The Friday Cyclotouriste

Winter in southern Arizona this is not.

This is Copenhagen, Denmark. A city where bicycling is just another way for everyone — young and old; fashionable and unfashionable; working class and upper-class — to get from here to there whatever the weather is like outside.

The photo is from an article at Copenhagenzine.com reflecting on the foolishness of overly specialized bicycling subcultures (in this case, enthusiasts proclaiming the imperative for high-tech winter cycling gear). It reads, in part:

“When sub-cultural groups start trying to indoctrinate and convert the public, it rarely ever succeeds. For the better part of a century, people all over the planet rode bicycles because they were quick, easy, convenient and enjoyable. In hilly cities. In hot cities. In snowy cities.

After the bicycle largely disappeared from the urban landscape because urban planning started revolving around the car and the automobile industry began their dreadfully effective marketing after the Second World War, many regions in the world have been left suffering in a bicycle vacuum.

The result is that an entire generation has been given the impression that cycling is something that a few people do for sport or recreation and not much else…”

The point is if you live in a cold climate, you probably already have all the clothes you need (in your normal wardrobe) to bicycle in cold weather.

Does the same principle apply to our hot (very hot!) AZ summers?

Nathan

An image made on the patio of my Dad’s place on New Year’s Day.

The green and magenta color combination is always striking. These two colors are on opposite sides of the color wheel, making them complimentary.

As a side note, when two complimentary colors are combined at the proper intensities they produce white light. So, Green (G) + Magenta (M) = White (W).  In addition, if you combine the three primary colors (Red, Green, Blue) white light is also produced (R+G+B=W). The great physicist James Clerk Maxwell figured this out (along with his theories of electromagnetism) in the late 1800s, but now I’ve completely digressed.

If you want to play around with these color combinations, here’s a color wheel to experiment with and here’s some good basic color theory.

Show on map

I didn’t get much bicycle riding in during 2011 due to distractions (like my job and other photography projects) and the natural fall-off that came along with moving to an auto-centric city with a hot desert climate. I’m not sure what 2012 will produce. A multi-day bicycle tour would sure be fun. Europe would be great.

One thing that is clear: since I began this blog in early 2009, the so-called bicycling movement has gone from a niche activity to a fully mainstream cultural phenomenon. Core77 has an interesting year-end review titled How the Cycling Movement Gained Momentum in 2011.

Anyhow, today’s landscape image was made while riding through the parking lot of the El Con Mall (home to Target, Home Depot, and a 20-screen cineplex). I didn’t have a reason to post this during 2011, but I enjoy the photo so I’m making it my 2012 New Year’s Day image.

I hope everyone has a year full of joyful bicycle riding with family, friends, and loved ones.

Happy New Year!

Nathan