What the Philly biking community can expect from Spoke magazine
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
..."issues that matter to cyclists, no matter their experience level."
Illustration by Hawk Krall for Spoke's first issue
With an exploding bicycle commuter population and a first-ever bike share program coming this spring, Philadelphia is really becoming a cycle-centric city. Yet there seems to be a lack of focused reporting on Philly’s urban cycling, a void that co-founding editors Matt Bevilacqua and Alex Vuocolo look to fill with Spoke, a new quarterly magazine inspired by the passionate cycling community in Philadelphia.
“Spoke will provide an in-depth source of journalism for cycling in Philly. We want to expand the conversation around cycling beyond political bickering and stereotyping, covering things that are important to all cyclists like, education, infrastructure, law and policy,” says Vuocolo.
With more than 7,500 copies of Spoke’s first issue already distributed to coffee and bike shops across the city, readers can expect a full breakdown of cycling infrastructure, funding, articles about city businesses that rely on bicycles for transportation, voices from the Philadelphia cyclist community and issues that matter to cyclists, no matter their experience level.
Currently, the only real sources of cyclist-focused publications live on the web and are geared towards long-time, hardcore cyclists, typically in the form of shorter pieces or public forums. Spoke intends to use in-depth, longform journalism to cover cyclist related news that will be easily accessible to Philadelphia’s ever-growing cyclist population.
Spoke will have its official launch party this Friday, Jan. 30 from 6:30 p.m.-10 p.m. at American Sardine Bar, 1800 Federal St. Grab a free copy of Spoke’s first issue and come celebrate with its founding staff. Tickets can be purchased here.
