Watching Momuments from the last thre years for the very first time
When I decided that ok, this Do I still like...? formula might work for me, I started collecting my memories about the recent few editions of all the Monuments and I had to realised that
I havent seen a single one in the last three years.
It might be even more correct to say, that I haven't seen most of the Monuments since the pandemic, but I clearly remember watching the Milano-Sanremo won by Jasper Stuyven, the Ronde finale between Kaspar Asgeeen and Mathieu van der Poel, the edition of Paris-Roubaix won by Dylan van Baarle. Oh, also, when was that edition of Liége-Bastogne-Liége when Julian Alaphilippe celebrated his victory too early? (And of course I have seen that unique Paris-Roubaix edition made me re-think my approach to the Monuments)
But otherwise, I have rather clear memories from the season 2019, with all the bigger and smaller one-day races.
Luckily, the idea of building a blog around a rethorical question (Do I still like the Cycling Monuments?) seems to give the right context to write about road cycling events happened years ago. Reshaping the structure of a blog about present day road cycling is exactly what I was searching during the recent years since the continuity of following present day road cycling competitions has broken.
It's always harder to RE-start than just start something. During the recent years I was struggling between a very fresh re-start with the latest events and my literary critic instinct that it must be some kind of story arc to follow including the editions I skipped earlier.
I'm no more bound to be topical, I can fjnay present what I'm really good: deconstructing old routines and aprroach to my to topic from a unique point of view.
It's a liberating feeling for my creativity.
Even the last weeken when I was watching the Paris-Roubaix editions from 2023 and 2024 I felt the new energy I would lkke to dive into this new intellectual adventure (it's after all still a rethorical challenge) I created to myself jist to ask a question.