Nokka

Watter dorp is jy?

Hi guys, sorry for the delay - in my defense, I'm Capetonian, we shut down from mid-December till early Jan. Was out hiking, running, DIY'ing and, err, planning for the rest of the year. I'm seeing the people from M24 next month, to discuss the way forward - editions as well as a possible English version. We've noted a lot of interest from the Engelsman community (we love you all), but in the end this all will be a business decision, dictated by numbers and costs. As is understandable. Print media today is neither a charity nor an easy business to be in, even if we have a lot of passion for what we do. Die boontjietellers neem die finale besluit, en dis ook reg so. Gaan kyk maar net na jou naaste Spar of Checkers hoe min mags is daar vandag op die rak. That said, I'm confident we have a winning formula to go ahead with. The initial market reaction was very positive, and a number of outlets' copies sold out very quickly. Distribution wasn't maybe as best as it could've been (it's out of my hands), but we'll keep it on the stands for another month or two. We've received a lot of feedback from readers, as well as some great suggestions on what to focus more on for next editions. Dankie, die voorstelle was goed en prakties. A lot of people mentioned the lekker, witty writing style (one lady saying on FB that the tail piece alone was worth her R100!), and to emulate that in the English version would be the next challenge. Afrikaans in vyfderat ry maar net soos 'n Cruiser. It was a learning curve and a lot of hard work, but then you see pictures like these, van 'n jong boer wat sy ToerFiets lees terwyl hy die lande ploeg, and as a creative person it all becomes worth while.

Thanks for all the great messages and words of encouragement, so far. In baie opsigte was dit 'n tester uitgawe, om te sien waarheen moet die inhoud vorentoe mik. Ek het bv my eie smaak, maar 'n mens moet ook bied wat die lesers die graagste wil hê. En, soos iemand vroeër genoem het, jy gaan nie altyd van alles in 'n tydskrif hou nie. Soos met jou FB feed, page on. Een ding wat my verras het, is hoe baie mense eintlik alreeds bikepacking op hul eie doen. Hulle reël hul eie wegbreek-toere met vriende. As 'n mens na die ander mags en TV-shows kyk, sou jy dink die hele SA doen net die Wines2Whales... Die verkope lyk goed sover. Die eerste stash op winkelrakke het in baie plekke al uitverkoop. Die verspreiders het laat weet hulle sal binnekort weer hul drop-offs gaan doen. So as jy nie dadelik jou ToerFiets op die rak vind nie, byt net vas. Of, stuur 'n message met watter dorp jy is, en ons gee dit deur aan die verspreider, dat sy Bantam daar verby kan ry. Laat daai speke sing

Watter suburb is jy? Ek sal uitvind watter winkel naaste aan jou hou dit aan.

Dankie-dankie, Ek self stel baie in motors belang - ek's 'n motorjoernalis - so ek voel ek kan ingelig skryf daaroor, dis nie 'n gegorrel om plek vol te maak nie. Plus die sportnutse is 'n enabler om jou stokperdjie uit te leef. Die dakrak, die fietsrak, die sportnuts teenoor 'n Corolla. So dit pas nogals vir my. Maar, blaai maar verby as dit nie die smaak is nie. Ek wil beslis meer travel stories in die toekoms insit. Lesers het alreeds lekker bydraes van die interessantse toere ingestuur wat hulle self onderneem het. Die kar-seksie moet nooit indring nie, maar waarde toevoeg.

Hi guys, thanks for the positive response so far. Greatly appreciated! Of course with a small print run as an initial trial edition it won't be cheap. But, what you hold in your hand before walking to the till, is a classy product. SA's best technical writers and international photographers. These don't come cheap (has anyone seen the rand lately?). We have local and international stories. Beautiful, professional layout. Well written. First hand interviews with industry leaders and sportsmen. Detailed info curated from first hand experience. Yes, it's not burger-and-chips money. But this mag can sit on the shelf without ageing. You won't regret that spend!

Daai avatar is 'n goeie begin. Kan ons inzoem op die fiets?

Dankie vir die belangstelling! Ons het laasweek geprint. Dit behoort einde van die week of dan volgende week in die shops te wees.

Stumbled a bit late onto this rather interesting thread. We are really spoilt for choice in the Cape, but unfortunately the shops don't stock a great variety. Pinotage can be beautiful, but it is a difficult grape to work with, and to get right. But once they master it, it has a lot of body and flavour. Cab savs are a safe bet, but a silky shiraz melts like fudge in the mouth. Try Rhebokskloof's shiraz for a special treat, winemaker Rolanie has won huge prizes for her shiraz consistently over the years. But, with warmer days and long, sunny evenings coming up after this long and wet winter, I'm all ready for icy cold, crisp chardonnays to sip.

It's the long standing traveler's belief that as long as you can say Beer, pizza, please and f... you! in the local vernacular you can go a long way.

It's always a challenge to be a small language in a big English world. New things quickly get an English name, and it gets used by a gazillion people, so it gets accepted as the norm. We just have to deal with that, and work around it. Also, we do have our peculiarities that doesn't always help - for instance, to stitch words together (where English prefer seperate words). But, Dutch and German have the same problem, and they accept that. As a journo, that's the cool thing for me: Language is a living thing. Here we sit and actively create new words that will end up canonized in dictionaries. When I planned the magazine, I used an American and a German cycling magazine as "bases" or refence material. (Thanks to my Afrikaans, I can easily read German) Ze Germans use long words, and they translate everything. The Dutch less so, the French also translate everything. It's fun to create new words. We looked at what the Belgians and Dutch do with translations, and made a list of our own new words. Here's the thing: We don't prescribe. Language has different registers. Dominee Afrikaans, kispak Afrikaans, braai Afrikaans. Ek skryf onberispelik in die tydskrif, maar op die Hub gooi ek hom soos ek wil. Braai Afrikaans.

I've got a feeling travel stories are the way to go. So, with flights opening up (or maybe you're burning to share your 2018 TransAlp experience), get out those phone cameras and make notes as you trundle along the pistes and stradas. And if you'd like the mag in English, pop a mail. It'll help with making a business case to the publishers.

Dis ongelukkig nie Nols nie. Maar stuur groete!

Thanks for all the feedback so far. The language shouldn't be such a big issue. Ek's veel meer geïnteresseerd in watter onderwerpe mense in belang stel om oor te lees. (En nou gaan ek weer na my braai-Afrikaans oorslaan) Soek mense escapism, travel stories, of how to's en gear guides? Jy sal beslis jou eie ervarings en foto's met ons kan deel. Dit sal great wees. Ek het reeds twee sulke travel stories ontvang. Met die tydskrif, ek wou wegkom van die geykte race report en maagoefeninge. Ja, daar is 'n ton gear guides in. Maar laat weet ons of jy meer of minder hiervan wil sien. Ek hou persoonlik ook baie van onderhoude, die profiel storie. Dis altyd leersaam en interessant. Ons het drie profiel stories in: Ek het self met Jenny Tough en Riaan Manser gepraat, en daar is nog een met die fietsbouer Dave Mercer. Ons Afrikaans is onberispelik. Ons het nuwe woorde geskep, en die styl wissel van formeel en saaklik tot lig en gemaklik. Maar koop dit en lees dit, en skryf vir ons wat werk vir jou en waar het ons ratte geglip. En vertel jou vrinne by die braai ook van ons nuwe lekkerlees tydskrif.

We did discuss this. I think more than half of SA's cyclists are actually Afrikaans, and high LSM's. It's an untapped and under appreciated market. But as mentioned elsewhere, if there is a good uptake, we can do both versions. Really excited to see how the market react to this. I think it's the first Afrikaans cycling magazine ever!