Nice, like a breath of fresh air, however I think that the 'Fell Racer' section has been poorly executed. It seems that the demand to cater for people who have less interest in racing seems to have been to the detriment of the racing element. I'm not 100% happy with the regional grouping of results, especially when (as previously mentioned) The Trigger appeared in the 'East Midlands' section - not Pennines, Yorkshire, or even North East. I'd prefer everything in date format - to reflect the layout in the calendar / handbook.
However my biggest gripe is the currency of the magazine, there are no championships race reports, we have had 2 races already in the English Champs (Stretton and Howgills)and 2 for the British (I'll let you off Moelwyn!) but an initial report on how the Champs are shaping up was missed.
Winter 2018 edition states deadline of 18th March 2019 for contributions for next issue.
1st English Senior Championship race - 17th March.
1st English Junior Championship race - 30th March.
1st British Senior Championship race - 27th April.
Next deadline August 30th 2019.
Going downhill fast - until I fell over
So I've given it a bit if time and in the end I acknowledge that there has been an evolution in the print industry that is being massacred by online content. I don't know anything about it but I assume that Matt paper and increase in white space on the page is much more environmentally friendly. In which case it gets my vote. I'm sure the content will evolve to make the best of the structural change. It reminds me of the A5 format. So, naturally, I love it!!
The editorial team have clearly put a lot of effort into the new design, and there are bound to be a few glitches at first: a narrow picture in the centre of the two-page spread just doesn't work with this binding (page 14-15)! But in general I don't think the matt paper has had any bad effect on the quality of photo reproduction; maybe the perceived problems are due to some of the photos being taken in the dark (e.g. page 33) or the clag (page 24). And I knew that the Barkley Marathons were tough, but I hadn't realised that they could result in decapitation (page 16, top picture).
I was a bit concerned when I read the Contributor Guide on page 5: it seems a bit prescriptive [Sorry, Mr Chilton, we can't use that 1979 picture of Colin Donnelly, it's black and white]. I imagine the editor would actually be more flexible.
I agree with Will_B that race results should be in date order, rather than classified by region; it just makes it easier to find results for any particular race.
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
I've only been a member since Dec, so the 2nd one has just arrived here in Spain. My two pen'orth is it looks and smells great - but please put locations in the photo captions!
Roleur: I’ve never bought it, just looked in Sainsbury’s whilst little ones look at magazines they can’t have too.
For the price of the FRA membership, it's still fantastic value, so i'd never want to knock them or criticise.
But personally I preferred it as it was.
Haven't read it in full yet, but the content still appears to be great.
Not even the cover photo has a location. I know where it is, but that's not the point! But as Travs says, for the price of entry it is excellent otherwise. It was very refreshing after years of paying hundreds to the Spanish cycling federation for competition licences, club fees, and not even get an emailed newsletter. Compared with paying 16 quid for FRA dues, another fiver to the running club plus a tenner for the vest and sorted.
BTW I was in Rouleur a year or two back and I still didn't buy it!