[Closed] Alex Leigh's writing in Singletrack

Hey John. How are you? And thanks. On that note, there's a mag deadline in two weeks and I'm staring at an empty screen that's meant to be filled with 1000 words. Best get on it 🙂

passengered

WTF.

I'm out - sorry.

Marko

"Add the dry line though and a hundred days of shitty trails puts ego in the driving seat – reliably passengered by schadenfreude. Fast and hard into geography filled with arboreal stops and bone-crunching kinetic ends."

WTF?
"Passengered by Schadenfreude"?
Oh dear...

Every person in the crowd is a critic someone once told me. It's a useful maxim. I like writing stuff. Some people like reading it. That's even better, but it's not why I write it. Some people don't. And that's fine too. No point putting it out there if you're not prepared to accept most of the comments are likely to be from the latter group 😉

There's nice. Someone pops a paragraph of writing up and says they like it; then unusually the author of said writing pops up and says thanks and hi, and immediately afterwards two posters feel the need to slate said writing. How uniquely British. Stay classy STW.

What would Jesus have written?

I enjoy your stuff as well Alex. Really liked that article in particular. It's why I subscribe (I notice your critics don't - let's just leave it at that Eh?) to read stuff like that.

For some inexplicable reason they've published a couple of my rambling pieces. And I didn't write them for anyone else but me, either. As someone who doesn't generally write, I found it quite cathartic.

Keep it up fella

Ta. I remember reading yours Binners - the picture was a man bandaged up. Although he wasn't eating a gregg's pasty which I feel was an editorial oversight 🙂

To be honest, i find a lot of what he says pretentious to the extreme and usuakly skip to the next article

I had that Schadenfreude in the back of my cab once. Never did like those psychoanalysts. 🙄

I'm staring at an empty screen that's meant to be filled with 1000 words

Here's a radical idea, Adam - a bike ride with some mates over some, say, hilly terrain. You're not sure if you've got the right bike, so you encounter the odd technical issue. Luckily, it's not that much of an issue in the end and you all get started on time. The route is quite demanding in places and the weather is more treacherous than you'd like. But you make it and your bike handles pretty well, considering the woogit you stuck on at the last minute. You finish the ride and decide to go to a local pub for a beer, where you decide that the route was pretty rewarding, all told. You'd recommend it to others, at least to those like minded people who remember to pack a woogit.

Okay, so it's pretty much like 99% of all MTB writing, but it's a sure-fire winner. Oh, and remember to add in a cake stop if you've only managed 800 words.

Keep up the work Al, there's many that'd critise, there's few that could actually do it. Always been a fan of your stuff 8)

I certainly couldn't do it, which is just as well as I don't like it. Sorry Alex, I could barely make it to the end of the quoted sentence, no chance a whole article. Still I'm sure there are many types here who will love it.
Put your stuff out there and you can be damn sure some won't like it, as is their entitlement. Nothing is universally loved.

Keep up the work Al, there's many that'd critise, there's few that could actually do it.

Well…

The only thing I've read by Al is that sentence at the top of this thread… which I like because it's funny that someone tried so hard on a line that essentially says 'I rode a rewarding slice of track'.

Honestly, I can't see how MTB writing is technically difficult. The hard thing, I guess, is finding a good trail to write about. The rest is just peas and gravy.

Good luck, Al. I'll look for more of your stuff in the next issue.

I think my entire back catalogue for STW is about 15 articles. Some I read now and think they're rubbish, others I read and think 'well that's as good as it's going to get from this side of the keyboard'. Trying to find different ways to express 'we went up there and down there and it was fab' is a bit of a trial sometimes. And sometimes you bang out loads of pretentious nonsense that you realise should never have left your head, never mind the wire to the Internet 😉

I'm always surprised anyone reads it. What they think of it - good or bad - is a bit of a bonus 🙂

To be honest, i find a lot of what he says pretentious to the extreme and usuakly skip to the next article

Ian - you need to go back to issue 1 where there was poetry. I've always baseline my stuff against that!

Trying to find different ways to express 'we went up there and down there and it was fab' is a bit of a trial sometimes.

My rule of thumb would be 'would this article be improved by the introduction of a random ninja attack?' If so, invent ninjas. There's nowhere enough ninjas in the MTB world. Think about it. Instead of: 'Nigel's Spesh developed an unnerving knock mid ride…' you'd have 'just when we began to worry about the unnerving knock coming from Nigel's Spesh, a whisper of black-clad ninjas crested the rise, their desperate blades drawn…'

There, I've just saved 98% of your readers from another 15 minutes of there and back again with technical issues, cake and beer. Plus I think I've just invented a new genre… 😀

Woah now! Poetry?

Self indulgent wordsmithery I can accommodate. Poetry. No.

😉

Reading your stuff Al is like like riding bikes: pointless drivel but so much fun 🙂

Thanks Nig. Pointless Drivel is pretty much the high water mark for me 🙂

Anyway I've now plagiarised Camo16 items, so expect the next print article to read something like 'Zombie Apocalypse and the rise of the MTB Ninja'. Got to be a 1000 words in there 🙂

You know people will read that one, Alex! 8)

Now, work out clever ways to utilise the components in your Fox forks to take out zombies (you could go the extra mile here by describing the tools you're packing and the speed with which sharp, zombie culling parts can be extracted to please the Singletrack sponsors) and you'll you have a double issue with a cliff hanger. Bonus.

Ok, so I've done the pi55 take, now the proper post.. I've known Al for years, the first thing I read of his was something he wrote about a long ride he did, I think it was published on the Bikemagic website.. one line sticks in my head which went something like he and another rider were discussing the trail designer, Al offered to sit on him whilst the other lad kicked him only if the favour would be returned..

Anyway, I started reading his blog and then when he saifd he was moving to the west I emailed him offering to show him so local trails, that was years ago and we've been mates since.

His articles are great, but to be honest, you only get the true Al when you've spent an hour in the car with him on the way to a ride somewhere. I've very rarely spat coffee out through laughing, when I do it's usually about 5 minutes into one of his rants about modern life.. make your own sail ship in 150 parts is particularly fondly remembered.

So yeah, sure there are critics, but I wonder how many people who really criticise have the bottle or lack of apathy to sit and write something essentially for the enjoyment of others.

Keeping on writing Al, you'll always have at least one fan on here

You still ride like a girl though 😉

He's right about one thing. The thing at the end 🙂

Alex - Member

Every person in the crowd is a critic someone once told me. It's a useful maxim. I like writing stuff. Some people like reading it. That's even better, but it's not why I write it. Some people don't. And that's fine too. No point putting it out there if you're not prepared to accept most of the comments are likely to be from the latter group

I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you / sharing a car with you but I really like your writing too. Please do keep it up.

I sometimes think Chipps is reading my mind or I am Chipps or Chipps is me 😉 😆
Too many big words in Alex's stuff for my uneducated mind, but I like it.

Please stop feeding his ego,some of us have to ride with him and now he's going to be unbearable. New fans and new bike, nah I'm staying at home Sunday 😀

I think its flowery shit, like reading it though 🙂

Seriously, I read constantly, do nothing but read, and Alex you do write well!

More unbearable H, more unbearable 🙂

And you're all to blame because while I stated up ^^ somewhere I didn't care if people I didn't know really didn't like the stuff I wrote, I'm not sure that's entirely true. So instead of Issue 97's article I promised STW, I wrote this instead: http://pickled-hedgehog.com/?p=3358

Feel free to read the first line and leave a critique 😉

writing stuff is hard. Alex is quite good at it.

No writer can do their stuff if they can;t take criticism, you'll never please everyone and guaranteed, the thing a writer thlnks is their best, will be hated by everyone, and vica-versa. I think my best article was 'A" but I got plenty of whining peopel writing to me over it. Bizarre. But hey. try it, Writing is hard.

I've read that sentence four times now. Still none the wiser.

^ I believe that's kind of the point being made 🙂

Read the rest of the article; it's pretty good.

Good article. But you mis-spelt "Stasi"

46 years old and i have no idea what half of the words in that sentence mean!

Fair play though - writing isnt easy and expressing the same stuff repeatedly is even harder. Plus, kudos Alex (to pinch a stravaism) for the dignified responses on here to the professional critique you have received!

46 years old and i have no idea what half of the words in that sentence mean!

Fair play though - writing isnt easy and expressing the same stuff repeatedly is even harder.

I think there's a fallacy that good writing is ornate and clever and complicated. I don't think it is. I'd take John Irving over the awful derivative twaddle* that is, say, Captain Corelli's Mandolin every time. As soon as you sit there scratching your head over what something means, it's lost you.

That's my take anyway. But I'm quite a simple sort of dog.

* Recycled Gabriel Garcia Marquez fwiw.

"Add the dry line though and a hundred days of shitty trails puts ego in the driving seat – reliably passengered by schadenfreude. Fast and hard into geography filled with arboreal stops and bone-crunching kinetic ends."

Yup, I get it.

Nice.

Do carry on.

Seems like its trying too hard to be interesting l but heck i can only shoot bullets and water not words so im in no position to judge but if the writing is like that all the way through then it would make me think too much to enjoy it. But whatever floats your boat and its not hurting anyone 😉

I get the sentiment in the OP's quoted paragraph, but find myself gnashing my teeth at how it's written.

You undoubtedly have a way with words Alex, but I'd be turning the page quicker than you can say 'passengered by schadenfreude'.

You undoubtedly have a way with words Alex, but I'd be turning the page quicker than you can say 'passengered by schadenfreude'.

+1 on the schadenfreude etc - but writers have got to try to impress or there'll be no next month's rent payment. That's why it doesn't just say "the challenging and bumpy track was rewarding to ride".

Personally, as far as MTB writing is concerned, I think it's the genre's ambition that's most lacking. How many articles of there and back again with cake, then beer will there be in the next issue of Singletrack?

Hence ninja attack suggestion ^^^^.

So what does that sentence mean? I'm not really sure how the Schadenfreude comes into it. Isn't it really lurking quietly in the background ready to jump out from behind an aboreal concept, ooops, sorry, a tree, when ego overcooks it and splatters himself across the landscape?

Sorry, I'm just wondering. I genuinely don't quite understand it. Not in spiteful way. I'm just not bright enough I think.

Alex - the best stuff is the responses so far. A Masterclass in forum writing. Bravo!

(The actually para is not my cup of tea, but so what, the rest is brilliant)

So what does that sentence mean?

"Add the dry line though and a hundred days of shitty trails puts ego in the driving seat – reliably passengered by schadenfreude. Fast and hard into geography filled with arboreal stops and bone-crunching kinetic ends."

"It's been muddy but now it's dry, so I'll probably get a bit cocky and crash into a tree."

"It's been muddy but now it's dry, so I'll probably get a bit cocky and crash into a tree."

😆

Like that version a whole lot more! Now you're straight in there with the writer. You're on the trail, right with him, you're passengered, almost. You feel a strange sense of schadenfreude… and you're waiting… waiting… for that sudden arboreal stop!

Crikey more replies. Not much to add really. Other than I don't try and use big words to impress people, I just like some words that don't get a lot of use elsewhere. Most of the time I'm not entirely sure what I'm rambling on about, so I appreciate it can be a stretch for others to understand it.

I will tell you one thing for sure tho. I've ridden with BadlyWiredDog. And he's not a dog. So by reading through this thread, you've potentially learned something useful 😉

Oh and @mikeT - yeah I think that's pretty much what I meant. Maybe I need to employ you as a translator 🙂

The paragraph quoted is a bit challenging, but I think it's unfair to take it out of context and criticise the author.

Unless he's a ninja.

Oh and @mikeT - yeah I think that's pretty much what I meant. Maybe I need to employ you as a translator

I much prefer your version 🙂

Next column - you fill the left hand side of the page with flowery ****, I wrote a translation for the right hand side?

I like that idea 🙂 A universal AL translator. My wife would be interested as well 😉

Must admit I struggled with the original, but really liked Mike's translation - felt much more immediate in the way it told the same story.

But then I make no claims to any level of being intellectual.....

@andy as I've said to loads of people, just because you don't like the way stuff is written, doesn't suddenly mean you have to offer up your own work for critique. In the nicest possible way, it doesn't matter if people like it or hate it or anything in between. I'm too damn old now to change my style, and if the lovely people at STW feel happy to publish it, then I'm happy too. I'm sure the stuff that goes into the Mag has to filter through Barney, for which I am truly sorry - that poor man has suffered enough!

My own favourite is this: http://pickled-hedgehog.com/?page_id=9 I don't believe there are any twisted metaphors or words last used in the eighteenth century in it 😉

I think my best article was 'A" but I got plenty of whining peopel writing to me over it. Bizarre. But hey. try it, Writing is hard.

Samuri, your best article was the roadie "fighter control" hunting down the errant mountain biker. Brilliant stuff!

There a link to Samuri's fighter control piece? Sounds sweet.

Just read a great quote from an interview with Irvine Welsh in today's Guardian, who's not too shabby at this writing lark. He talks of....

"That incredible freedom of the blank page, and now I'm going to sully it with all my limitations...."

I presume those criticising Alex are aware that anybody can submit an article to the mag? Off you go then.... I'll look forward to seeing your literary efforts in print soon, no doubt.

And then.... who knows?.... maybe your first novel 😉

I presume those criticising Alex are aware that anybody can submit an article to the mag? Off you go then.... I'll look forward to seeing your literary efforts in print soon, no doubt.

And then.... who knows?.... maybe your first novel

To be fair, my comments relate to the paragraph I saw, not to Alex, who no doubt is a top chap.

Stands to reason that, if anyone can submit an article to the mag, I'm tempted to give it a shot. Mine will be packed with soulless ninjas lying in wait on the crest of ridges, coke 'n' hooker escapades, tsetse fly, a half-decent Spesh and two fictional co-riders (both going by the name of Jeremy).

It will not be published. I will be asked why I have played down the 'there and back again' angle and omitted the cake and beer stops. This will prompt a rewrite with coke-infused cake and drunk hookers kidnapped by ninjas on the crest of ridges. Version 2 will be available online to the right crowd, but not be made available in Tescos.

Book's already out. 8)

I feel Singletrack magazine definitely needs an article on your coke n hookers escapades with the 2 Jeremy's

Get writing!!! 😀

You can rely on it Binners!

Now, are the hookers also riding, or are they waiting with cake?

Both Jeremy's will pack beer and be able to Mr T their bikes into ninja-deflecting weaponry. Natch.

I'm sure the stuff that goes into the Mag has to filter through Barney, for which I am truly sorry - that poor man has suffered enough!

He gets shed loads of bike bling to test you have no need to be sorry. It's a balancing of the Yin and Yang, possibly with Schadenfreude on the side.

Like it or loathe it, its generated a healthy debate and i guess when you are writing, if people are subsequently talking about it it cant be a bad thing!

Camo16 sounds like a couch session with his psychotherapist than an article to be published. I got the gist of the article and find people trashing it on the basis of too many big words akin to refusing to buy new tech as they don't know how it works. Reading is supposed to challenge and help to enlighten us through knowledge. Thats why books were once considered to be evil and the ruling class didn't want the plebs to be educated through books. Knowledge is power.

[i]Samuri, your best article was the roadie "fighter control" hunting down the errant mountain biker. Brilliant stuff![/i]

Cheers, actually that was my favourite too. Completely off the cuff and based on real events.

[i]There a link to Samuri's fighter control piece? Sounds sweet.[/i]

Sadly I've lost the original electronic copy. If anyone has one I'd appreciate getting it back.

I presume those criticising Alex are aware that anybody can submit an article to the mag? Off you go then.... I'll look forward to seeing your literary efforts in print soon, no doubt.

You don't have to be a writer to be a reader though. People can have opinions on published writing without writing themselves. Being criticised is part of writing. That doesn't mean you should be spiteful, but as Alex himself points out - hi Alex! - it goes with the territory.

Or do you think you need to be published in a mag before you"re allowed to express an opinion?

Most of the time I'm not entirely sure what I'm rambling on about, so I appreciate it can be a stretch for others to understand it.

That just makes you sound a bit arrogant. Sure that's not the intention.

My comments were most certainty not intended as criticism of the writer, sorry if that's how they were interpreted. Was more a comment on my ability to understand that style of writing and remain engaged - some people are more cerebral in what they like to read/write, some like me prefer quite punchy, direct style.

And yes, I've had quite a few articles published in MTB mags and sites (and been paid for them), as well as doing translation work for a couple of pro riders in their articles, so know at least something about what I'm talking about.

I think I'd be considered reasonably literate and I have no idea what that paragraph is trying to say. Ah well.

Should it not be 'put' rather than 'puts' by the way?

BWD - I like both the starkly powerful simplicity of Hemmingway and the opaque verbosity of David Foster Wallace. Either style can leave me reeling with joy at ots perfection - just different types of perfection. For me, variety is interesting. The straight up blow by blow ride report can become tedious, there is a place for the flowery prose of Alex or Barney.

I've liked Alex's writing via his facebook screeds and pickled hedgehog diatribes for some time. I'm glad to see it in print in ST. Keep it up!

Camo16 sounds like a couch session with his psychotherapist than an article to be published.

Word. 🙁

I have a minority sense of humour and serious levels of internal rage. Apologies all.

I blame T.S.Eliot 🙂

The straight up blow by blow ride report can become tedious, there is a place for the flowery prose of Alex or Barney.

None taken 😉

I translated the whole article:

It is spring and I want to ride my bike without getting muddy.
I could ride my bike without getting muddy when the ground was frozen, but then it rained and it's not as good as in the summer.
The weather means it's getting less muddy.
Busy places and dark places are still muddy.
I can ride when it's muddy but some people don't like to.
I like it when it's not muddy, because it means I can wear different clothes.
It doesn't get less muddy because you were riding in the winter. It just happens.
After riding and not getting muddy, I can wear my bike clothes in the pub or have a barbecue after riding my bike.
When it stops being muddy it's better if you kept riding while it was muddy.
It’s easier than riding when it's muddy, so you go faster.
It's been muddy but now it's dry, so I'll probably get a bit cocky and crash into a tree.
In the summer we like riding our bikes.
We need to ride our bikes before it gets wet and cold again.
Ride your bike.

Can't argue with that 🙂

I do think you have to "tune" into Al's writing, but no bad thing in my opinion, I like the way he grabs a word, and batters it into a sentence (sometimes with menaces) in ways it wasn't necessarily designed for. Makes for an engaging read.

Plus he'll be pissing himself that this has got to three pages. 😆

That's some serious straight talking, miketually. 😀

miketually for Prime Minister!

[i]miketually for Prime Minister! [/i]

or the local council, as a starting point.

miketually for Prime Minister!

or the local council, as a starting point.

[url=

for Haughton and Springfield[/url], to be specific.

Wahey! Our future is in safe hands then. 8)