Making Tracks Magazine 1986-88

GrahamJohnWallace

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In the early years of UK mountain-biking it wasn't clear whether mountain biking would become popular or remain niche like rough-stuff riding.

By 1986 mountain bikes were to be found in most bike shops and makers like Muddy Fox, Saracen etc were sponsoring race events. However, there were no local mountain bike clubs and organised non-competitive rides were rare apart from those of the Roughstuff Fellowship who mostly rode road bikes and got off and walked if the terrain got difficult.

Geoff Apps started out riding off-road as a 'Tracker' bike rider and joined the Roughstuff Fellowship in the early 1980s but found that his approach of seeking out, not avoiding, difficult terrain didn't exactly fit their tradition. He became a regional organiser for the RSF and in 1982 started leading 1st Sunday of the month rides from Wendover in Buckinghamshire. David Wrath-Sharman followed the model by running similar monthly rides from Guildford railway station. rides were also held in Hertfordshire and Berkshire as well as whole weekend rides.

In 1986 a group of about ten people involved in these rides decided to start a not for profit magazine in order to establish a non-competitive mountain biking community and establish promote regular monthly rides nationwide.

So in 1986 Making Tracks magazine was launched. Originally, it sold as a six issue annual subscription, mail distributed in A5 format in black and white.

Luckily the production team were a highly creative bunch including talented illustrators whose work more than compensated for the basic black & white reproduction quality of the photos.

In 1988 the magazine changed to A4 though still in black & white and three issues later it merged with New Cyclist Magazine.

Today reading Making Tracks gives a unique historical insight into those times. The race reports, the early bikes and equipment, the early UK rides and the worries of mountain bikes being banned if riders didn't respect other countryside users.

You can read 1988 Issue14 here:
http://www.owlarchitecture.com/wp-conte ... -1988_.pdf
 

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Re:

Recently, someone has found quite a several unsold copies of Making Tracks Magazine. I haven't seen the magazines though understand that after being in storage for more than 30 years the paper has yellowed and they are a little dusty.

Unfortunately, some issues are missing but here is a list of what has been found:
Issue 1 .................... 1986 ................ x5 ... A5 -- front and back (and inside) covers only Issue 2 .................... 1986 ................ x1 ... A5 Issue 3 .................... 1986 ................ x3 ... A5 Issue 4 .................... 1986 ................ x1 ... A5 Issue 5 .....................1986/87 .......... x0 ... A5 Issue 6 .................... 1987 ................ x0 ... A5 Issue 7 .... Apr/May 1987 ................ x8 ... A5
Issue 8 .... Jun/Jul 1987................. x4 ... A5
Issue 9 ... Aug/Sep 1987 ................ x5 ... A5 Issue 10 .. Oct/Nov 1987 ................ x4... A5 issue 11 .. Dec/Jan 1987/88 .......... x6 ... A5 Issue 12 .. Feb/Mar 1988 ................ x7 ... A5 Issue 13 .. Apr/May/Jun/Jul 1988 .. x9 ... A4 Issue 14 .. Aug/Sep 1988 ................ x2... A4

If sent a Stamped Addresed Envelope and a list of the magazine issues of interest the current owner would be happy to post them to anyone who is interested.

Based on their size and weight, I will work out the postage costs for single magazines and multiple magazines and then post it here.
 
I was lucky enough to get a complete set from someone who was having a clear out. Fascinating reading about the 'scene' as it was happening way back then.
 
Re:

I have often wondered if a certain Graham Wallace who placed an advert in the ' Lonely Hearts ! sorry Parts '
section on page 13 of Making Tracks issue no 2 , ever got the ' Dawes style sprung saddle ' that he wanted ?
 
Re:

No, I didn't receive any replies to my wanted Ad.

Is far as I can remember, at that time I was using a light-weight Iscaselle sprung saddle and wanted either a spare or one for a second bike. I still have the original.

Though they came as standard on Dawes Ranger bikes, at that time it was difficult to get hold of good quality lightweight sprung saddles.

Regarding the magazines. I have emailed the person who has the magazines and will get back to those who have messaged me as soon as I get a response.

Graham
 
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