You may not have heard of The Ride Journal – the first issue last year had a limited print run and sold out pretty quickly. Galvanized by that reception, the team behind it has put together that difficult second issue, which is now on sale.

It’s more a collection of short essays (and great pictures) than a bike magazine in the traditional sense. You’ll find MTB, BMX, commuting, ‘cross, historic road racing, track, the odd bit of (whisper it) fixed-gear freestyle and pretty much everything else too. Many articles are from people you may have heard of – John Tomac, Greg Minnaar, Chris Hoy – and some are from people you haven’t but who have interesting things to say anyway.

According to editor Phil Diprose:

“We know that most people who share our obsession with bikes don¹t want to be pigeon-holed as roadies, freeriders, track racers, BMXers, XC riders or even commuters. They are just riders. So we wanted to create something for them, and also for us. Something that crosses both cycling and international borders.”

“The idea was to create a journal of personal stories. Bikes have changed people¹s lives in so many ways and we wanted to gather a small selection of these tales. We didn¹t want to give reviews or race reports, we wanted to get under the skin and expose the passion that flows through riders veins.
So many amazing writers, photographers and illustrators have helped us create something that we think is different to what it is currently out there.”

A copy of The Ride Journal is £7 in shops or £9 posted. Sound like a lot? It’s not really. 164 pages, of which exactly 11 are ads – it’ll last you for ages. Think of it as a book rather than a magazine and it makes a lot of sense.

Find out more at www.theridejournal.com.