Ep 04: The Genesis of Bike Magazine with Rob Story
Today we are taking a bit of a trip down memory lane with Rob Story as we look back at the golden era of Bike Magazine and the beginning of the iconic magazine that Rob helped to launch. More than any other publication, Bike managed to capture the spirit of a particular time and ethos present in mountain biking. Irreverent, funny, and dedicated to adventure and great journalism, Bike opposed some of the more sanitized versions of sports magazines of the day. Launched in 1993, the magazine grew out of the same garden as Powder, adopting certain similarities while fearlessly plotting its own course through new territories, types of stories, and amazing features and photography! In our conversation, we hear from our guest about the period leading up to his appointment at Bike, and how the first few issues came together. Rob shares some stories about the important cast of characters that gave the magazine its signature blend of humor and inspiration as we talk about themed issues, the connection between mountain biking and marijuana, and how the style and content were decided upon before landmark changes around the turn of the century. For this fascinating conversation, and likely the first of many with Rob Story, listen in with us today on Cycology.FM!
Key Points From This Episode:
The birth of Bike Magazine and how Rob landed the job of launching it.
What differentiated Bike from other publications dealing with mountain biking at the time.
The editorial voice that the magazine adopted; irreverent and psyched!
Fun section headings and the creative approach that Rob used to format the magazine from the start.
Rob's work with photographer Dave Reddick and the high standards he brought to the table.
The emphasis that was put on great photo captions during the '90s!
Running through some of the important figures involved at Bike back in the day.
Countercultural spirit and drug references in the magazine.
Bike Magazine signatures in the '90s; themed issues, essay compilations, and photo-essays.
Reminiscing about the iconic 'Funk Issue' and some interesting discoveries about Rick James!
Recapping some of the most memorable feature stories from Rob's time at Bike.
Tweetables:
“The other benefit of a funny, witty, stinging caption is that people might read the articles more. We took captions incredibly seriously.” — Rob Story [0:17:56]
“Maybe we're the clowns of mountain bike magazines, but we are damn good at being clowns. Even if we didn't know gear ratios as well as the other magazines, we knew how to crack people up and write a funny caption.” — Rob Story [0:41:17]
“I always had a theory that every paragraph needs to be interesting. You can't waste a paragraph. With mountain bikers, they have rides to do.” — Rob Story [0:46:44]