Not only did the philosophy of magazine content change with the passing of Papa Rodale, but so did the marketing strategy.
The SOP seems to go something like this: You order a subscription to Bicycling in January and you buy the January issue on the news stand. You wait until the end of Feb and decide that it's not coming and buy that issue on the news stand. You wait until the end of March and buy that issue on the news stand. Along about mid April you receive the Jan, Feb, March and April issues with a note that says your subscription will expire with the Dec issue. Than you have to waste your time calling them to fix it. Never again.
John Dunn in Boise
Tom Dalton's posting about the next generation of Rodales and the way that they have turned their backs on real values is about the saddest thing I have heard in a long time. The minute I read it, I knew that it had the ring of truth.
I grew up loving the ideals of Organic Gardening and Bicycling magazine which offered valid contributions to environmental sanity. I loved Mr. Rodale's healthy living approach and his magazines' vigorous idealism. I feel that it is missing from much of the way we live nowadays. The reason that I spend so much time reading Classic Rendezvous is because I yearn for much contained in the years that these older bikes came from. I applaud the civil way that the list manager and members go about expressing themselves, and pursuing their hobby of bicycle reconstruction. It is very apropos that our bikes are as different from modern bikes as the new Rodale philosophy is from the old one. The truth is that what is shared on this group is better than what was ever published by even the "old" version of Bicycling. I deeply appreciate having the opportunity to meet and learn from so many rare birds. Sincerely Garth Libre, watching the hurricane pass by South Florida today.