Nic de Sena is back as Senior Editor at Ultimate Motorcycling magazine! Nic came to Ultimate Motorcycling just over 10 years ago when he cold-called Coram Publishing President Arthur Coldwells and pitched himself into a job.

Nic became a staffer back in November 2015, and we plopped him on a BMW R 1250 RS for a review. It was rough sailing at first, as Nic and I would butt heads about big issues and minutiae with equal fervor. While it was uncomfortable at times, disagreement is an essential part of the process of improvement—his, mine, and the magazine’s.

In the intervening 10 years, Nic has left twice to explore the worlds of other motorcycle publications. It’s something I was happy to see him do. Sure, it was not pleasant losing him from the staff. However, I wanted Nic to be in a position that suited him best.

In Nic’s case, he went from a small, family-owned publication with all sorts of freedom and a “boss” who asked him if he wanted to do a story, rather than ordered him. That’s how we do it at Ultimate Motorcycling.

As it works out, the only person “forced” to do a story is me. When a story doesn’t suit the style or interest of anyone else, but the story still needs to be done, then I’m the go-to guy of last resort. That works because I’m interested in pretty much anything related to motorcycles, and I’m happy to write about it.

The upside of this approach is that every story is written by someone passionate about the story. The downside for me is that I often assign stories that I would like to write, but it makes sense to have another staffer do the honors due to the writer’s interests. I suspect that’s not a typical division of labor, and that Nic had to get used to how stories were assigned at other publications.

Also, as part of a smaller publication with short lines of communication, Nic has virtually unlimited freedom to write about whatever he likes. If he has an idea, he can implement that idea without dealing with multiple levels of oversight. That’s great for the readers, and it puts a smile on my face whenever Nic’s stories show up in my mailbox.

Another valuable aspect of having Nic back at Ultimate Motorcycling is that he also edits my reviews. His perspective and input make my stories just that much better, just as I endeavor to improve his stories as I prep them for publication.

Now, there is one downside on a personal level. I always enjoyed seeing Nic at new-bike launches around the world. When Nic was working for someone else, I enjoyed hanging out with him as a colleague in the world of moto-journalism rather than a co-worker. With both of us at the same publication, that doesn’t happen. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made in life.

I’m sure you followed Nic when he was at Rider and Motorcycle.com—two fine outlets—but we’ve got him back again, and we’ll find out if the third time’s the charm.