The Friday Cyclotouriste

Audrey Hepburn on her bike at Paramount Studios, 1957

I wanted to give credit to the photographer; but, try as I did, I couldn’t track down the individual’s name.

I think The New Yorker has a thing for bicycles. The cover from the August 2, 2010 issue is below, followed by some other beauties from the archives.

Aug. 2, 2010

Jan. 18, 2010

April 22, 1985

Aug. 1, 1983

June 22, 1981

July 23, 1979

Aug. 6, 1955

May 4, 1946

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August Sander, Forester’s Child, Westerwald, 1931. Gelatin silver print, 10-3/16 x 7-1/2 inches. Copyright © SK-Stiftung Kultur – August Sander Archiv VG-Bild Kunst, Bonn.  Deborah Bell Photographs

August Sander is one of the most esteemed portrait photographers the medium has produced. I did not know of this image, however, until discovering it in the current issue of The New Yorker magazine.

The geo-link below the photo is only accurate at the level of the town (it would be interesting to track down the exact location).

Since I’ve already digressed so greatly from the Angel Island ride report and photos I keep wanting to post, I may as well list some other (mostly contemporary) photographers that interest me (in no particular order):

• Pirkle Jones
• Joel Sternfeld
• Clyde Butcher
• Saul Leiter
• Christopher Burkett
• Michael Kenna
• Edward Burtynsky
• Stephen Shore
• Edward Weston
• Mathew Chase-Daniel
• William Eggleston
• Chris Jordon
• Clark Little
• Jim Balog

And then there’s my current favorite photographer, Laura Mcphee.

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Until the Cal-Park tunnel re-opens to pedestrians and bikers (and trains someday too) all rides heading south from Fairfax (e.g. to San Francisco, Mill Valley, Sausalito, etc.) will likely pass through the Town of Ross.

The enfant terrible, Sean Penn, has a home here and the street above, Shady lane, was featured in Francis Coppola’s film, The Godfather.

The image was made in the first few miles of my roughly 40-mile Angel Island excursion.

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I bicycled to Angel Island (via ferry) over the long holiday week-end. It was a typical July day on the San Francisco Bay — patches of brilliant sunshine mixed with belts of fog and massive wind gusts, due to cold ocean air being sucked into warmer inland areas.

The image above was made on the SW side of the island below the summit of Mount Caroline Livermore (El. 788′). Note downtown SF, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. (You can click on the image for an expanded view).

(Wikipedia fact: Angel Island was part of the mainland until about 10,000 years ago, when sea levels rose as the last ice age came to an end.)

More images, a map, a short ride report, and an espresso review to come.

One more picture from the fair last weekend.

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With the Tour de France underway, I’m rising early to catch the end of each day’s stage. The race seems wide open this year, although defending Champion from Spain, Alberto Contador, looks well-positioned with the important mountain stages coming up.

Anyhow, I recently came across this book (actually, the publisher sent it to me to review). It’s quite charming. I really like the glossary which includes some phrases that were new to me (e.g. lanterne rouge or red lantern refers to the rider who finishes in last place for the whole race).

I also really like the complete list of Tour winners going back to 1903 with the teams and countries they raced for juxtaposed to a pop-up map of central Paris with the Champs-Elysees, Place de la Concorde, and Rue de Rivoli all on display.

The text also includes insights like these:

More than any other sport the Tour de France has its own culture. In the midst of fierce competition, the Tour follows some unofficial rules of etiquette that are not found in other sports. For instance:

• If a rider loses time because of a fall or collision, it is unacceptable for other cyclists to use that misfortune to gain an advantage for themselves.
• Attacking during a meal break is taboo.
• If the race passes through a riser’s home village, as a sign of respect he is permitted to ride ahead to greet family and friends.
  
• In celebration of Bastille Day…it is considered polite to allow a French rider to win the stage — as long as it does not affect the overall outcome of the race.

Paris and list of past Tour champions

The Peloton

Short history of bicycling

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Here’s a video clip of Obi-Wan using some Jedi mind tricks in STAR WARS episode IV.

May the Force be with you.

WalkBikeMarin Display at Marin County Fair

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The company I’m working with this summer, Alta Planning + Design, is deeply involved as a consultant in a $25 million federal pilot project to test the effectiveness of using federal funds to increase the modal share of bicycling and walking. The mechanism to accomplish these goals is infrastructure improvements and public education.

So I spent a day at the Marin County Fair sharing information about the program with fair goers.

Here’s a link to a comprehensive list of bicycle projects underway in Marin and, just for fun, here’s a few comparative statistics (from Alliance for Walking and Biking):

• The Netherlands invests about $39/resident on bicycling and walking compared to $1.50/resident for the U.S.
• Their share of bicycling trips is 27%; ours is 1%.