The Radavist

These days, I rarely put up A Day in 10 Photos posts anymore and to be completely honest, it’s not intentional. The way I choose to document for the site has changed in the past few years, focusing more on Shop Visits, Beautiful Bicycles and other randomness. Today however just fit right in perfectly with the old ADi10P format.

The stage: a fraction of the many trails in Santa Cruz. With the idea of an early start out the window, we settled for an early afternoon shred fest. The people, Ibis Cycles, Strawfoot and Brian Vernor. Check out 10 narrated photos below and don’t worry, I shot plenty of photos of that Hunter…

“Local access only” is not to be confused with “locals only”. If there’s one thing to be said about Australians its that they love to show visitors how great their land is. Land is something that’s very ethereal these days. Tourism changes the way one interacts or engages with a place. For example, a surfer would have a very similar experience as a cyclist in Australia but a businessman or businesswoman might have a different perspective altogether.

As cyclists, we look for the most anti-social areas to socialize. No one wants to chat on a busy street. #NotBeachRd. We look at cities differently and while many people prefer the beaten path, some head out down roads with no KOM, no segments and no social scene. I’ve been very blessed to be given such a unique view of Victoria and over the years have met some great guides.

This roll of film was lost. Ok, not lost, just in the bottom of my film container in the fridge. It contains some moments from rides, a Black Breath show in Melbourne and some other randomness. Check out the narrated photos for the full story.

Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4
Fuji Pro400h

Something I’ve been saying a lot this past year is how the crit track bike has become its own character within the world of “fixed gear”. Now, I don’t want to generalize too much (I’m guilty of that) but unlike track bikes used to actually race at the track, the crit track bike takes on more eccentric personality. Think of them like a racing machine found in F1 or Nascar. Bright colors, patterns, excessive details that jump out and catch your attention in the four or five seconds of each lap.

The most compelling example in recent months being the Stanridge Speed x Death Spray “magnetic” design or the hyper neon Dosnoventa bikes. Call it what you will but I’ll call it exhibitionist extravagance with two wheels. Case in point are the new Division 1 Cinelli Vigorelli frames. These are full blown, over the top, lightweight race machines.

Custom painted ENVE wheels laced to pink Phil Wood hubs, custom anodized PAUL cranks, custom anodized Thomson stem, Thomson post with a matching Thomson collar, Painted ENVE bars, custom Busyman saddle and bar tape. The guys went all out to match the Cinelli Vigorelli “Giro” pink paint scheme.

Would I ride it? No but I’m a little more reserved when it comes to paint. Besides, I’m a purple kinda guy. Do I think it works in the context of one of the most exhibitionist track bike criteriums of all time? Of course. It’s fun, colorful, will look great at night (in the rain nonetheless) and will match the Division 1 team’s Pee Wee Herman skinsuits to a T. Yes, they even have bow ties.

Call them what you will but Colin Strickland, a local racer, or beast have you, is sitting pretty at number 5 in the Red Hook Crit standings and he isn’t even warmed up yet… Now, if the rest of the team can work together, one of these machines might make it to the podium.

At any rate, a race is a race, a bike is a bike and you can check out more of this excessively extravagant track bike crit machine in the Gallery!

“builder’s hands are always dirty…”

NAHBS is always a difficult event to cover. There’s no feasible way for me to go to every booth and talk to the builders, or select one of their frames to shoot, so I tend to just walk around, aimlessly and stop to shoot when something catches my eye. This Photoset is filled with randomness from the show, check the captions for more information and check out my other NAHBS coverage here.

I recently got a screaming deal on a Contax G2 with the Zeiss 45mm and 28mm lenses. The 45mm is arguably the best piece of glass, ever and the Contax G2 has been hailed as the best rangefinder ever, even beating out the Leica models (so they say).

While some will argue a rangefinder should be MF, I kind of enjoy the AF. Once the camera came in, I headed out into the night to capture some of the vibes on the East Side of Austin. Later, I brought it to Colorado Bend State Park on a day trip with my parents, who were visiting from North Carolina. The results from my first test roll of 3200 Delta black and white resonated through my scanner yesterday.

Check out some wonderful randomness in the Gallery and I can’t wait to shoot more with this camer.

Today, before the sun is up, a small group of friends and I are going to embark on a 600k brevet-style ride out of Pittsburgh, over the Appalachian mountains and into DC. Loosely termed a “brovet”, this ride is part of a project that’s come to be called Go Yonder. I can’t say anything more than that but we’ll be posting photos on Instagram ( @JohnProlly @moi_is_moi @tytanium @no_ralphy @quesofrito @coelmaness @yonderjournal ) of all the randomness we encounter for the next 36 hours.

The Mudville will be my work horse and since we have no idea what to expect on the road, it’s set up with a SON hub, an Edelux lamp (mounted to a Cronometro Nob, via a R&M mount) and a Viscacha saddle bag by Revelate Designs. We’re all hobo-camping, probably only clocking in 2 hours of sleep, so I’ve got a bag liner, a tarp and a merino hoodie. Fingers crossed, loose legs and Scrapple!

See you on the other side of the mountains and check out more photos below.

#GoYonder

I thought I lost this roll of film somewhere overseas but as I was cleaning my office, I found one last roll from Bali. So I dropped it off to get developed and viola, vacation vibes all over again. These are all completely random and the film crops are all off (gotta fix that setting on my scanner) but they’re all pretty good!

Like everyone else today, I can barely function. Each year, the 4th of July proves to be a great time. I’ve yet to blow off any digits, or shoot my eye out and so far, the only damage has been to my bank account. I spent the afternoon at our local digs, the Yellow Jacket Social Club and enjoyed the festivities. Dogs, dudes, babes, beer, bourbon and a lotta randomness ensued. Check it out below and if you have any cool photos from your afternoon, share them in the comments.

Click on the above photo to launch the gallery, or here to open in a new tab.