The last thing I want to do is sully the high-brow reportage we do over here.

But you may be noticing some ads on the blog.

This is an advertising program run by WordPress.com, which hosts this blog. I applied for the program and was accepted, and so now I am allowing these ads. Although, I have some mixed feelings about it.

On one hand, I don’t want to annoy any of you. For me, the best part of Eugene Bicyclist is the community that has gathered around it.

On the other hand, if I am honest about it, I wouldn’t mind some small compensation for the considerable time I put into this blog. I don’t expect to be getting rich, but if I’m lucky, maybe it will cover my annual cost of inner tubes and chain lube — and/or help me replace the camera that broke when one of my kids tossed it across the kitchen.

Still, to me, that’s not worth annoying you lovely people. So if the ads bug you, or just seem wrong somehow, please feel free to let me know. I can opt out of this program at any time. If there is overwhelming opposition, I probably will. If not, the ads will probably stay.

Certainly, I don’t think all advertising is annoying. My hope is that the ads actually will be of value or interest to you. That’s the point of what WordPress is trying to do with this, I think. We’ll give it a chance and see.