Freewheeling May Be Running
Stealth Campaign to Attract New Members
Freewheeling's Sam Walker was accused yesterday of running what
amounts to an uberstealth campaign to attract members from Future
behemoth Cycling Plus, which has been operating a successful forum for
several years. Sources tell us that Walker recently registered on his
competitor's forum as 'rice dream', an impossibly obscure reference
which experts say will fly right past the overwhelming majority of
everyone who casts an eye over the 'active users' box.
Walker, a former contributor to C+, appeared nonplussed when asked to
comment on the allegations: "That wasn't me," he insisted. "I haven't
visited their boards for months. In any case, it's impossible to trace
a yahoo.com email account."
Some C+ regulars are suspicious. One opined "That's just the sort of
thing 'Sam' - if that's what he's calling himself these days - would
do." The source referred to Walker's perplexing name change last year,
oddly enough the subject of a May 2003 'Deeply Unfashionable' column
entitled 'What's in a Name'. In it the writer used poet Marriane
Moore, NYPD Blue, the Edsel automobile, and even oral sex as
ammunition in a losing bid to explain the rationale for the ID swap.
Tens of thousands of readers cancelled their subscriptions in protest.
Carlton Reid, publisher of the eerily omniscient industry trade
journal Bicycle Business, has suggested: "It's safe to assume that
particular column was the reason for the abrupt decline in C+
circulation figures. No wonder they sacked him."
"I suppose one can just barely see what he's attempting to do here,"
said another C+ forum member. "In an idle moment I often cast a glance
down to that section to see who else is around. 'Rice Dream' is not a
particularly unusual handle compared to others I've seen, but it did
set bells to ringing, and that night it hit me like a tonne of bricks
in the middle of what had been a particularly satisfying session of
lovemaking. You have to dig into the archives to know what it's all
about, but back when he was scaring up hosts for his 'Hospitality
Tour' story which eventually ran in the magazine, it became well known
among those who cared that the guy was addicted to the white stuff.
After that moment of stunning realization, I continued with my efforts
and reached a not unsatisfying climax."
Cycling Plus editor Tony Farrelly could not be reached for comment,
but an anonymous staffer suggested that Walker's antics, if proven,
were nothing to be alarmed about. "We've got over 10,000 members; he's
still struggling to make it past the critical three dozen bar. Talk to
us in a few years and maybe we'll show a modicum of concern."
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http://www.freewheelingforum.com/index.php
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What's In a Name?
http://www.bikereader.com/solo/name.html