Is it time to move on?

I often try something new. I’m not a magpie that flits from one latest thing to another but I do know that I like to explore my boundaries. Perhaps that is why I ride a bike? Indeed I can still recall the Saturday morning sitting in a gents barbers, just after Christmas, pondering a new year’s resolution of something a little different. A leaflet ‘Hinckley Motorcycle School’ caught my eye on the counter next to the till. I took it, read it and 24 hours later I was on the phone booking my CBT with every intention of progressing to my full licence as soon as possible. A little impulsive maybe but sometimes you just have to do these things.

It then started, a desire to learn everything I could about my new hobby. The Moto GP and British Superbikes were suddenly an essential part of my Sunday viewing, the ‘Ford Football Special’ relegated to second place. World Superbikes followed next. Suddenly I noticed my local pub was a real biker pub covered in biker memorabilia. I’d been there loads of times over the years yet it had not met my consciousness, but now I found myself staring at the bike race pictures on the wall as I drank a draft of real ale. Most of all though it was the magazines. An easy way in to the world of biking. Reviews, new models, the language, the lifestyle. All could be found in some glossy pages of easy styled writing and beautiful photography.

At first it didn’t matter which, I could read them all. RIDE, TWO, Sport and Leisure and even the weekly tabloid rag MCN with its fantasy stories, all of which fed my thirst for biker knowledge. Eventually though I settled on one – BIKE – pulled in by its ‘broad church’ appeal and a free biker rucksack with a 12 month subscription. BIKE kept me sustained with fantasies of beautiful roads, cool kit and hedonistic biker lifestyle as I wobbled down country lanes on a dodgy 125cc during my initial weeks of biker training. I looked forward to it dropping through my letterbox – within a couple of hours most its articles would be read and within a couple of days I had exhausted it. What kit shall I buy? Where shall I go? Touring abroad? BIKE influenced it all. Now though the latest copy sits sadly by my bed, unread or should I venture unloved?

I’m not entirely sure what has happened. The magazine has certainly changed over the years. Its highlight for me being a few years ago when the BIKE was dominated by witty writing and silly challenges on wonky old 2 wheeled lemons. Khal Harris, a young staff writer, had a beautiful honesty in his writing. Not for him was the macho bravado of knee down, uber fast sports bikes and one piece leathers but reflections about his own mortality and true feelings for the bikes he rode and tested. I could relate to him and his prose was always perused first. These were good times for BIKE and I, really happy times.

The magazine has moved on again and I have no problem with that. An editor has to change the outlook to keep things fresh and attract new readers, but the move to a number of 70’s and 80’s retro articles and more serious writing holds no interest for me. Somehow it is more than a change in direction of the magazine. I’ve changed. I no longer feel the desire to understand every new model of bike, how the latest kit actually performs in a monsoon, or the touring challenges of staff writers that used to hold me gripped.

I suppose we all move on, we all mature. I’ve saturated myself in bike knowledge, learnt what I want to know and experienced what pulled me in to biking in the first place. No longer do I need that literary monthly to keep me brimmed up full. Don’t get me wrong I want to feel more with the bike, go different places, the desire for the bonnie still burns deep. In the future though I’ll do it on my terms without feeling the need to replicate the experiences of a bike journalist. I think it is time to can cancel the subscription and maybe move to furtive reading of BIKE articles in WHSmith like so many others.