2008 was the year of the prank. You might remember this fake grocery list that JMac, Demonika, TinaB and I drafted, then deftly left in a grocery cart. We then had TinaB sneak around the store behind our marks in an attempt at snapping off a shot of them reading it.

Or for another example, the debut of the aero trike at the 2008 Tour of California prologue;

And lest we forget the cultural importance of the photo bomb;

This was the year that Cory Worthington showed the world that he ruled more than they do;

It was also the year that Danny Summerhill and the fire fighter girl from the Tia Tequila show proved that they are actually the same person;

Tyler and Mario ro-sham bo-ed to see who got to ride in the front seat, and Tyler lost;

and in an attempt to stay competitive in the burgeoning 'urban cycling' market, Swobo introduced our new line of shoes.

Geez.. Just thinking about this year is getting me all inspired to dig even deeper into what went down, which is probably a good thing cause I don't remember starting this post, let alone any events or occurrences during said previous year.

I can recall however that Red Fang reinvented rock and roll. Have you purchased their EP yet?

Maybe you ought to.

Two 'World' single speed events happened, both of which I attended, both of which I suffered in, and both of which I emerged with a lock on the title of 'the fastest of the slowest bike racers IN THE WORLD'.

Rob Sears, formerly of the Retrotec team, and all around nice guy passed on from this mortal coil in 2008 leaving behind a lot of people who cared very deeply for him, and a legacy that wont ever be forgotten;

I think this passing year found me traveling more than I ever have before, some of which was work related, and some of which was not, however all of the tales from the road eventually found themselves being laid out here before you. Oregon, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Nevada, Colorado.. Were there others? I cant quite remember.. Like I said, the recalling part of my grey matter is a wee bit broken..

Um... Oh, I know.. 2008 was a year for bands to reunite and rekindle the long snuffed flame of the rock and/or roll, a few examples of which are Lucy's Fur Coat,

the Touch and Go Records 25th anniversary show, or even more recently the Sub Pop 20th anniversary, that collectively saw the reunions of such luminaries as Big Black, Scratch Acid, Red Red Meat, Green River, and of course my Mile High favorites, The Fluid;

Loudass and Big Dave were forever immortalized as only they should be;

Mr. T bought Danzig's house;

and somebody found a Garfield-looking chicken nugget that drew thousands of Jim Davis disciples from the world over;

Of course this year also happens to have been the one where I peed on myself alot;

Though peeing on myself is no scientific anomaly, this recently published article pertaining to a newly discovered parasitic fungus from the Wired blog most certainly is.

At some point over the course of 2008, a fellow Named Joe Lumbroso put this film together about Puppy O'Shaughnessy who it should be noted appears to have been like the Kaiser Sose of the bike messenger world.

Bicycle related competitions sprung up everywhere, the most culturally significant of which was the famed hotdog hill climb;

I spent an awful lot of time injured. Whether it was from doing something rad, or doing something stupid, like pinching a nerve in my neck while getting smashed into a big backpack;

In San Francisco, a small group of individuals conceived and gave birth to a baby called The Soil Saloon, and because of that, the face of urban mountain biking will never be the same again.

Also, thankfully this year moustaches not only reestablished themselves on the faces of men-folk everywhere, but they also made a profound mark on various faces in the world of cycling.

In regards to that, really the only question of any relevance that you might need to ask yourself is "are you man enough"?

In the dank darkness of my garage, this year I finally made the mistake of my wrenching career and in a fit of exhaustion and excitement, cut the steerer on my custom Soulcraft 'Dirtbomb' too short, (hence the Alpha Q in this shot), but all was saved when Sean made me a newer and better fork which I installed promptly after removing my head from my ass.

Of course we all are well aware of the historical event that took place in November when the voters turned out in record numbers to help elect Barack Obama as the 44th president of The United States of America, but what I thought was also completely unprecedented was the support seen within the ranks of the bicycle underworld, what with spoke cards, and of course the various incarnations of Obama inspired bikes.

This of course was the year of the bacon bowl, California burning down, and Joe Parkin's new book;

2008 also saw the Beijing Olympics come and go, during which time, the athletes wore protective masks, a BMX track was built that was absolutely insane, a mountain bike race happened that surprisingly didn't suck, and Polish table tennis phenom, Natalia Partyka stole my heart;

Gaahl came out of the closet, and then mowed his lawn;

and a decidedly more attractive version of me made the cross scene;

Locally we saw the implementation of the anomaly known as 'Signhenge' erected, which ultimately was recently done away with;

* As I previously mentioned, 200 pounds of man love + a digital camera in the pocket + a little bit of beer and rough housing = a broken camera. No 'after' picture for you.

George and and his gang of warm hearted thugs reminded us on a regular basis through 2008 just how fun avoiding a bummer life could be;

Also, do you all remember a couple weeks ago when I mentioned that our friend Steve Rex had recently been very seriously injured in a bike crash, and that they were going to raffle off one of his bikes to help and cover the medical costs? Well according to this article that Robert Ives just sent to me, thanks to you all, they did a little better than just covering the cost of the bike.
And by 'a little', I mean alot.

Steve's still got a long recovery ahead of him, but just knowing that he has such an incredible support system I would imagine will make it go along a little more smoothly.

Anyway, moving on.. As the sun is setting on this year, our friends at Cog Magazine have finally wrapped up their new photo annual, which if you haven't taken steps to procure one of, there is no time like the present because supplies are sure not to last. (Photo courtesy of Cog Log Lab.)

Aside from all of the aforementioned rigamarole, seemingly everywhere you looked there were bicycle related events- Gold sprints, alleycat races, mountain bike races, road races, cross races, bike parties, urban bicycling celebrations and just in general, a remarkable number of folks opening their eyes to the benefits of riding a bike and their complete emersion in our culture.
I could go on and on, but you were there. You experienced it in all three dimensions, whether here on The Bummer Life, or within the four walls of your own worlds.

But that was then, and this, as they say, is now.
I would like to mention that I genuinely appreciate each and every one of you who've help to make a mark here on our little weblog, and I look forward to much more of the same.

Here is to 2009 holding all of the goodness that 2008 contained and more.

Lets you and I walk hand in hand into the golden future, and get radtarded for a brand new 365 days.