My copy of The Ride Journal arrived last week and it is even better than I had dared hope. At it’s most basic, what we have here is: a perfect bound book printed on nice heavyweight paper (it’s like a Howies catalogue only twice as big). There are one hundred and forty-eight pages (including the front and back covers) and only seven of these are given over to advertising. Compare that ratio to the last magazine you bought! The content comprises of hand drawn art, computer art, beautiful photography and a shed load of well written articles, most of which are quite short (though perfectly formed) which is handy if like me, you have a short attention span or if you like to have something to read whilst on the loo (and who doesn’t?). Oh, and the profits go to Re∼Cycle.

But it’s so much more than that. This book/zine/journal is an inspiration to go ride. Whether you ride big wheels, little wheels, skinny tyres, fat tyres, no brakes, hydraulic brakes, one gear or thirty. Bikes are ace.

If this were a publication about skateboarding rather than cycling then, even though it would be just as good, I wouldn’t have been so pleasantly surprised. I’m so stoked that someone has finally managed to present cycling in the way it deserves, by celebrating the experience rather than reading like an industry brochure. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly a gear freak and I love bike checks but what makes this special is that is discusses the ephemera of cycling without descending into product promotion. It’s nice not to be treated like more than a consumer (though I guess it helps that the book isn’t actively trying to sell anything other than the desire to ride a bike).

It appears to have come straight from the printers as it’s still got that lovely new book smell mmmmm…. Oh, and I found another little preview over at We Heart Stuff. In short, go buy a copy!

Looking back on what I’ve written so far it seems a bit odd seeing as I’ve hardly ridden my bike this Summer. This has almost exclusively been due to the atrocious weather and I am sad to report that I appear to has lost what little cycling mojo I once possessed. That said I have managed to partake of some bicycle-based tomfoolery this week. I was bored enough to change the bars on my big bike. Out with risers and in with what I refer to as my ‘messenger bar.’ It’s a 22in flat bar (small but not tiny) fun for messing around but I doubt it’ll stay there long as it means I can’t pull wheelies.

I’ve spent a lot of time reading through fixed gear blogs lately. My favourites include the Southsea Fixed Gear Fight Club, CLE Fix (I want one of these)and I Heart My Beard (this post in particular is wonderful). What I enjoy is observing how a new sport and it’s associated culture and scenes develop. It’s like witnessing the birth of street skating or a time when the bmx scene was still naive enough to be about having fun. That’s not to say all the fun has been sucked out of bmx culture but it sometimes takes videos like these offerings from Circuit, Lotek and 50/50 to remind me it’s not all about the haters.