Ben Ayers

Well, it’s now six months old and meandmybicycle just reached the 700 member milestone. I am delighted with the progress of the site and in recent weeks it’s really taken on a momentum of its own.

An article on the Guardian website really helped to increase visibility of the site and attracted some generally positive comments. It also helped when it comes to ‘Google juice’. At the time of writing when you key the words ‘cycling social network’ into Google, my little old site for cycling fans appears the fourth link down from the top in the natural search results.

The Guardian article also led to recognition on the Ning blog. For those who don’t know, meandmybicycle was constructed using Ning’s white label social network product. The Ning article led to another flurry of new members. 

The site also has a presence on Twitter and by using the excellent Summize Twitter search tool I have been able to find cyclists who may be interested in what I am up to with the site. The response has been great, with many Tweeters coming on board. 

So what next? Well, I have been approached by a site that enables cyclists to track, or share in real-time, their rides using a GPS enabled phone or standalone GPS kit. This is a really exciting development and I am working with them to offer members of meandmybicycle the chance to get involved with their excellent service. In future, I’d love to offer members other relevant opportunities. We’ll see how that pans out.

With the summer around the corner I expect the site to put on hundreds more members and by September I’d like to be in a position to enter the next phase of development, for which I may seek some angel funding. 

One of my priorities will be to enable members to find riders in their country and with whom they share specific cycling interests. That’s currently possible using the ‘groups’ function but it’s not ideal. Improving the ability or riders to find like minded cyclists will truly take the social networking experience to its logical conclusion - online meets offline. 

In the meantime, I just want to keep the community fresh. I hope that members continue to add their contributions and look forward to more great blog posts, photos, video and lively forum discussion. 

What’s become clear is that there is a demand for a site that unites cyclists from all over the world. True, there are hugely popular cycling forums and some great ‘magazine’ sites like bikeradar.com but as someone pointed out to me recently, meandmbiycle is a dynamic community for people who simply love to ride, whether they are into sportive racing or making bikes from recycled materials. We can all learn something from one another and the thing that unites us all is simply a shared love of two wheels.