This has been going on so long it no longer feels like news to me.
Nonetheless it *is* news and it’s good news.
Say hello to VROOM Magazine – my latest web launch and a project that I have really enjoyed developing along with stv21 (that’s Tamara to you and me) – who helps run the BatiFans network of sites as well as her own blog, Sonrisa de Talavera.
VROOM Magazine has been in build since late 2009, and has been the subject to ongoing development, content backfilling and design tweaks to bring it up to a really spiffing launch standard. And of course that’s all well and good, but the key question is *what is it*?
There are plenty of websites out there dedicated to MotoGP (mainly the top class admittedly) and to bikesport in general.
VROOM Magazine was built because in running BatiFans it became apparent that fans who support one Spanish rider quite often support or follow or take quite an interest in others – often, many others, too. It’s not everyone of course – and we all have our likes and dislikes – but it has definitely been a genuine and widespread phenomenon.
And basically we thought it was worth exploring… Was it worth publishing a full-blown webzine whose mission is to focus solely on Spaniards? Read the rest of this entry »
Just wanted to put this up – a pic of me that I like (they don’t come round often…) – it’s me sitting, waiting in the infield of the Circuito Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, on the morning of Tuesday November 10th – watching for Alvaro Bautista for come out of the Suzuki pits where he was conducting his first tests on a MotoGP bike, immediately following the final race of the 2009 season.
Thanks to Michaela for the pic. Top job. :-)
Back from Talavera de la Reina – possibly to be renamed Talavera de la Raina, following some proper Brit-style downpours amidst the baking heat. Nonetheless a brilliant time and a superb fanclub party with lots of friends old and new around to welcome us. Alvaro was of course there, and it was a cracking time.
There’s full reports on the Alvaro sites, and also a decent set of pics in the “Members Only” section of BatiFans.
For this page though, here’s a cool pic of some curiously and yet coolly mismatched tiles on the walls of the Basilica in Talavera.
If you fancy going to somewhere you might not have considered, *DO* go to Talavera; it’s a beautiful, tranquil, and wonderfully friendly place. Not hard to get to from Madrid, and with no shortage of nice food and drink, and of course the Roman archaeology and its famous ceramics. Totally worth visiting. Click here for general information and tourist information…
Can’t wait to go back…
Still somehow seems that I’m barely back from the break on the Costa Dorada (although I’m very aware I’ve still not posted any pics of Tarragona yet, which is a pretty piss-poor state of affairs) – and yet it’s back off to Spain on Friday; this time to Madrid and then on to Talavera de la Reina for the summer fanclub party for Alvaro Bautista.
Last year it was like a big and beautifully landscaped oven in the centre of Spain, with temperatures in the mid thirties – and according to my iPhone’s weather app (always set to Talavera) it’s likely to be little different this weekend.
Extra cold Mahou then… ;-)
