New online, free mag.
http://www.cyclingscotland.org/news/the-launch-issue-of-scottish-cycling-magazine/
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Resources
Scottish Cycling magazine
(32 posts)-
Posted 11 years ago #
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Wonder why Cycling Scotland, who are not Scottish Cycling, have named their magazine after the latter (who are the umbrella body for competitive cycling in Scotland) rather than themselves (who are the quango responsible for doing something or another about cycling but not actually actively campaigning or lobbying on its behalf or sponsoring / building cycling infrastructure).
Seriously, in a marketplace saturated with excellent (and not so excellent) cycling magazines, why are Cycling Scotland shelling out money on creating a free entry focusing on leisure cycling? I know it's not printed - but that sort of design and layout and glossy photography does not come cheap, particularly when it's on a par with others on the newsagents shelves.
That organisation has weird priorities.
Posted 11 years ago # -
The magazine loads with a very night-time unfriendly voice-over.
Posted 11 years ago # -
"why are Cycling Scotland shelling out money on creating a free entry focusing on leisure cycling?"
They are not (though they may be advertising in it).
"
Since virtually all of the current cycling magazines in the UK concentrate on performance/racing/fitness the theme of Scottish Cycling is much more relaxed with an emphasis on cycle touring and recreational cycling on both road bikes and mountain bikes. Like our sister publication Scottish Walks this new cycling magazine will be aimed somewhere between the beginner and the slightly more experienced but not fanatic rider with an emphasis on encouraging people to get on their bikes and enjoy what Scotland has to offer."
http://www.scottishcyclingmag.co.uk
Posted 11 years ago # -
Looks promising, glad to see a mag not obsessed with sportives and wannabe racers
Posted 11 years ago # -
"...a mag not obsessed with sportives and wannabee racers..." .Citycycling? ;-)
Posted 11 years ago # -
They are not (though they may be advertising in it).
Really? Well, in which case I must back pedal slightly, because I certainly couldn't find that bit (have just gone back through the website and magazine and can't find the bit that says it's published by the Herald. I guess I should have read more into my "why is it called Scottish Cycling not Cycling Scotland" observation.
They must have a very clever business model if they are going to prosper in a crowded market place and distribute the thing for free on advertising revenue alone.
I'd like to maintain my original, cynical point however that it's yet another leisure cycling magazine (be it touring / Audax / LEJOG vs. Sportive or racing, it's largely the same thing at a slightly different pace) that (from my skim reading) has very little whatsoever to do with the realities of daily cycling and applies something of a tourist board gloss to everything. I'm sure it will appeal to people who already cycle semi-seriously. However, I can't see cyclists like my Mum and Dad - my yardstick of cyclists who like a little tottle around the place at the weekend or on their holidays and would love to do more but are too terrified to do anything but drive their bikes to some cycle path and go from there - using many of the routes.
Perhaps I just expect more or different from what I assume and imagine Cycling Scotland is meant to be.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I'd imagine VisitScotland have a finger in that pie? It's certainly glossy and 'pro' - I'm generally turned off by too many adverts in things, and this is full of them, but the actual readable content isn't bad.
Interesting that it's edited by Cameron McNeish - more commonly known as a slightly grumpy hiker. Dougie Vipond on the cover (in the Snow Roads I think) as well, so a heavy 'Adventure Show' feel (a show I've often thought of as a missed opportunity, they generally manage to make things seem remarkably dull that are quite interesting - save the Snow Roads show, there was something intriguing about that).
Smudge, hopefully returning sometime soon - had something of a crisis in time, and confidence in it, last year which I'm working round now.
Posted 11 years ago # -
There is a print version too for £1 (see the http://www.scottishcyclingmag.co.uk link).
I often get a copy of Scottish Walks passed on to me which gets a brief flick through. It's basically like the back pages of TGO or Trail (also passed on to me) which is just list a pile of walks you can do. I can see this cycling magazine being similar.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I'm generally turned off by too many adverts in things, and this is full of them
At least they're decent adverts, from companies whose products I'm actually reasonably likely to buy. But then, perhaps I'm in their demographic; I don't buy magazines full of carbon road bikes and What Hifi?-level rhetoric about wheel taughtness and the latest lung-busting time trial in Grimsby.
It reminds me a lot of Trail magazine, even the typesetting. That may not be unintentional, given the editorship.
I'll differ with K on the content, though. The reality of daily cycling is that it's often quite dull unless you ride in the country or have paths that let you see nature and the seasons. The same piece of tarmac and the same hazards gets a bit boring after a while. You can only go so far with reviews of the latest Gore Superexcel Ultratex jacket and Cateye's new FRL-800 made with 100% organic LEDs. Perhaps Scottish Cycling will take more of a ride-your-bike-to-visit-places rather than Miles! Hills! GPS! Speed! and that would be independent of distance and terrain. Sort of like the routes that Nick Cotton publishes.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I love those reviews that talk about the stiffness that can be felt through the cranks, or of a bike feeling more stable through the corners (when they're comparing 4 £2k + road bikes) etc. It reminds me of little explanatory plaques beside pieces of modern art.
'Here Specialized are bringing the essence of the nature of being into the creation of a carbon frame which is reminiscent of the struggle of the Inqububu tribe in the Amazonian rainforest. The brakes symbolize the very nature of life which can sometimes feel difficult to stop; but that is countered by a drivetrain which encapsulates the fundamental reasoning behind marshamallows.'
(sorry, I was recently at the BP Portrait Awards at the portrait gallery and there are some stunning pieces - one, a triumph of hyper-realism, with the artist's tired-looking girlfriend, was particularly striking - then I read the card which went into it bringing to mind some Greek myth and the story behind that, and I thought, 'erm, unless that Greek myth is just about the goddess having had a bit of a rough night on the tiles and waking up bleary-eyed I'm not entirely sure I see how - but then I always feel if you have to explain the meaning of your piece then you've failed)
Posted 11 years ago # -
I always feel if you have to explain the meaning of your piece then you've failed
Like most pieces of art, understanding of the thought process behind it or the symbolism contained within it should not be critical to its enjoyment but should be the secondary level of appreciation. Yes, I love the colours in that painting, and look at the detail! But why is it that way round, and what is the significance of this bit that the artist chose to include?
For example, Turner's masterwork:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fighting_Temeraire#Symbolism
Posted 11 years ago # -
"But why is it that way round, and what is the significance of this bit that the artist chose to include?"
I guess I can see that as a secondary level, but to be honest to me personally it doesn't really affect whether I like a piece or not. When in Madrid last year I saw various Bosch pieces in close time-proximity to Guernica. Both full of symbolism etc etc etc. All I came away with was that Bosch blew me away, Guernica didn't really move me. A friend of mine was utterly horrified at this as it was an 'important' painting - I have no doubt of that, and understand its important, but it just did nothing for me (and all sorts of people have tried to find deeper meaning, especially in the bull's head, despite the fact Picasso himself said that the bull's head was in there because he really just wanted to put a bull's head in it, nothing more, nothing less.
Ah, classic CCE thread creep.
The things I have most rtouble with are the likes of Jackson Pollock or Rothko. If someone was to say they liked the colour, or the random beauty, then fine. But when people start talking about loving it for the symbolism I just don't get it.
(but then there's a lot in art that annoys me - f'rinstance the fact that the Skating Minister might not be by Raeburn, suddenly the painting isn't worth so much. People have loved and revered that painting, but some of the reaction seems to suggest that's down to who painted it as much as the painting itself - nothing, absolutely nothing, has changed about the aesthetic of the painting and yet suddenly it's not worthy of reverence...)
Posted 11 years ago # -
Did you ever see the series about modern art that Muriel Gray fronted?
Posted 11 years ago # -
he really just wanted to put a bull's head in it
We spent endless
happyhours in standard grade English studying the works of Norman McCaig. So much inference in the construction and the phrasing, that we were taught to appreciate, turned out to:a) completely spoil simple enjoyment of the piece (not that I could say I particularly enjoyed any of McCaig's output, known inferences or not)
b) be rather more than what McCaig himself intended. He came to our school and did a talk and everything. I wish I could say that our teacher looked somewhat crestfallen, but I don't remember that happening.Posted 11 years ago # -
@kaputnik...page six at the bottom says it is published by the Herald and Times Group.
Posted 11 years ago # -
@EddieD, I didn't. Based on what I've said above would I have enjoyed it or been annoyed by it? ;)
@Arellcat - oh I hated that side to English. Being told what the author intended, and that being the correct answer to exam questions, with no room for personal interpretation/enjoyment. I failed my prelim in Higher English as I saw a question that fitted PERFECTLY with a Terry Pratchett book I'd just read - the teacher didn't even read my answer because I hadn't responded to one of the other questions which was the correct one for the set text we'd been reading.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Clicked on the magazine to open the online edition and greeted by a booming voiceover (think someone else mentioned this earlier)...cue all my colleagues stopping work and staring over to see what the noise was as I clumsily tried to close it down! (and rumbled for not working!)
I absolutely detest websites that have automatic audio!!
Posted 11 years ago # -
@WC ahh happy days, the school days are the best of your life, so they say. I actually passed a history prelim because I answered a question about aviation as I knew nought about Mary Queen of Scots but did know about Bleriot, the Wright brothers and Charles Lindberg, fortunately my history teacher took pity on me and read the thing as it was not in our curriculum.
Posted 11 years ago # -
@WC @Arellcat @EddieD, Bikes in Modern Art, just to continue the OT...
I was at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Glasgow last week and was surprised to see this:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y25glzdm1cz3416/IMAG0255.jpg
Here's the explanatory plaque:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fldwwolj9nevc64/IMAG0256.jpg
The artist's explanation:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/f2un4dgfrm921zx/IMAG0257.jpg
and the resulting painting:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lw30pb80t5ui93m/IMAG0258.jpg
I do like modern art (hence the visit) and I was quite taken with it as a piece of art, the process of creating it, references to Leone etc...though at first glance from the other end of the gallery I thought someone had brought their bike in to park it.
Discuss ;-)
Posted 11 years ago # -
I'd say it's typical of the complex whimsy behind much of Starling's work.
Here's another which I think is his, also using a bicycle:
'Carbon', 2003
There has always been a strand of bicycle fetishism in modern/postmodern art, but in the past decade there's been a discernable vogue.
More bike art (motor and pedal powered) here:
Posted 11 years ago # -
"... typical of the complex whimsy behind much of Starling's work"
We've stepped into Newsnight Review... ;)
@paolobr - will check out the links at home tonight - intrigued to see what the plaques say. 'Discuss' could get 'interesting'... :P
Posted 11 years ago # -
We've stepped into Newsnight Review... ;)
What was this then?
I was recently at the BP Portrait Awards at the portrait gallery and there are some stunning pieces - one, a triumph of hyper-realism, with the artist's tired-looking girlfriend, was particularly striking - then I read the card which went into it bringing to mind some Greek myth and the story behind that, and I thought, 'erm, unless that Greek myth is just about the goddess having had a bit of a rough night on the tiles and waking up bleary-eyed I'm not entirely sure I see how - but then I always feel if you have to explain the meaning of your piece then you've failed
We've also had your musings on Bosch, Picasso, et al.....reviewer, review thyself!
Posted 11 years ago # -
@Mr Wilmington's Cow - she took the mick, utterly unreservedly, out of aspects of the modern art community. I think you would have approved, totally
Posted 11 years ago # -
*sigh* It was what's commonly called a 'joke'. I'll aim my levity elsewhere.
@EddieD, I'll dig that out :)
Posted 11 years ago # -
"
Edinburgh Libraries (@TalesOfOneCity)
29/01/2013 12:35
@innertubemap @CyclingEdin library members get free emagazines Cycling Plus and Mountain Bike Rider http://www.ow.ly/hdKEE"
Posted 11 years ago # -
Bosch. I have one of those in my utility room.
Posted 11 years ago # -
library members get free emagazines Cycling Plus and Mountain Bike Rider
Not just cycling magazines, a good selection of mags across the spectrum.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Oddly, a friend just sent me this link, which whilst off topic on the thread title, is on-topic for the thread content...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2013/jan/27/users-guide-international-art-english
Posted 11 years ago # -
I can recommend reading the original article in Triple Canopy, if you're interested in this sort of thing.
Also, this blog post highlghts some of the institutional factors surrounding the relationship between art and theory. I found this quote pertinent:
"Arts and sciences all seek institutional assurances in a competitive academy, and cultural heft in a contested social world. Scientific disciplines have an ideal - the objectivisation of the laws of nature - at their very origins, and this both guides scientific practice and serves as a source of legitimation. Artistic disciplines have no equivalent ideal."
Posted 11 years ago #
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