Since so many of you asked, it’s an Icebreaker Quantum LS Zip Hoodie. It’s wool, and comfortable for strenuous exercise or just wearing. And it doesn’t smell. I was very upset to fray a few threads in the right shoulder the day after I got it, but otherwise, it’s held up quite well. And no, I wasn’t compensated for that.
Thanks for a great run, we hope to see you back. You may have felt like a voice in the wilderness, but many were listening. And, love Icebreaker.
Nooooooooo! It’s gonna suck to not have my Week in Bike fix! Now where will I get real cycling news and analysis? Good luck, and thanks for all the fish.
Thank you, cosmo.
Saddened to hear you’re going to be scaling back on the Cyclocosmings. (Cyclocosmogrifications? Cyclososmusement?)
Glad to read between the lines and hear that you’re likely going to have a more balanced (and likely monetarily rewarding) road ahead.
But bigger picture, I’m saddened that it almost seemed pre-ordained that this would happen. You read the race correctly; the breakaway was doomed.
It’s clear from the frequency and quality of the videos you’re produced that you’ve got 53×11 level passion and talent for this work. But (both fortunately and unfortunately) that passion and talent can be much better monetized working elsewhere, with greater monetary efficiency, which leaves more time for other things in your life. Valid and important concerns for you as your life evolves and your responsibilities to yourself and others changes. Hint: if you ever have children with your fiance, this decision would have been made for you immediately. 🙂
It’s a shame that the sport of pro cycling can’t command enough attention in the market to create a decent ROI on your efforts. It will continue to eke along with sub-Cosmo levels of coverage, and we will still enjoy whatever you find time to produce, whenever you can make them happen. Maybe one day you’ll hit the lottery, enjoy a life-changing IPO / equity event via an employer, or successfully rob several banks. That way you’d be free to ‘cosm without having to think about money. Until then, let the invisible hand guide you. It’s seldom wrong. Curse you, invisible hand! (Shakes visible fist angrily in the presumed direction of the invisible hand.)
B
I was going to write a long comment, thanking Cosmo for his time and effort, congratulating him for his talent and future success, expressing remorse at losing what is truly a regular highlight of my week and anxiety / malaise / sadness over the bigger structural problems with bike racing as a viable commercial sport (“Is this a real sport?!)… but Brian Lockhert has already said what I was going to say better than I could say it.
So, just x2 or +1 or ^ to his comment, or whatever.
Thanks, Cosmo.
+1
Brian Lockhart says it perfectly. Thank you Cosmo!
Well Put Brian, and agree with everything you said. Thanks a ton Cosmo, support will be there whenever I can help.
Absolute truth. Can’t say it any better.
Will miss the videos, truly the best cycling videos out there.
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Hi, I am a viewer in the UK and I love and will miss your ‘Week in Bike’. I appreciate your analysis and willingness to share your knowledge. Keep on keeping on – looking forward to your views on Sunday’s race.
Cosmo, It is a cruel reality that 1) you are the best at this, period, 2) you have a solid base of loyal viewers, who really appreciate what you do (see #1), but 3) can’t make this a viable use of your time, because the powers that be, don’t get it. It must be incredibly frustrating.
Thank you for doing what you do. Whatever you do moving forward, take pride in your productions to date. Economic success might be a worthy goal, but it isn’t the total measurement of quality. What you have done is appreciated, valued and has positively affected the lives of many people.
Thanks for some great videos Cosmo, I’ll miss the regular updates but pleased to hear that HTRWW will continue, it’s the analysis I look forward to most after every race. This sport of ours needs the voice of the independant enthusiast.
I never could understand how you could deliver such high quality products to us all so quickly and cheaply, so it’s no surprise to hear that it’s not sustainable for you. All the best and believe me, there are many bike fans out here who will be waiting for whatever you’re going to put out next.
Just a big thank you Cosmo. I was always happy to see The Week in Bike pop up on my RSS feeds.
I wish there was some kind of crowd funding webamathingy, you know, so people could, like, pay you or something but then there would always be those best broadca…
Anyway. Thanks for repeatedly bringing. a. smile. to. my. face. even. when. you. weren’t. smiling.
Fight the good fight, wherever it may be – and may happier, even more rewarding roads like ahead.
A fan.
Sniff…. you will be missed.
Wait, did you say you’re going to be able to ride your bike more?
I wholeheartedly approve.
Seriously? Sadness upon sadness.
But, unless you’ve done it, people don’t know just how much time gets sucked up editing and compiling and editing and compiling and rendering and … well, it takes a HUGE amount of time. We see stuff on the TV, and we think it’s just a dude pointing a camera and Hey Presto! It’s a video. But look at all those people in the credits. It’s their full-time job doing this stuff, because it takes A LONG TIME.
Have you thought about crowdfunding? I’d chip in, and I’m sure many others would, too. But enough people to make it worthwhile? Big question.
Thank you, Cosmo. You’ve made me laugh, many, many times, and informed and entertained me. You have a great style, and you’re a professional amongst amateurs.
Cosmo I would subscribe buddy.
I would pay to watch your week in bike and how the race was won. Thanks for a great run of high quality material and pointing out the funny subtleties of bike racing.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
That (selfish?) comment aside, good luck with everything! Your commentary is not only bang-on for core cycling fans, it was also super interesting for people who were newer to the sport. I’ve used your videos to show people just how much is happening in races other than pedaling hard, and they’ve been intrigued and entertained at the same time. Congrats, and thank-you.
PS We aspired to have one of our shirts on your show one day (and maybe still do…)
Thanks and good luck, Cosmo.
Let’s see. (a) Not surprised. Always wondered HTF you pulled it all off and still raced cross. (b) Been watching your HTRWW since the very early days and will always remain a fan. Don’t know HTF you pull those off either. And, I have raced bikes (on and off) since 1987 and I still get fun insight from your HTRWW series. So, Allez Cosmo and enjoy the time you took back!
Thanks Cosmo.
NOoooooo!!!! Cosmo!!!! Devastated to hear this but been expecting it for ages. You’re a living legend man, and I (and several people I know) will miss TWIB immensely!!! I’m going to go cry myself to sleep now. But please try not to let go of HTRWW. It’s unbelievable, man. PLEASE keep it up!
PS: We love you!
Cosmo, your work has been great and I hope we will still get many HTRWW video’s. Being Dutch and living in the Netherlands I have ample access to free race coverage and TV analysis – yet I find myself coming back to your site for great insights into race tactics and little decisive or funny moments in a race that you spot and others don’t. I just hope we don’t have to miss you too much – but want to thank you for all your efforts and wish you the best of luck!
A sad day. Thank you, Cosmo, for all the wonderful insight.
As everyone commenting here knows, the current standard of cycling coverage and ‘analysis’ is risible with Liggett, Kirby, et al trotting out the same cliches every race whilst talking as though it’s the first bike race you’ve ever watched. The fact that you can’t find a profitable home for your deep and varied talents is a terrible reflection on the sport we all love.
P.S. Please keep doing a few HTRWW, at least for the biggest one-day races!
“self call” = dartmouth so hard
Best of luck with the riding, and fianceeing, and whatever else you choose to spend your time and talents on. Just know that your HTRWW videos are one of those rare creations that both invents and perfects a new class of thing. I can’t imaging a world without them, or of anyone ever improving on them. Chapeau.
Thanks for every second of every single HTRWW and TWIB. I don’t mind admitting that half the joy I experience watching cycling is going to go with you. I get it though. I’ve always been pleasantly surprised that you continue to have the time to do this. As a cycling-mad professional media designer who races bikes (and with a wife and kids) I know there are more important things demanding your time — and I can verify that yes, you are very good at this.
I suppose you’ve already considered going the Patreon route and have a very good reason not to?
Hej Cosmo, many, many thanks from another disappointed Dutchman. As everybody here agrees it’s a pity & understandable & we could see it coming etc. Maybe a bit off-topic, but your continuous rants about the poor management of everything around pro cycling and the lack of change for the better made me think quite a bit. Even though I agree to most of what you say, I’m not so sure if pro cycling would be so much fun if it would manage to harvest more of its financial potential. You probably do not waste your time following European soccer but they did manage to cash in and channel lots of money to the top clubs from the bigger countries. The result is a disaster. Compare 20-year old soccer players so rich and spoiled that you can only hate them to pro cyclists that are so much more accessible. Compare the same soccer clubs always winning/getting more money/buying the top players/continue winning to the volatility of cycling teams so you never know what the season will bring. Compare the number of money-attracted assholes and nitwits in the periphery of pro soccer to that around pro cycling -not sure you will believe this one. One could continue this list ad infinitum. Of course, I also like to see my hero’s, and even those I do not like at all, well paid and especially well treated. There must be some optimum somewhere, and for sure it’s not up to me to decide how much people should earn, but for sure money is more likely to spoil pro cycling than that lack of it will stop passionate riders from racing and fans from enjoying it.
Take care, I look forward to HTRWW and whatever more surfaces.
Thanks for the great ride. I look forward to HTRWW and any tidbits that get thrown our way.
Ayer alguien en twitter preguntó cómo se podía aprender sobre estrategia de las carreras, como los ataques y fugas, así que le dije que con Cyclocosm se podía aprender bastante sobre ese tipo de cosas, le interesó mucho, a quien preguntó y a otras personas de twitter. Ahora resulta que se casi-acaba el cyclocosmos. No es justo.
thanks for all the great work!
greetings from a fan in Europe.
Cosmo,
Long time listener, first time caller…
Good luck in whatever venture is next for you. Your fresh, insightful and maverick take on the weird world of pro cycling has kept me informed and entertained. You will be greatly missed.
From a fan in Bristol, UK
Sad to hear you are going to be scaling down the coverage but understandable. Good luck and chapeau!
Thanks for all the great work. It’s been a joy watching.
Long time viewer, no time commenter. The videos were really great. I second all the comments made above.
Cosmo I love your work, I’m sad that there will be less of it in the near future but I understand the decision you had to make. You remain our greatest living English language cycling pundit.
I will still seek out and enjoy any cycling coverage you produce and I stand by my pledge to throw money at you if you ever decide to crowd-fund something cycling related.
It never gets easier, you just go faster.
Thank you and good luck.
I wish that like Ophra you had the money to just start your own damn TV Network. Altho, I guess that dint turn out so well either… You will be missed. If you are honeymooning in Oregon, bring a bike, love to pedal a few turns with you. Cheers! P
I always wondered who will replace phil leggit the voice of cycling (after having lived in Australia, UK and now USA I was impressed to discover he appears across all three placesand offers good commetary).
After discovering your this week in bike and how the race was won about a year ago, I was so pleased to have found a commentator and journalist who knew about bike racing … far cry from UK eurosport commentators sometimes 🙁 even SBS commentators …
Well hopefully you get a decent paid gig involved with cycling as I would love to continue to hear your analysis … either way it has been a pleasure and go get em 🙂
was meant to also say that I think you would certainly be a great successor to phil leggit … but my random thoughts got the better of me
Nooooooo!
8000 views on TWIB #63
10000 views on TWIB #64.
22,000 views on HTRWW – RVV
i will give you two dollars USD for monthly for a subscription.
Can you live on 16k a month? pleeeeeeease 🙂
i dont read Cycling news and i never want to read it in the future.
Save us Cosmo!
Sad to see you scale back, but as others have said I don’t blame you. I know you have tried to monetize before and other sites are starting to offer caps, jerseys and the like (probably going to pick up an inrng jersey for the summer) but I doubt that would adequately compensate you for the pressures put on your personal life. Sad fact.
Thank you ! For all the hard work!
Fridays will not be the same without you, Cosmo. Thanks for being a sometimes appropriately cynical, always spot on voice in the cycling wilderness for us.
our vids are the best, hands down. (And +1 to Brian Lockhart’s eloquent summary of the value you have brought to the field.)
Best of luck on the new job, with the fiancee, with ‘cross, and with keeping a wry smile on your face at the absurdity of life and the joy of two wheels. Looking forward to a HTRWW when you have the time and inclination to produce one.
Thanks for all the work, Cosmo. You have far outlasted so many of the similarly generous but unsustainable free gifts of the early internet era. I will continue to watch HTRWW instead of races most of the time, even if they are days or weeks after the event. I’ll continue to monetize your snarky T-shirt design work if it continues, though I’m sure that only buys a little cat litter. CONGRATS on having a fiance!!
“The things you do for love are gonna come back to you one by one.”
Mahalo,
Urchin
Cosmo – oh nooooooo! Cycling fans have just lost a huge source of information and laughter.
As a previous TWIB sponsor, we had a great response to our sponsorship. We would be happy to support again!! (We’re actually sponsoring The Inner Ring this month).
Thank you so much for your concise and insightful TWIB. They will be sorely missed. Please drop me a tweet the next time you are watching SBS’s cycling coverage. I know you want to know more about saving 30% on your car insurance
Thanks Cosmo, enjoy you ride. And keep coming back to your liking, enjoyed your show and will do so.
Thank you Cosmo.
Your contribution to my Fridays will certainly be missed, but I appreciate the need to move on and wish you the very best.
thanks Cosmo! great videos, awesome work!!
Cosmo,
All the best to you. Total novice here: your commentary and videos were revelations for me of the meanings and goings-on of these races. You have really amplified my enjoyment of cycling and racing, so thank you!
The boys over at the Cycling Podcast (Moore, Birnie and Friebe) hit us up for $7.50 US for 11 special podcasts throughout the year. I subscribed to them, and would gladly pay for what you produce. It might not finance the whole lifestyle, but a little spare cash never hurt…
Thank you for the last few years of commitment to the sport and its coverage, hands down one of the best out there
The cycling apocalypse is now! First, Bicycling publishes (and answers) a reader letter asking which colour of paint is the lightest – in weight; second, TWiB is no more. The new world order is coming: Old curmudgeons will be ostracized and forced to ride 11 and 16t sprockets in their cassettes on $2,000 crabon wheels with a twice-yearly change in BB standards. European race coverage will remain locked down into expensive cable bundles but be parcelled into ‘plays-of-the-week’ soundbites with the NFL and MLS (although there will be onboard cameras to show the crashes), or be available in its entirety only by physically hacking into a trans-Mediterranean internet cable.
Now it’s time for a new mantra – ride better (not faster). Spend more time with your family; take your kids to local events and help them build a passion for bike racing. One day, they too may be able to rise to great heights of informed insight into our sport and reach out to other fans with their missives. The spirit of Cosmo will live on in new deeds!
Righto, back to consoling myself with bourbon…
I’m relatively new to cycling (as opposed to just riding my bike like I used to do) but I love all your videos; funny informative and concise. Glad you’re not fully retiring, so we can still catch some HTRWW action. Too bad velo snooze or somebody could give you a spot but your independent snarkyness probably got in the way? Thanks and we’ll always have Paris (Roubaix)
So sorry to see this come to an end. Great stuff, Cosmo, keep it up wherever you go.
Chapeau Cosmo.
Just because the tools exist now to make your own high quality, regular on-line video show and broadcast it to the world …. doesn’t mean that its easy. Or quick.
So, thank you so much for giving all that you have done. I have been watching, and I love your shows.
For some time now, I have regarded you as the best voice out there on competitive cycling. i like the attention you have been giving to womens side of the sport, and your take on CIRC was the best out there.
So Allez Allez with whatever you have planned for the future, whether ‘we’ see it or not.
Thanks for all the awesome vid’s dude. Bike racing won’t be the same without you. I wish we could have seen you go prime time.
Good luck.
James.
Cosmo
When the things we are most passionate about become a chore or annoyance, be it from internal or external sources, time for a step back. The cycling “establishment” has neither the capacity nor cognition to appreciate your work. If one seeks recognition and appreciation from a body whose sole purpose seems to be to serve their own unenlightened self interest, the wait will be long and unfulfilled. those of us whose first keystrokes on Friday AMs were to open the latest TWIB will have to find a way to fill the void. Fill yours with the joy of your engagement, the knowledge that there is a loyal, appreciative fanbase who has enjoyed and admired your work, and long hours in the saddle. Thanks.
Thank you for all you have done. I recently got turned on to your work through cyclingtips and i liked it so much I watched every single twib from start to finish. btw, how to watch a bike race is the best thing ever.. On a selfish level I’m bummed . I was becoming habituated to checking your site on Fridays.
You have a real gift for writing and your insights in to bike racing are are awesome, so I am very glad to hear you are going to continue making hrtwws. Thanks in advance for that.
I suspect most of us have had a taste of finding out that the thing we have a passion for doesn’t pay well. the difference is not many are good enough at it that’s it’s a real contribution and they should be able to make a comfortable living, but the opportunity just wasn’t there. It’s no loss to the world that I never became a rock god, but the absence of your weekly videos will most certainly leave a void.
bests,
-s
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
My addiction of riding and watching will now be incomplete! I do not think you understand what you are doing to my life. I am will now have to search the dirty streets for micro dosing stage reviews and weekly cycling current events!
This has literally been the worst spring of my life for visual entertainment…. First Jeremy Clarkson from top gear and now you!
Did you punch yourself in the face, then call and report yourself to yourself, and subsequently fire yourself?
Seriously!! Can you at least create a t-shirt that I can buy to say I was part of an era?
Saddened but happy to hear you may be moving on to better things.
English-language cycling coverage has rarely been any good. So bad in fact, your no-budget stuff looks great in comparison. Don’t give up though, Greg LeMond finally found a gig at Eurosport after all!
Cosmo, my very sincere thanks for all of the hard work, passion, and insight that you put into these. I watched religiously. Would be more than happy to join any funding schemes suggested above. Hope the open road, or course, treats you well.
So long, and thanks for all the vids.
NOOOO!!!
You do a great job of recapping a race- it’s a highlight of my week (really)!!
You do a great job, and you deserve to feel proud of your work!
Ben
Dear Cosmo,
Like everyone else, many thanks for all of your fantastic productions. Wishing you all the best for your future, and hoping this may allow some time for some more HTRWW. Many congratulations on the style, knowledge, voice and quality of all of the videos you have produced – they are terrific about cycling, and they are fun. A pretty strong combination!
All best wishes.
Andrew
Only the best, Cosmo. Wherever your path may lead, I hope it only brings you happiness and fulfillment. And cripes man, I hope you end up getting paid to do this stuff because you are clearly the best at it. Chapeau!
Thank you for all your wonderful work ((hope it continues in some form). All the best with the next chapter in your life.
Thank you, Cosmo.
Sad, sad day. Your videos, both TWIB and HTRWW, have been highlights of my week for about as long as I’ve been riding bicycles. All the best to you in your future endeavors. I’m sure whatever you choose next, it’ll be great and benefit from your attention!
Cosmo… thank you.
Thank you Cosmo. Echo comments re subscription. You’ve become go-to source for cycling analysis.
Thanks for taking the time, any future HTRWWs will be cherished like a rare Chavanel win.
Thanks for the great work Cosmo. All the best. Chris
Thanks for all of your work. All of the videos have provided hours of entertainment. Best of luck.
Thank you Cosmo, you will be so missed!!!
Thanks for all you’ve done. If you decide to scale back up, Patreon (https://www.patreon.com and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patreon) might interest you – I’m sure you have plenty of fans (myself included) willing to donate some money per episode!
Thanks for all the videos Cosmo. Best of luck and happiness to you in the future!
Cosmo,
I thought the gas stations in Japan where funding all this! I was so wrong.
Congratulations on your engagement!
I won’t miss you, I will just be wondering what you are doing!
Lot’s of Love
Sad to see you scale back the videos, but very glad to hear some HTRWW will still appear to brighten cycling coverage and let me know when it’s ‘road season’.
There’s only so long you can bang on a door before eventually concluding that there isn’t anyone inside, or in this case that they are deaf and blind to your undisputed talents!
It’s difficult to explain to the unbeliever why watching cycling is interesting, but by pointing them to your website they’d soon understand.
Thank you for all your excellent work.
Thank you Cosmo for all your hard work and effort to produce the stand out bike videos on the internet! I hope you read these comments to see how appreciated you are by your fans. Good luck in your future endeavours, I am looking forward to seeing anything you produce in the future.
Chapeau Cosmo!
Sad day. Always looked forward to TWiB – kinda softened the Monday blues.
Best of luck with future endevors – will be checking back regularly for HTRWW.
Your efforts were massively appreciated by me. As above, you are bloody good.
Andrew Tafi’s quote is apropo, thanks for the good work. My best to you and your’s, cheers, Eb
Thanks Cosmo for some of the best videos on my favourite sport. Have you considered crowdfunding because I’m pretty sure you could get paid to do this?
Brutal news.
Dear Cosmo
Sad indeed! Discovered your reports just a few weeks ago. Without any new ones, will have to work through the old stuff backwards. Great show. Thank you, good night and good luck!
David
Hey Cosmo
Thanks for the videos, I am sorry to hear they will be less frequent. It might be worth talking to John Galloway at the Velocast to see if there is any common ground, should you ever decide to try to make a career out of it again.
Brilliant work, the best recap on racing. Wr will miss it
Sad, but fully understandable that you are scaling back.
Pretty much everything I know about bike racing I learned from HTRWW, and it was a fantastically entertaining education.
Some day the right combination of broadcast idiots will figure out that:
a) there is a big, rich, tasty, advertiser-friendly demographic niche out in NorthAmericaLand (I include my native Canada) that wants good, timely, live cycling coverage. We have the discretionary income to drop $5K on carbon fibre bikes and riding tours of Europe for Gods sake, HELLO MARKETERS, WAKE UP; and
b) we’re smart enough to want the kind of coverage and in-depth commentary that only Cosmo can provide.
That day may never come but if it does there will be much rejoicing among your legions of fans.
And justice will prevail.
Meanwhile, get out there & ride and keep loving it.
Chapeau, sir.
Thanks Cosmo, I’ve really enjoyed your insights and opinions.
Shame it isn’t possible for you to keep going, but you’re leaving a body of work that will serve as a fantastic lesson in how these things can, and should be done.
This was the first video I watched of yours. I really enjoyed it.
Best of luck to you, Cosmo. Have enjoyed your work for many years.
thank you.
Thank you Cosmo and good luck!