Arrivée est arrivé!

[citoyen]

I was pleased to be able to disabuse my wife of the notion that MattC's avatar pic is a self-portrait. Suddenly, she seems less interested in meeting him. 

d.

[Panoramix]

My first ever apparition in Arrivee (anonymously though)

I was also given the British nationality in the MC finisher list!

[Karla]

You're such a good chap that we decided to award you that honour. 

[Nuncio]

I was also given the British nationality in the MC finisher list!

You're one of us now 'Robert'.

[Edited for embarrassing solecism]

[Bairn Again]

Good to see YACF's Cyclops on the front cover. I have a suspicion that several copies of this edition will end up on the table in a certain dentist's waiting room

I took my arrivee out of the plastic sleeve, looked at the front cover and realised that there was something missing. 

Took me a minute or two before I realised that for the first time ever that Cyclops' pedal/s werent squeaking very loudly. 

Most enjoyable read, it was good to have some Mille Cymru stuff in it too which gave a "hot off the press" feel.   

[The Mechanic]

Bugger! Another mug shot opportunity missed.  There are no pics of me despite there being one of each of my riding companions on the Potter for Tea.     I am beginning to think I don't belong to the right lodge.

[jogler]

Bugger! Another mug shot opportunity missed.

Is that not yourself on page 3 52,extreme left;middle row?
The page banner is
"Scone the Flat Way"

[David Martin]

Bugger! Another mug shot opportunity missed.

Is that not yourself on page 3 52,extreme left;middle row?
The page banner is
"Scone the Flat Way"

That is Maverick of this parish.

Unfortunately, while you were in the pic of three at the bottom of the potter for Tea page, Tim seems to have decided to crop you out.

I'll try to get to the Forfar Audaxes with the camera (though it will be a bit of a hit and run effort as I have elsewhere to be that day) and remedy the state of affairs.

..d

[jogler]

ooops apologies to those concerned
it has an "M" in it
it's an age thing

[frankly frankie]

They do seem to have printed with extra contrast and with the contrast turned up to supernova. I'll remember to flatten them before sending next time so they print better.

Join the ever-growing club of photographers who feel that the printed page is not doing their efforts justice.

Photo reproduction in Arrivee is generally better now than it was 2, 5 or 10 years ago, but it does vary slightly even between two copies of the same issue.  There's always a tendency to blocky shadows, to my eyes - an ink-spreading thing I suppose.  Inevitably at some point in the process the photos get converted from RGB to CMYK and some aspects suffer a bit, especially things like hi-viz clothing.  Tim is a print professional so nothing is for want of know-how or skill.

[citoyen]

Tim is a print professional so nothing is for want of know-how or skill.

Hmm... he may well be an expert in print production but his skills are perhaps slightly wanting in other areas of the production process... which isn't meant as a criticism. Far from it. All those involved in Arrivee do sterling work and I appreciate their efforts. It must be a mammoth task to put an issue together, and clearly a lot of time and energy is put into it - all unpaid too, I presume. Chapeau to all the editors.

Thing is, I have a certain amount of professional expertise myself and sometimes when I'm reading Arrivee, I find it hard to resist the urge to get the red pen out...

What's the editorial process behind an issue? Is there an editorial committee who decide what articles go in which issue? Is sub-editing and proofreading a team effort? Or is it a one-man job from beginning to end?

I'm contemplating the rash move of Getting Involved but I fear a greater level of commitment is involved than I may be able to offer.

d.

[Martin]

What's the editorial process behind an issue? Is there an editorial committee who decide what articles go in which issue?

I think anything that gets submitted goes in; from what I hear from Tim there is often a shortage of material in some issues which is why you get full page photos of people doing rides from last year  

nice to see some regular top notch photos appearing not just from the camera of Tim too 

[citoyen]

nice to see some regular top notch photos appearing not just from the camera of Tim too 

Yes - Mrs Cyklisten has quite a few in this month. 

d.

[mattc]

I think anything that gets submitted goes in; from what I hear from Tim there is often a shortage of material in some issues which is why you get full page photos of people doing rides from last year  

Some photos are just too good to not publish, whatever the vintage.

I don't have any criticism of the production - but I know F-all about photos. I think we, the members, let it down a bit with dull content. But then we're mostly a pretty dull bunch!

Some issues are really inspiring, most have at least one entertaining article.
(Even the dull ride reports are usually useful info  ) In a perfect world, a team of talented sub-editors would 'enhance' the less interesting writing (and of course charge nothing for their work except quiet satisfaction).

We see some really entertaining RRs on the internet - please folks send them to Tim and team!

[citoyen]

I think we, the members, let it down a bit with dull content. But then we're mostly a pretty dull bunch!

Dullness isn't really the problem - it's a niche product aimed at a limited audience who have already expressed an interest in the subject by virtue of joining AUK. However, occasionally an article is just unreadable. There's one particular article in this issue that I was very interested in reading, but I found it almost impossible to extract the useful information from it.

But like I said, this isn't meant as a criticism of Tim or anyone else. Arrivee is an amateurish product in the best possible sense of the word, and long may it stay that way. A little polishing here and there wouldn't hurt, though clearly that depends on the people with the relevant skills and experience volunteering their services...

We see some really entertaining RRs on the internet - please folks send them to Tim and team!

Yes, I owe Arrivee an article that I promised myself I would write earlier this year but still haven't got round to it yet. <Slaps own wrist>

d.

[vorsprung]

Some photos are just too good to not publish, whatever the vintage.

That inside back cover pic in the latest issue is a bit ropey though

[Chris S]

Some photos are just too good to not publish, whatever the vintage.

That inside back cover pic in the latest issue is a bit ropey though

Is that pre or post hissy fit?

[Martin]

I think we, the members, let it down a bit with dull content. But then we're mostly a pretty dull bunch!

Dullness isn't really the problem - it's a niche product aimed at a limited audience who have already expressed an interest in the subject by virtue of joining AUK

we have the same problem in our caving club of which I used to be the newsletter editor; some of the articles are just too long for some readers even though the author thinks it's important to put it all down.

One of our members was in PR and had done a bit of work for magazines like the National Trust and Blokey Tit ones; he reckoned for general interest most articles over half a page of text were never going to get published far less read.

Less is more.

I also quite like reading the reports of when things go wrong, not out of morbid humour but because it shows how we often make the best out of adversity; which is definitely part of what AUK is about.

[vorsprung]

Some photos are just too good to not publish, whatever the vintage.

That inside back cover pic in the latest issue is a bit ropey though

Is that pre or post hissy fit?

It's on LEL innit?  So that's why he looks slightly...mangled...

[mattc]

...
 I was very interested in reading, but I found it almost impossible to extract the useful information from it.

You've touched on something I've found ever since my first Arrivee. If I'm reading a report as much for information as entertainment, my brain needs a little guidance!

I wonder if it would be helpful to have a standard proforma summary with RRs. (It could be in small font, bottom of the left margin say). Basically the sort of info in the calendar entry, but perhaps fleshed out a bit - thoughts anyone?

[I know this is dreadfully conformist, and us cyclists like our freedoms - we're not at school any more Matt! but i'd find it really useful ... ]

[Chris S]

Some photos are just too good to not publish, whatever the vintage.

That inside back cover pic in the latest issue is a bit ropey though

Is that pre or post hissy fit?

It's on LEL innit?  So that's why he looks slightly...mangled...

Ah yes, my bad - I was influenced by other pictures...

[mattc]

It's on LEL innit?  So that's why he looks slightly...mangled...

I think it was taken at 60k

[Panoramix]

I was also given the British nationality in the MC finisher list!

Your one of us now 'Robert'.

Call me Bob!

[David Martin]

Bugger! Another mug shot opportunity missed.

Is that not yourself on page 3 52,extreme left;middle row?
The page banner is
"Scone the Flat Way"

I should point out for our geographically more distant members that this Audax name. refers to a place, not a particular culinary misfortune or ritual. Likewise the stone of scone refers to a lump of rock, not the comestibles available at the cafe stop.

For TEFL practitioners, getting your students to correctly pronounce 'The stone of Scone has gone'  can be quite amusing for the listener.

..d

[citoyen]

I wonder if it would be helpful to have a standard proforma summary with RRs. (It could be in small font, bottom of the left margin say). Basically the sort of info in the calendar entry, but perhaps fleshed out a bit - thoughts anyone?

This is an interesting thought. If such information were presented as a box panel, this would also help to break up the text and make long articles more digestible. The design of the magazine is generally very good, but there are various other tricks that could be employed to help the reader. Crossheads are used to good effect but pullquotes would be another good way of breaking up the text - they would also help to draw the reader in. These are all the kind of jobs you'd expect a decent sub editor to do.

One thing that confuses me about way ride report articles are laid out at the moment is where the first paragraph is highlighted in a different typeface/colour (eg Eiger Sanction, p8), sometimes in a side panel (eg Pony Express, p26). In design terms, this only really works if the highlighted paragraph is a standalone introduction to the article. Or if the drop cap is in the highlighted paragraph (as in the Black Mountain Brevet write-up, p4).

Actually, a proper snappy introductory paragraph would be welcome for most articles - explaining briefly who the author is and what the article is about - but again it would require a sub editor to write it...

Hmm. If I'm not careful, I'm going to talk myself into Doing Something.

d.

PS another thing a good sub editor would do is check the names of contributors.