Bikepack article in Singletrack

[Taylor]

Got quite excited about it but got bored of it quite quickly.

The mag seems to be using a lot more american based stuff that was probably written a year ago for the US.

I'd much rather see Chipps, Mark, Dave, etc. having a mini epic/C2C/S24H delete as appropriate in the UK that we can all relate to. Not far flung adventures that most of us can't afford to take.

I find the "your trips and adventures" section on here more inspirational than the half dozen pages I've just read in the new issue.

Judging by the first two issues of the "NEW" mag, I doubt I'll renew my subs when it runs out. Shame really, as the rest are just like comics anyway.

Kind of turned into a whinge.

[Dan_K]

I downloaded it this morning but haven't had a chance to read it yet. I do the PAYG subs for £2 a month (it was either Singletrack or supporting a third world orphan but I figured it may be frowned upon to take a small child into the toilet with me).
Anyway, i'll give it a read and let you know what I think.
I've got a digital subs for MBR too (£13 for the year on a deal) but that's pretty pony so I just look at the pictures.
I occasionally buy TGO, Trail and Country Walking as well and think that they're ok but that's probably because i've exhausted everything ever written about cycling and using my legs to get around is a novel experience.

[Bearbonesnorm]

So what's this ST article about then? ... I'm getting the idea that it's not UK based.

[Taylor]

Texas desert with the obligatory skull in the picture.

[griffdowg]

you lot need to spend less time reading poor show mags and more time riding :D

If you pooled all your money, you could go anywhere.

The world is your lobster.

G

[Nick]

It's just a ride report really, sort of thing you'd find on a blog. My biggest issue is that the writer seemed miserable and they didn't really enjoy the experience, all a bit emotionally flat. I'd give my left testicle to be out there right now rather than planning a wet Wednesday night ride in Shropshire!

[MonkeySpacePilot]

They have had a couple of decent bikepacking articles in singletrack before. I think one where they rode with the guy from carousel design works and another where someone took on the gr5.

Wish I could remember which issues they were in, wouldn't mind reading them again.

[d45yth]

MSP - Check out ST issue 55 and maybe 54.

I don't think you find out about much in the magazines that you haven't already seen on the 'net. Especially for the likes of us that frequent the forums.

[Cheeky Monkey]

STW's new look just reminds me of Howies catalogues.

Funniest bivyingvarticle was when Mark nearly developed hypothermia in some Topeak (?) shelter.

[Taylor]

STW's new look just reminds me of Howies catalogues.

Funniest bivyingvarticle was when Mark nearly developed hypothermia in some Topeak (?) shelter.

That was a good article.
Did you see the film? Even better than the book!

Behold, Bivvy madness.
http://broadbandsports.com/node/20048

[chris n]

So what's this ST article about then? ... I'm getting the idea that it's not UK based.

Most of it it's here:
http://whileoutriding.com/2012/02/15/ba ... -big-bend/

Nice photography, and the rest of Cass's blog is worth a read too.

[Nick]

Yeah the blog is great, as is the photography, thanks for the link. Much better than the edited version in the mag. They need original content aimed at a magazine format, not rehashed blog posts.

[cass gilbert]

Hi there,

Sorry you didn't enjoy the article I wrote for Singletrack. Of course, everyone's entitled to their opinion, but just figured I'd clarify some points...

The story wasn't reprinted from a US mag - it was written for Singletrack.

I appreciate features on places far from home may be harder to connect with, but on a personal level, I enjoy reading about regions I won't necessarily go to. I guess that's each to their own.

Yes, the pics do appear on the blog I keep - but at a rather smaller size of 450px. I thought Singletrack did a really nice job with the layout of the magazine.

I keep a free blog with loads of content that I try and update fairly regularly, some of which is about bikepacking. But I also I try and eek a living out of selling some stories. Singletrack doesn't pay too much, but they do pay something. I'm sorry if the feature seems a rehashed blog entry. In actual fact, it's 2500 (hopefully interesting and inspiring - rather than miserable) words, as opposed to a series of captioned photos on a lonely blog in the wide open expanse of the internet...

Well, at least my mum liked it (-;

Have fun camping out,

Cass
http://www.whileoutriding.com

[Nick]

Oh don't I feel bad now :(

As I said the blog is great, and I suppose it's nice to have a mag take it and ask you to write a feature from it, but I honestly prefered the original post/photo journal on your blog, although in hindsight my original response was a bit harsh!

I'm not at all jealous either didn't mean to offend, sorry if I did.

[Taylor]

Evening Cass,
I'm not saying you can't write and your article is poor show, that wasn't what I was implying but having re-read it, it did seem to come across wrong, I just didn't connect with it as I do with other peoples trips that have taken place in the UK. I'm also not liking the new lay out of Singletrack but thats a separate issue.
UK trips are just more accessible to most of us on here that struggle to steal a single overnight trip from wives and small children.
Unless most people have been to Texas, it's just an alien place to many. Almost everybody on here has been to Snowdonia/Cambrian's/Cairngorms/Peaks/Lakes. So when somebody posts a trip report on here it makes me think, can I get a weekend away from the family to do this route and be back for the school run on Monday.

The accessibility piques my imagination more than anything.

Having read some of your blog tonight the thing that caught my attention most was the Dartmoor/Exmoor trip you posted last August. Living near Bristol makes it a possibility for me to try. Trying to ask the wife for a week off to go ride in the Texan desert without her and the kids is a non starter.

[Cheeky Monkey]

Know where FF's coming from about accessibility / opportunity. Got to admit wasn't particularly bothered by Cass' article but hey, there were plenty of others in that and other mags that haven't been to my taste. Just an unavoidable consequence of personal preference.

I liked Benji's article near the start but then turned over to a (what smacked of being) a space filling graphic on the percentage of people running whatever daimeter seatpost. Bleurgh