A good magazine: Adventure Cyclist

If you're anything like me, you probably don't actually like the Rodale-press-style advert-ridden magazines filled with pages of corporate spew trying to convince you that if you only used their nano-technology fork or their $25-per-can powdered drink, you'd be your best. I'm a slow rider. My fastest long days put me at a 17mph average speed. And personally, I don't care about losing weight, or having bigger calves. Well, actually, I wish my calves were bigger, but my genetics trump my desires on that one. I've seen the rare good article in the Big publisher zines, but really, I suppose I'm simply not the target market for those types of publications.

The two cycling magazines I subscribe to, if you want to call them magazines, are Bicycle Quarterly and the Rivendell Reader. The first has minimal tasteful adverts, in depth historical cycling essays, extremely high editorial quality, and product reviews that result from really using the products they test. The second, the Riv Reader, has no adverts (unless you call Rivendell occasionally talking about their own product innovations as advertising), a very unique editorial tone, and often articles are tangentially related to cycling, if at all. It's just Good Stuff.

Getting back to the title of this post, I semi-recently came across Adventure Cyclist, which is published by the Adventure Cycling Association. You can't get it in stores, at least not that I'm aware of.

The focus of Adventure Cyclist, as the name might imply, is about peoples' cycling journeys from around the globe. Of the two issues I've seen so far, there have been insightful (and funny) stories, meaty tech information, useful product reviews for non-racing riding, and tips for about a million ways to ride this globe off the beaten path. Their mantra:

Our mission is to
inspire people of all
ages to travel by bicycle.
We help cyclists explore
the landscapes and history
of America for fitness,
fun, and self-discovery.

The magazine comes to you via a $35 membership to the Adventure Cycling Association. The best part? The membership is tax deductible because the association is a 503c non-profit! Membership also gets you deals on high quality cycling maps, bro deals with affiliated companies, and a bunch of other useful stuff.

Oh, and lastly, the Adventure Cycling Association is currently running an offer for a free sample issue. Why not Grab it? Really, how can you go wrong?