KB started to get Bicycling magazine about a year ago. I’m not sure of how, where, or who sold her name and address to whom, nor the intricacies of how such a transaction comes about. All I know is that it started to show up, tethered to Mountain Biking. I started to read them.
I must confess I’m a bit of a bike freak. I love just about anything out there that is bike related. When these mags started showing up I saw it as a way to thumb through some ads, maybe read an article or two, and at least entertain myself with a beer in a hot bath for a few minutes. And that was that for most of the past year. Then last month’s issue of Bicycling showed up (Mountain Biking has stopped coming). I was thumbing through, skimming articles that caught my attention, as I had done for the past year, then I came upon a story about ADHD and cycling.
It caught my interest. I read the whole thing. I was quite surprised to find an article with such journalistic value and so well written within the tomes of a cycling magazine. Sure the article was bike related, but it had that quality of real information that is so devoid in most articles. I paid a bit more attention to the rest of the issue and found that is was a bit better written than my skimming had previously found. I actually liked it.
This month’s issue showed up and I was excited. And once again I was surprised to find myself enjoying the magazine. Most of the content is fluff, I admit, but there again amidst the regular offerings was a well written story that caught my attention and that I enjoyed reading.
So I like Bicycling magazine. It’s not that big of a confession unless you understand my detest of most bike mags. I’ve read every single one, I believe, at least once. Some I’ve actually called and told them to never send to the shop where I was working again because they sucked so bad. Some I’ve flirted with extensively and still enjoy reading on occasion. And others, I once loved and now can’t stand.
Bicycling, like all the rest, has its problems. The format is horrible. It appears that the graphic artist, who has severe ADD and a god complex to match, gets to put whatever they want wherever it fits or doesn’t. You cannot find a whole page of verbiage anywhere inside the magazine. Bicycling is particularly bad when viewed from this perspective. Articles are surrounded by tidbits of useless information provided in the print version of a sound byte. Now, I’ve been told that I have ADD, I would disagree. I can sit and read a book, sit through multiple hour seminars and regurgitate all the info that was presented, but I must have ADD because I’m always moving. Unless of course, I’m not. But I still don’t see the appeal to this format and feel it is the biggest obstacle to me really embracing this mag.
So, I like to get Bicycling. Will I pay for it? No. But if they fixed their format and focused in on their strenghts it could become a great magazine, an entertaining read, and maybe even informative.
I’m out.