Monthly Archives: June 2011

Three Million

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I am amazed… according to my statistical logs that track my bootedman.com website, yesterday the “three millionth” visitor came to my site.

The vast majority of visitors are driven by search engine results. I am amazed and pleased that many pages of my site get ranked within the top 10 by Google — without my even trying. Lots and lots of guys (and women) look for information about vintage Frye boots, cowboy boots, motorcycle boots, and leather gear, while some obsess about whether to wear jeans inside cowboy boots or not. Many others enjoy photos of motorcycle police events about which I have posted a number of galleries.

My website got started in early 2005 — first on “free space” offered by my ISP — then I migrated it to its own domain and web host in April, 2006. That is when I began to collect statistics. (A previous blog post describes why I created the site in the first place.)

In the first partial year, I had “only” about 20,000 visitors. But as the years moved along and the website expanded from about 20 static pages to now over 780 pages (included over 360 on the “Boots Wiki”), from about 200 pics to now about 8,000 — the site gets a lot of traffic. But I’m still amazed that has happened, considering it is only a hobby site.

Happy Three Millionth, Bootedman.com. The original, the one and only, and not to be confused with my friend’s YouTube channel by the same name. (That’s okay, C, I forgive ‘ya and know where to direct the occasional person who confuses the two of us, and enjoy our annual visits.)

PS: Congratulations to a visitor from Gottmadingen, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, who was the one who visited my Guide to Motorcycle Police Patrol Boots and tripped the log counter to the 3M mark.

Life is short: wear boots!

No Sneakers, Sandals, or Leather

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As typically happens this time of year, we are in a full-bore summer heat and humidity onslaught. Air temperatures for the past few days have been in the “feels like” range of about 100°F (38°C), with relative humidity in the range of 50% to 70%. It doesn’t take long when exposed to this heat and humidity that one begins to sweat profusely and it saps all energy.

As I look around at my neighbors and others in my home town, I see many are wearing lightweight, comfortable clothing, which usually includes shorts, sneakers, and sandals (or those heinous flip-flops or crocs). I understand why they choose lightweight attire. It really is hot out there.

As for me, I am “dressing light” too — lightweight cotton twill pants for work with a short-sleeve cotton shirt.

What am I wearing on my feet? Boots, of course. I am riding my Harley every day both commuting to my office as well as running errands after work. Always, always: long pants and sturdy motorcycle boots. I am not among the Darwin-Award winners who choose to put on sneakers with shorts and climb aboard a heavyweight motorcycle.

When I get home, and will be home for the evening, I may just run around inside my house in a pair of shorts — nothing else. While I enjoy wearing leather, this is not the season. I do get leather out of my gear closet from time to time, though, to clean it and treat it, so it will be ready for the times I will wear it when it’s cooler.

Meanwhile, I’m being practical and trying to keep cool.

Life is short: wear long pants and boots when riding a motorcycle, despite whatever temperature it is outdoors.