C+F changed to BikeRadar. And acf itself was not exactly malady free.
