Bear with me, this was an offshoot of another thought I had while wondering round site yesterday so may be a bit rough round the edges and need more thought!

I’ve only recently started actually reading the mag issues so this may not be new. Did/Do STW have “local” rides with “local” riders type content?

Would a STW staffer road trip to some local trails (not centres) with a Member and some mates (obviously post COVID restrictions) showcasing the type of riders and the riding they do Andy where, be an interesting article? Maybe a local ride with TJAgain on his tandem, or Binners and Daz riding round ACTUALLY smiling and showing they really are mates? Different location each issue, with a different member. One issue Gnar, next an XC loop, next a gravel lane bumble…..

Would members enjoy having Chipps or Amanda or….. insert staffer here…. riding round with them for a day/half day showing the local trails, doing some photos etc etc.

Thoughts?

It is an idea I have had in the past too. I guess some of us would just love the opportunity to showcase some of our local trails that might not necessarily be on everyone’s radar. Whether or not that is a good idea given the reach of STW may need to be debated…

I did think that a bit WF. I would imagine though, that if you are “showcasing” trails, they are likely to be well know in the area.

If you wanted to show off some of the secret stuff, maybe there would be a way to give a very general area for the location with a ‘go have a look’ type thing?

Just thought that would be a good way for the members and Singletrack to have a

closer connection

as Mark put it. More of what the members want, a bit of chance to feature in the mag. Gotta be a win win!

I like the idea. Not sure my level of mincecore would appeal to the average stw-er though!

It’s sort of done by MBR or Mbuk already I believe.

Not a bad shout however.

They did it about 12 years ago.

Chipps came out to play with with me, Terrahawk, Mr Sparkle and Derek_Starship.

Certainly used to happen – I was having discussions with Jenn when there was a couple of rides from motorway services published.

(Which I now ride on a gravel bike, so definitely mince core lite)

History of a brand or a component would interest me, a potted history of shimano etc.

I’d also be looking at maybe revisiting a popular article/ trip so doing 1 per mag from say the 1st 10yrs

Also depending on stuff a catch up with any old staffers or writers.

I did one with MBR around 2001/2. They contacted the shop I was working in at the time and asked if we could take them out in a specific area near to us. We didn’t ride the route if I remember rightly, just took loads of riding and scenic pictures and we gave them the route directions.
The photographer was a nice bloke though…

Would a STW staffer road trip to some local trails (not centres) with a Member and some mates (obviously post COVID restrictions) showcasing the type of riders and the riding they do

I like this idea.

I’ve thought about that too – great idea. Always interested to know just how fit the writers are, in the articles they always claim to be beasted by their companions, I think that would be unlikely to happen with me!

Would also like a wee bit on the history of some of the brands.

Even a bit of a look into more of the tech. The article recently (ish?) by Barney on rear suspension had a lot of promise but was deeply unsatisfying. Wouldn’t mind something that goes a bit deeper. Wheels, frame materials, disc brakes, dropper posts, Forks… I quite like reading a bit about the science and engineering.

I always liked the idea of pudding themed rides. Bakewell tart, Eccles cake, Cartmel sticky toffee pudding, bury black pudding etc..

a snack and a ride. What could go wrong?

At the beginning of lockdown I thought it might make an interesting article to showcase everyones no car, no gnar, not far rides. Did everyone discover some prime urban singletrack or the joys of a simple bimble on queit trails without the need to push themselves? While it was frustrating not being able to travel it made me appreciate what I have on my doorstep and reminded of when I first started mountain biking as a kid when riding from the door was a necessity. Now restrictions are lifting could be a good excuse for Singletrack to plan a little road trip to find out riders across the country to explore riding under lockdown.

Hi all!

Sanny here.

Loving the ideas. Keep them coming!

Really interested to read your thoughts and suggestions.  I love the cake ride idea and the revisit and old ride in particular. Bakewell could incorporate the Monsal Trail quite easily. A food theme is always appealing!

Back in issue 8, I nearly drove Mark to drink by riding from Ambleside to Keswick over High Street and Skiddaw ….in November. He was suffering from what turned out to be food poisoning and it was a VERY long dark teatime of the sould for him that day. A return visit may be called for?

Open to anything. Themed rides, no suggestion too big, small or silly for me to consider!

The local riders thing was a mainstay of What Mountain Bike. I distinctly recall Chris Duncan doing a piece with an all ladies mtb club and it all going a bit wrong with folk left behind mid way through the ride.

Keep them coming, ladies and gents!

Cheers

Sanny

I have pitched the local rides with local readers story already! I think the question is, would you be interested in reading about your Wednesday night pub ride group of it wasn’t your Wednesday night pub night group? If you think the answer is yes then I’d certainly like to meet some more of you. I didn’t actually get to ride with @bodge when I stayed chez Bodge, but as the sole representative of forumites in the real world (for me so far anyway) he set a high bar!

Issue 82 was a great one for this, local rider on local trails….. can’t recall who that rider was….🤔

would you be interested in reading about your Wednesday night pub ride group of it wasn’t your Wednesday night pub night group?

Somewhere between “yes definitely” and “no not really”.

It would come down very much to the type of ride really. To use my own as an example, my quick hour or two evening after work is much more interesting riding but it’s not a good ride and would be dull as dishwater to read about, it’s very much winch and plummet up and down the “same” hill. On the other hand my local xc/gravelly route is duller riding but a much more interesting ride that would make for a better writeup and photography (and the pubs are better if only by virtue of my not being in the car)

I do though really like the not far not gnar rides idea. The sort of thing which would be perfect when I’m stuck in a hotel overnight in no-where’s-ville that would be easily riden from the door without the significant risk of spannering my self the night before my meeting.

Issue 82 was a great one for this, local rider on local trails….. can’t recall who that rider was….🤔

Found it

Might’ve been done already and doesn’t apply to the majority of readers but, a how to section, covering everything from bike skills, to map reading and bike maintenance would be good. Sort of a ‘how to outside’ guide could be a way of attracting new readers/members of the cult.

Yeah, a local riding thing would be good, showing the variety in any particular area. Down here in the South Downs, we could do a morning of bike park at Rogate, pm at QECP followed by a big old South Downs xc loop the following day. Got to keep it legal, so no secret off-piste gnar (boo!). Thinking decent pics of shredding (lite) followed by big views, sea, sun, south downs and greensand hills etc. No doubt it will be thick fog/pissing it down…but that’s the idea.

Other ideas? Well my favourite ever article is Jenn’s Tour Divide write-up. Utterly inspirational. Now there are plenty of folk doing other incredible rides and epic races. Give ’em a nudge, see if they are keen to tell a story!

Bakewell could incorporate the Monsal Trail quite easily

And talk about the excellent work Peak District MTB are doing to improve things in the national park 😉

Similar to the local route option, could you do a ‘bike test by locals’.

Invite a group of forumites to test a set of bikes – would be interesting to see if they can to similar conclusions than your official testers. It may be a PITA to do and take up too much time to dial in the shocks for individuals etc.

Assuming you could find a couple of people with the same wheel/axle/drivetrain standards, it would be a great way of testing tyres in a couple of conditions.

3 or 4 people, 3 runs each per tyre

Can the rotating “latest stories” on the right be paused, rather annoying at times

And talk about the excellent work Peak District MTB are doing to improve things in the national park

This would be key I think to any local riding story we did. As has been mentioned, a series of articles that feature locals riders wold be really popular with those local riders but it may be a struggle to create something that was enthusiastically read by anyone outside that area. But… If there was another angle/hook.. like that above, then I think there could be mileage in it. If it was just local trails for locals then that’s covered by our Classic Rides really.