It’s about that time of year… the time to announce the next year’s Literature Contest. It all started during my first full year as editor. Fresh out of college, I was excited about giving the Dirt Rag audience a chance to compose their thoughts and tell their stories. We lined up a few small prizes from Shimano and Phil Wood and announced three categories: poetry, short fiction and long fiction. About 45 people submitted articles, and the rest was history.

Now in its fifth year, we’ve grown from prizes like wheelsets and shoes to full-on bikes from Gary Fisher. I expect over 150 entries, and I expect them to be better than ever.

So it was a surprise to receive a phone call from a reader excited to enter. The phone call went something like this:

“So, uh… when you givin away them Gary Fisher bikes?”
“Well sir, I’m not sure what bikes you’re referring to.”
“You know, in that Literacy Contest you have.”

I could finish the conversation, but I have to stop there.
Literacy? The Literacy Contest?

Oh dear.

This is probably the same guy who made the trail closure signs for Hartwood Acres that read, “Trail Closed Do To Revegetation.”

It just goes to show you, bike bait attracts all fish, not just the literate ones.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 at 8:37 pm and is filed under New! Cool!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.