An open letter to our friends and fans, As you may already know, Kickstand Magazine was born from the wildly popular Denver Cruiser Ride, which has grown from 13 people in 2005 to as many as 3,000 each week in 2011 - and we expect the summer of 2012 to be off-the-charts fun for thousands upon thousands of bicycle enthusiasts here in Denver, CO. The question we asked ourselves in 2008 when the weekly ride had swelled to some 600 people was “what do we do next?” With some basic market research, we discovered that there was a missing component in the marketplace. Ultimately this was the seed from which we hatched the idea of publishing a magazine. First-and-foremost with a love and passion for riding bicycles – along with some decent design skills, along with a limited set of resources, we were able to cobble together the inaugural issue in August 2009. We jumped into the pool two feet first, not knowing what laid in store for us or if there was water in the pool. In less than three years since its inception, we’ve managed to publish 9 quality issues. We accomplished this feat at a time synonymous with the worst economic disaster that the U.S. had seen in more than 75 years. Despite this foreboding economic backdrop; along with the demise of the print-publishing world as it had been for decades, we kept plugging along - knowing that eventually things would turn around and advertisers would again spend their scarce marketing dollars. Since the magazine’s inception we’ve seen the social riding scene explode not just in our hometown, but on all continents on the globe. We were convinced when we started this project that there needed to be a publication focused on this segment of the bicycle market, and despite the challenges of producing a nationally-distributed publication (we were immediately schooled that this was going be a lot more work than we had envisioned). However, we are more committed than ever to seeing this concept to fruition. Thus the reason for this announcement: On May 1, 2012, Kickstand Magazine entered into a strategic partnership with Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) to bring the magazine to a larger audience than we had previously imagined possible. It took nearly the entirety of the winter to work out the details of this program, but it’s an exciting next step for our publication. Beginning with the tenth issue, Kickstand Magazine will be available at REI stores in CO, UT & MT! While this is only the first phase of a multi-phased program with the world’s largest bike retailer - it is with an eye to the future - where Kickstand will be available nationally at all U.S. REI stores by the end of 2013. This is an ambitious program on our part because it increases our stake in being the “go to” publication for the social riding scene, not just in the U.S., but globally. Additionally, it places an enormous burden on the small staff that has already toiled to bring you the previous nine issues. None-the-less, it’s a huge step in what we have always envisioned the publication to be, which is The Owner’s Manual for a Freewheeling Life. Having been acknowledged by such a well-respected retailer of the likes of REI, it speaks volumes of what we have accomplished thus far, and what we will continue to expand into the foreseeable future. We’ve done our best with what we had to work with over the past few years. Have we done everything right thus far? Certainly not. Can we do better? Absolutely! What this announcement should communicate to everyone: from our staff, to our readers, to our current and future advertisers - is that we have struck a chord in the marketplace that needs the coverage that Kickstand Magazine provides. Today, we stand firm in our belief that we have the right mix of love for the bicycle, and the chutzpah to weather any storm that comes our way. We appreciate the early support from advertisers like New Belgium Brewery and Bikes Belong/People for Bikes that saw this publication as a strategic partner in encouraging more people to get on bicycles not just for fun, but for a healthy and more-engaged lifestyle. To them we say “Thank you.” To our subscribers and readers, as well as the haters that have dealt with our learning curve in producing this multi-armed monster, and for your patience with our erratic, and sometimes frustrating publishing schedule, we also say “Thank you!” The next few years are going to be the best that social riding has seen since the hey-day of the Schwinn Era, and we welcome you to join the ride! Best Regards, Brad K. Evans |