Fat? Slow? Tired? Old Bike? Need Lance Fix? Got It Covered!

Though I've been riding a lot of miles, I've been more than making up for it by eating generally well and enjoying peaches, blueberries, cherries, and more peaches. That may sound like a pretty sound diet plan, but nothing sets up a good bowl of fresh, in-season fruit like a couple of big scoops of ice cream. I indulge regularly. As a result, I'm not quite the picture of late summer lean that I had envisioned, but it's just a little cycle many of us go through. All I needed was a Crash Program to Lose That Stubborn Last 5 Pounds! I want to Lose Weight The Easy Way!

Imagine my dismay when the new Bicycling magazine and Mountain Bike arrived in my mail box and there were NO MIRACLE WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAMS touted on the front cover! While I'm sure that I need to Train For a Fast Century, Boost Power, Never Bonk, Ride Longer and Find The Perfect Saddle, what I want is to Lose 5 Pounds Fast. I guess I'll just have another bowl of ice cream with cherries and blueberries instead and wait for next month's magazine.

I think most of the bike magazine headlines are aimed at beginning/intermediate or just-interested cyclists who may pick up a copy at the news stand, so there is always a hook for each of the most common goals of this demographic:



Lose Weight

Go Faster

Go Farther

Climb Better

Get Fit

New Bikes

Lance Armstrong


Of course, the interests of advanced riders are the same, but they typically know the drills. And regular subscribers don't have to be sold by the cover, as they've already bought the magazine. That said, I enjoy the magazine and the contents are not quite as repetitive as the covers, but the covers are what sell mags at retail. In fact, the publisher of one publication, I think VeloNews, admitted as much when it comes to Lance and mentioned it in response to complaints of "Lance-overload" from a cranky reader. A few months back, the newsstand cover was Lance Armstrong. The subscription cover was somebody like Fabian Cancellara; well known to pro racing followers, but unknown to the vast majority of Americans. Magazine covers are not a reward for "most deserving rider". They are a sales pitch for the publication and Lance sells better than anyone else in the world of bicycles. Fair enough.