Laith Zraikat

On Friday I went on a ride with the Jordan Cycling Club. Destination: Mount Nebo.

The organizing team- headed by Saad Darwazeh- were very kind and well prepared to help any of the participants along the way. They provided us with professional mountain bikes, helmets, and all the liquids we can drink 

It was 7:30 am. Our meeting point was Safeway -7th circle. From there we drove to Zaytoonah University. I was amazed but not surprised at the number of bikes they prepared for us. We got to try out the bikes and helmets for size and comfort and each one chose what suited them the best. After everyone was satisfied with their gear we got a quick briefing from Saad about the ride where he outlined the order in which we will be riding, and some rules and regulations to follow while riding and in case of emergency.

We then started out down a level road adjacent to the university heading in the Direction of Madaba. The road was smooth, paved with little ups and downs –which was also the case most of the way to a village in Madaba called "Granada".

Into the first 3 kilometers, my bike ran into a technical problem; the chain had gone loose. I tried to fix it but couldn't. However, I didn’t worry because Nader –from the organizing team- and the pickup truck carrying about 6 extra bikes were right behind the group. They stopped, gave me a new bike, and I was on my way again 

Along the way, there were some resting points where we regrouped, talked, laughed and were briefed on the next stretch of the ride. One of the stops was Grenada where the group split into two: one headed by Saad and one headed by Nader. The Saad group were to continue to Mount Nebo, while the Nader group were to continue the circle and go back to the starting point. Although it was my first time and I was really tired, I didn’t like the idea of going back so I decided to continue to Mount Nebo with the "Pros" 

I was so glad I went to Mount Nebo. The scenery along the way was great, and it was more challenging than the first part of the ride. The way back was even more challenging and fun, but I had to give up and hitch a ride on the pickup truck after covering 40 kilometers in total … not bad for a first time. Inshalla next time I will go all the way 

By far the best part of this experience is that we did all of this and were back around 12:00 noon -Most people spend this part of Friday morning sleeping. This is by far the best thing you can do between 7:30 and 12:00 on a Friday morning. I strongly encourage everyone to at least try it.

Jordan Cycling Club blog is: http://cyclingjordan.jeeran.com/
e-mail: ptc[at]go[dot]com[dot]jo


Some pictures I took along the way:

www.flickr.com

"Bitch" here is the verb not the noun.

Blogging is one of the most pivotal phenomena to hit the Internet since its inception. When I think about the Internet since it began, I think: Email, Instant messaging, and Blogging. Once we got over "how cool" Email and IM are, we started addressing the problems associated with them. The same applies to Blogging.

When the Blogging hype began, people were too "at-awe" with the whole thing that simply having a blog meant you were "sophisticated, important, worth-while, or have something important to say". Now that everyone's friend's mother knows what a blog is and some are probably thinking of having one, eyes are turning to the more important question; Why should you have a blog? What should you write in it? What value are you adding with your blog?

It is so easy to create a blog, anyone anywhere can have one. Nobody expressed that  better than "Lore Sjöberg" in his article "The Ultimate Blog Post":

"Creating your own blog is about as easy as creating your own urine, and you're about as likely to find someone else interested in it."

He also says:

"Blog" itself is short for "weblog," which is short for "we blog because we weren't very popular in high school and we're trying to gain respect and admiration without actually having to be around people."

The most sophisticated blogs are those you read and feel like you have actually expanded your knowledge, or at least gotten some new insight about a topic through someone's "experience"… and I stress on EXPERIENCE.

I like people who write from their educational or professional experience. Even those who simply report news that has already been reported, but add their insight about the matter are actually interesting. I like posts that take one topic and dissect it –given that it is related to their expertise, and not just because they felt like it- even if they do not provide an answer.

What I dislike are bloggers who rant on and on about their problems, their life, how unjust this world is,…etc. Those end up writing "Bitch-Logs" -. For every bitch-post you will find a thousand other posts bitching about the same problem. It is such a waste of time.

To those people I say:

• No one is interested in the fact that you dislike this or love that. We don’t want to hear about your problems. Keep them to yourself and deal with them.
  

• If you want to discuss world hunger, tell us how you can help fight it.
  

• If you want to discuss wife beating, then you should have an experience to share, if not, then shut up, because you have no idea what you're talking about.
  

• If you hate the opposite sex because you were abused by an ex-boyfriend / girlfriend who has likely dumped you because you bitch too much, then you're not helping yourself by further bitching about it.
  

• If you hate the opposite sex just because you can't get one, don’t bitch about it, look in the mirror instead. There are millions of couples out there who are happily married. Just because you can't find one doesn’t mean the problem is "them".
  

• Stop complaining and propose solutions. Unless you have at least an idea for a solution, nobody wants to hear about it.
  

• If you don’t have any experience to share, then talk about your hobbies. If you have none, go get one. It might help you solve some of your problems.
  
  
• Don't give parenting advice is you've never had kids or had to raise kids.
  
  
• Don't give marriage advice if you've never been married.
  
  
• Don't give relatioship advice if you've never had one.
  

I do realize that for those B-loggers*, their B-blog is a kind of therapy and escape from their reality, where they get to talk and feel that someone is listening, which makes them feel important. Well, ok, someone is listening, then what? The person who is listening today actually has a life and will move on once is gets too cluttered with "important" things to worry about. You and your B-blog are just a stop for people who need to rest their minds after reading "sophisticated" blogs .So, in my opinion, this is not a permanent solution.

My proposed solution for those B-loggers is to sit with yourself and list the problems in your life that end up on your B-log. Convince yourself that nobody is interested in how unhappy you are with yourself –because essentially, it is your own fault- and try to solve your problems by seeking professional help .Make a pledge that you will no longer Bitch-log your problems to the world. Then, simply refrain from posting about topics which you have absolutely no experience in, and focus on adding more value to your readers.

As for me, I have a long list of B-logs to delete from my feed reader because they are simply garbage.

*Short for Bitch-loggers