Picture Change

Bicycling has brought so many changes to my life.  There is something about how it frees you from convention, if you let it, that propels you into new experiences.  My shopping habits have changed (way less packaging because it is too hard to carry, more farmer's market purchases, more small store purchases because it is hard to park at the mall...), my eating habits are different (smaller amounts more often because it is awful to bike on a full stomach), my transportation choices have shifted (I will bike if I can, even when the car could be faster) and so much more.

My entry into photography was completely a result of riding my bicycle.  When I started seeing pictures from around the world of people on bicycles, I wanted to start adding to the record of what was happening around me.  As time went on, I wanted to do better at it and so I started to explore the camera.  Even pictures of things that have nothing to do with bicycles still have a bicycle as part of them as I probably bicycled to get where I was shooting or the subject was found while riding around.

Bicycling is very hard on digital equipment.  I have managed to destroy my Pentax 10D when I crashed my Bat on the Market St. train tracks.  The smaller ones have either worn out or been dropped too many times. So now, I am using film cameras that are much smaller and a great deal more robust.  But that means that my old "shoot-from-the-moving-saddle" style has got to change.

I can still do the occasional panda if I have the right camera with me,

but it is a great deal more difficult than it used to be.

So now, I will have to find a new style of shooting the bicycle scene.  This means finding a different way to interact with it, too.  It will take time to work out, but it will be fun and my bicycle will be with me all the way.

The Bicycle City: 20,000 bikes help Post-War Nicaraguans

stumbled across this video trailer while perusing the reader for a movie called "the bicycle city" aka Rivas, Nicaragua.

The Bicycle City. Trailer from Greg Sucharew on Vimeo.

from the vimeo description promoting the film:

What happens to an impoverished developing nation town when you flood it with 20,000 bicycles? You lift three times that number of people out of poverty. Pedals for Progress and founder David Schweidenback have been shipping used American bicycles to Rivas, Nicaragua for the last two decades and the transformation has been incredible.

visit the film's website to learn more about it.

in the spirit of this blog, and how we feel about how bikes are transformative and lend towards independence and a renewed sense of self, this project is right up my alley. also sounds like a movie i would love to see.

via treehugger.

Letters From Singapore!

Our first reader contribution of 2011!! Sent to us, with much gratitude by Cheryl! This is the way to start the year- learn how to ride so you can take long rides with your friends! Thank you so much for thinking of us Cheryl and Min and make sure to send us some updates about your riding exploits in the months to come!

Christmas was just a couple of months back and I was thinking hard on what I could possibly get for my best girlfriend – Min! We aren’t the typical girls who dig shopping and cosmetics but love exploring everything adventurous and new!

Singapore, being the tiny country it is, has left us with nothing much else to do. We have traveled in and out of Singapore, gone running, windsurfing and just about any and everything. Then, I remembered…there’s something Min has always wanted to learn to do – that’s to cycle! I tried putting her on the bike and though she didn’t really get the hang of it, that didn’t stop us from being part of our new adventure – the Singapore Duathlon 2011! That was my Christmas gift for her!

Back in school, Min was a runner while I was somewhat the opposite, always coming in last during our sports class. Taking part in the duathlon relay has put us closer together as a team. It was my first time on a 20K ride and I was nervous! But I’m thankful for Min, who constantly motivated me. Both of us are also grateful for our beautiful friends, who woke up early on a Sunday morning, and gave us all the encouragement we needed!


It was a wonderful experience that enabled me to see that there really isn’t something you cannot do if you put your heart, mind and soul into it!er
e re

Give a bike, change a life! -Hans Rey

I recently received a note from a fellow blog-buddy to post, and decided to also post it here, because it is so very close to our collab blog here, and it is what this blog is all about, changing our lives for the better as citizens of this world and our planet. Thought I'd share.

*cross post from Bikes and the City
I had not heard of Wheels4Life before. I enjoyed reading about the goals this group has formed to contribute and fundraise for a great cause, providing an efficient and access to school and multiple othe locations for everyday use indeveloping countries. I thought it was a nice cause for change and benefit of this planet and us as citizens of this world, so thought I'd share it with you all

(From Josh's email) Founded by mountain bike legend Hans Rey, W4L is hosting an auction selling off 10 dream mountain bikes to raise money, which in turn will go toward buying bikes for developing nations. Wheels4Life is a great charity that provides much needed transportation to closed off pockets of the world, but for more information check out their website at www.wheels4life.org 

A link to this video was also included in his note:




From their page: About Wheels4Life

Wheels4Life is a non-profit organization that provides bikes for people in developing countries who really need them. Often these people live in very primitive and remote areas with no access to public transportation. The closest school, doctor or work-place might be 10 or 20 miles away. In developing countries, children use bicycles to get to school, adults use them to get to work, and health care workers use them to access their patients. Without a bicycle, children can end up uneducated, families can be without enough income to survive, and illnesses are left untreated. Wheels4Life provides the life-altering mobility of a bicycle to make the daily necessities accessible. The gift of a bicycle can work miracles.

So, there are a few auctions left this month to participate in, if you are interseted. Not sure how many of you are into Mt. bikes, but these look pretty sweet.

Auctions

Auction 4: 12/6 - 12/12: Focus First XC and Titus El Guapo
Auction 5: 12/13 - 12/19: Focus Raven and Titus Rockstar 29

Check out more info on the auctions and bicycles here: Bid on a bike. Change a Life»

OK, that is all for now. Now off to riding a bike =)

smiles and independence

a couple of weekends ago four people, including myself, gathered together after months of emails and changed plans for one purpose: to teach an adult how to ride a bike.

i was merely a spectator-cheerleader, yet the instigator, of the happenings that weekend. we met up in a deserted area near a great indian place in berkeley, chose an empty parking lot and let the teaching take its course.

my phone being at near capacity, i could only get two photos of the awesomeness that occurred that weekend.

n+j

n+j

but rather me tell you how it went down, i got permission from the new bike rider to use an email she sent to us after the fact. who better to describe how she felt than the person herself?

the email was edited a bit, but you'll get the idea, of that i'm quite certain.

from: JT
to: NA
cc: MM ,AK
date Mon, Nov XX, 2010 at 9:57 AM

and for real for real ginormous armfulls of gratitude for each of you. you each helped me jump a huge hurdle. i was so down and out. learning how to ride a bike really helped my spirits fly a lil higher when they were ready to sink. thank you ak for loaning your green bike to learn & now the white bike to practice on!!! and thank you mm for connecting us to na - learning how to ride a bike=best present ever!!! and thank you na for being the best bike instructor ever!!! i couldn't have asked for a warmer, supportive and patient group of people to help and witness me learn how to ride a bike. =)

my parents were in disbelief that i learned after all these years. and my brother said he was proud of me =) i can't wait to bike to work & everywhere else & go on bike rides around oakland and sfc!

with lotsa love,
jt

now if that is not the definition of the title of this blog, i don't know what is.