The glamorous life of a magazine editor (and part-time model.)

Oh.My.God. (Paul Smith)

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It's a chilly April day on a Wiltshire hilltop. I've just shaved my legs and they're reflecting the mid-morning sun as well as any mirror. Two women on horseback are staring and giggling at me and tech editor Jez Loftus. Well, you can hardly blame them Jeremy is standing on a wall in a pair of bib shorts and I've been caught - literally - with my pants down...

Yep, modelling for Cycling Plus is very glamorous. Tight budgets - and tighter deadlines - mean that when gear needs shooting it's the team on the mag who take on the catwalk duties. Today Jez and I are climbing in and out of Lycra as our snapper Paul Smith tries not the shake with laughter at the numpties posing for him. Luckily in Paul, and Robert Smith - no relation - we've two brilliant photographers who, with good lighting and judicious cropping, can make even me and the boy Loftus look vaguely respectable.

Okay, so maybe 'vaguely respectable' is an exaggeration. That said, I think I look pretty heroic in one of the shots above. Can you guess which one? Actually, my moody album cover image was taken by Rob on an airfield on the day we forced our Reader Team to ride about in the cold and gale force winds. The results, though, were stunning and you'll be able to see more of the two Smith's stirling work in future issues of the mag. And trust me, some of the pictures in our next issue - 210, on sale in early May - are stunning!

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