The Friday Cyclotouriste

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Wow it’s been four years since I posted this other Memorial Day image. It’s one of my favorites, but as is typical with the “Random Images” category, it’s just a pleasing photo with nothing to do with bicycles.

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In the dream,

we till the loamy soil

and work the byways and flyways

of pacific salmon

and monarch butterflies.

Days flow like cycling migration patterns of hummingbirds and

humpback whales.

— nourished by seal pup carrion and wildflowers.

Lew is right. There is no place else to go,

but remember that rascal Chuang Tzu.

Waking up he says,

“Maybe my life is only a butterfly’s dream.”

-Nathan, May 9, 2013

Happy MLK day!

Since today was a day off from work, I spent a leisurely morning luxuriating over breakfast and a cup of PJ Tips tea.

Here’s the idyllic view — from this morning — from my apartment’s dining nook.

I thought I’d use the image to demonstrate different types of traditional black and white tinting techniques — techniques that are now regularly applied digitally, but which photographers originated in old fashioned, physical darkrooms.

For example, here it is as a neutral, black and white image:

Here it is as a warm sepia-toned image:

Here it is as a cool blue-toned image:

Click this link to view the original image in color.

-Nathan

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The coastal fortifications (as seen in the image above) from a time when nation-states confronted each other with crude, 20th century explosives and projectiles are hard to miss as you bicycle through the Marin Headlands.

These gun batteries are now quiet, but our world still does not embrace Martin Luther King’s practice of non-violent resistance or Mahatma Gandhi’s ethos of satyagraha.

King was influenced by Gandhi, who, according to the author Thomas Weber (Gandhi as Disciple and Mentor, Cambridge University Press, 2004), would quote the poet Shelley at his mass rallies in India.

So in honor of Martin Luther King Day, here are a few stanzas from the English Romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Stand ye calm and resolute,

Like a forest close and mute,

With folded arms and looks

which are Weapons of unvanquished war. 

And if then the tyrants dare,

Let them ride among you there,

Slash, and stab, and maim and hew,

What they like, that let them do. 

With folded arms and steady eyes,

And little fear, and less surprise

Look upon them as they slay

Till their rage has died away 

Then they will return with shame

To the place from which they came,

And the blood thus shed will speak

In hot blushes on their cheek. 

Rise like Lions after slumber

In unvanquishable number,

Shake your chains to earth like dew

Which in sleep had fallen on you-

Ye are many — they are few  

–Percy Bysshe Shelley (from The Masque of Anarchy)

January 1, 2013

6:05pm to 6:07pm

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The little nub of land (barely visible) on the right side of the horizon are the Farallones (also known as California’s Galapagos), a set of small islands which help form a highly productive ecological web of sea birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles including the Black-footed Albatross, Chinook Salmon, and Great White Shark.

-Nathan

I spent most of the long holiday weekend in bike-friendly Fairfax (with my mother, brother, nephews and my brother’s extended family). Taking advantage of one splendid sunny day, I went for a short ride up into the surrounding hills — the same hills where legend has it the “mountain bike” was invented.

Make of this account what you will:

‘Twas the day before Christmas, when all thro’ the land,
not a storm cloud was in sight, not even in San Fran.

I set out on my ride with an Italian holiday treat;
’tis called Panettone, ’tis all I had with me to eat.

‘Twas packed with a thermos filled with hot tea;
but where to stop and enjoy I must wait and see.

My handlebar bag deftly handled the load,
as I pedaled my way up Bolinas-Fairfax Rd.

The summit was sunny, ’twas a true joy to be there;
yet riding down ’twas cold, so I descended with care.

Then who should I see — why it happened so quick.
But if I’m not mistaken it was good ol’ St. Nick!

I heard him exclaim, as his lugged, steel-framed bike disappeared out of sight —
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

And one of the creation legends surrounding Panettone, according to Wikipedia:

“…a 15th-century legend from Milan gives the invention to the nobleman falconer Ughetto Atellani, who loved Adalgisa, the daughter of a poor baker named Toni. To help her, the nobleman disguised himself as a baker and invented a rich cake to which he added flour and yeast, butter, eggs, dried raisins, and candied lemon and orange peel.

The duke of Milan, Luduvico il Moro Sforza (1452–1508), agreed to the marriage, which was held in the presence of Leonardo da Vinci, and encouraged the launch of the new cake-like bread: Pan de Toni (or Toni’s cake).”

-Nathan

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It was a partly solitary Thanksgiving. I took a hike by myself and then gathered in Fairfax with a small group of friends and family. On the hike I made this image.

I’m so thankful this year. Words cannot describe how grateful I am. But here goes:

To all beings. To everyone who contributes to my sustenance wherever on this planet you may be. To those who came before me and brought me to life. And to anyone who needs to hear it.

Thank you…Thank you…Thank you!

Amen.

Here’s another image from my hike, but I judged it too melancholic to lead off the post.  In fact, I nearly deleted it for being too sad.  Anyhow, if you’re interested check out some of my previous holiday images like this Christmas day photo or even last year’s Thanksgiving photo.

-Nathan

Han and Chewy taking a breather after tearing up some single track.

Bobba Fett using his cargo bike to haul Han (frozen in Carbonite). By Mike Joos via Awesomenator

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Maybe it’s time to go a new direction and change our attitude vis-a-vis our relationship to Mother Earth.

Nathan

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I’m beginning to accept that on my short bike rides around central Tucson I can only photograph the landscape that exists — which is a landscape resplendent with concrete, abandoned shopping carts, and dumpsters.

However, paying close attention to the details of this landscape, I believe, creates a more intimate connection to the physical world.

For beauty is everywhere — even in ugliness it is possible to see beauty.

But the opposite is also true — ugliness exists within beauty. This is the paradox of living in duality.

Looking through the eyes of God — from within the unity of existence — what do you see?

Nathan

Click here for some of TheFridaycyclotouriste’s previous holiday images/posts

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.

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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

My 22-month old nephew’s first tricycle!

He’s actually more into backhoe’s than biking at this age.

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A beautiful Thanksgiving Day in Sabino Canyon with the sun streaming through a large Arizona Sycamore (Platanus wrightii).

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In Tucson summer is still hanging around with temperatures in the mid-to-high 80’s, but up at 8,000 feet in the Santa Catalina Mountains Autumn is in full swing.

The Aspen Loop from Marshall Gulch is alive with color this week.

Full disclosure: I didn’t bike all the way up Mt. Lemmon — I took an automobile — but there is precedent for me posting a holiday (e.g. Haloween, Xmas, Solstice) photograph, whether or not there was any riding involved. And now that the weather is cooling down, I plan to revisit the idea of bicycling to the top……really I do!

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An image that really has nothing much to do with bicycles (like many of my other “Random Images“), but it feels very autumnal and fitting for the holiday.

This was made on the way up the Cataract trail toward Mt. Tam.

In months past, I’ve written extensively about the area around Cataract.

To celebrate the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year and the exact moment — 11:28am PST yesterday — when the earth’s axial tilt is most inclined to the Sun) a gallery of images of Spring flora made on various bicycle rides over the last couple months:

From upper left-to-right and from top-to-bottom:

1. Daisies of some kind;
2. Sticky Monkey Flower (Mimulus aurantiacus);
3. native California Black Oak (Quercus kellogii);
4. native Miner’s Lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata);
5. a native Pacific Coast Iris;
6. native California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica);
7. another Pacific Coast Iris,
8. a Rose; and finally,
9. Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) a troublesome invasive species supposedly wreaking havoc upon on native wildlife ecosystems.

Another random image made on my back porch. Like this picture also from my porch (or this Christmas Day image), it really has nothing to do with bicycles — just an interesting photograph I thought I’d share.

The above image was made with my new (used) camera: a Fuji S5. The lens is a Nikon 18-55mm picked up for $25 on craigslist. The autofocus motor on the lens is broken (which is why it was so cheap), but I like it because it forces me to slow down and focus the lens by hand.

The Ebisu‘s rear basket is loaded with supplies (grapefruit, rustic cantaloupe, and goat’s milk yogurt) to add to a Mother’s Day brunch held at my brother’s house.

The basket is made by Wald and it’s attached to the rear rack with plastic zip-ties. I usually anchor the corners and then add a few more ties until it can’t move or slide the slightest bit. For a clean look snip off the zip ties close to the rack. (Here, I was too lazy and left the excess.)

Pacific Ocean, Christmas Day 2009

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