Family, Photography and other misc news
Loving the freedom of the open road. Limited now due to Greyhound adoption.
How do Car drivers put up with commuting on busy roads.
After just two days, I could scream. No matter what I am commuting by bike tomorrow, some Ibuprofen and paracetamol should see me through the trip to work.
Even with a sore neck and shoulder it will be preferable to sitting in traffic.
Well this weekend is the end of the MotoGP season. Not only that but for many UK riders, this is also the time when most hang up their leathers for the winter.
Caroline on her Honda
There has been some good racing and the skills on show are fantastic. Unlike UK riders these guys will not be hanging up there leathers, now its testing, training and for many hitting the dirt trails for some off road riding, nothing improves your riding more then riding on the slippery stuff.
For me, i’ll still be commuting to work on the bike. Hopefully we will not have as much snow as last year. No matter how cold it gets I love commuting to work by Motorcycle.
Keep it sticky side down guys.
Today is another sad day in the world of motor sport. Last week we had the death of Dan Wheldon the two times Indy 500 winner at Las Vegas.
Today in MotoGP, the motorcycling premier class we lost Marco Simoncelli. A great young up and coming rider who was a real threat for next years championship.
The thrill of Motorcycling and the adrenaline rush, like most motor sports is partly due to the risk. No matter what safety features you add to cars and bikes or changes to tracks, there is always going to be risk. That risk is why many take part, the thrill of pushing yourself to the limit.
Ours thoughts are with the families of those who have lost loved ones.
Take care out there on the road, and keep it sticky side up.
We are now getting really into the autumnal feel of the season.
Riding into work today the low sun shining though the red leaves of the trees gave me a number of ideas for some photographs.
It was also quite a windy day so I hope the leaves will last long enough for me to get the shots that are currently in my head.
Always tricky riding a bike in high wind, even more for a motorcycling photographer. There is only so much I can squeeze into the tank bag and top box. That really limits what you can take, makes you think what is really necessary.
The English, and I could possibly say the British in general have a fascination with weather. Compared to many countries the weather in and around the British Isles is generally benign, but it is certainly variable and difficult to forecast.
As someone who rides motorcycles and where possible flies planes, I have a somewhat more then a passing interest in the weather. It also has a great impact on photography. The best shots are always when bad weather is slowly changing to good.
As an all year round motorcyclist, weather is generally not something that stops me from riding a bike. Surprisingly hot summer is not my favourite biking season but the autumn is. The weather is a little cooler and not too hot, and you and your machine have really become one, having had the past six months to ride in the ever improving weather.
My least favourite weather for riding, is snow/ice, fog and wind. Today we have had the pleasure of ex-Hurricane Katia. Luckily the wind has been strong but steady. Sudden gusts are the worse.
If you see a biker taking it steady in strong wind, please give him plenty of room, you never know when a sudden gust could take him either into the hard shoulder or into the other lane.
I keep finding that I am saying to myself, “Its a funny old year”. The context of this has been my lack of motorcycle riding.
It rare that I don’t find myself in the saddle of one of our bikes at some point during the day.
This year has been different, due to ill health at the start of the year I spent a couple of months unable to ride. Last week it was just sheer lack of time. We both took the week off and spent it decorating the house. So the bikes spent the whole week stuck in the garage.
Today was our first day on them again. Once on the open road, I soon noticed I was a little rusty so took it careful as I slowly increased my pace.
This made me wonder this week how people manage, who don’t ride through the winter. In England most motorcyclists only ride for six months of the year. Then each spring we have the usual huge spike in road accidents. If only people could be persuaded to ride either all year round or to take it easy for the first month or so. But I suppose if you only ride six months a year then tootling around for the first month or so could not be tolerated.
There are a lot of riders who only ride between April and September, many never risk a ride if there is a chance of rain.
This morning the weather looks beautiful, and I expect i’ll not be the only motorcyclist heading in to the city on my morning commute.
I don’t quite understand why a cold day or a bit of rain puts people off. With the right riding clothes and a steady riding style you can ride most of the year, in fun, comfort and safety.
Enjoy your commute today, and keep it sticky side down.
No, not scouting for girls but scouting for locations to shoot models.
Had a fun day today, well, the morning was not so fun as we spent it at the gym, but then it was off on our lovely BMW R1200GS to explore the East Coast.
Earlier in the week, I had been using the internet to research possible areas where I could have an outdoor photo shoot. Now with the best three locations book marked in my Garmin GPS, we went off to check them out.
A good scenic location, parking and privacy were the key attributes I was after. Holding an outdoor shoot is always problematic, with this being the British Isles, the weather is always trouble. Any scenic location that has parking generally will have privacy issues, and of course getting permission from the land owners also has to be considered.
A quick portrait or landscape shoot you may risk not getting permission, but with models, extensive camera and lighting equipment its best to plan well ahead and get the permissions you require.
Everything is now just about sorted, I just need to pick a date and finalise which models I am going to use. I feel a test shoot coming up.
I am not sure car drivers realise how new tires feel.
A motorcycle relies on its tyres. Many people just replace there tires once the tread has gone but this is often a mistake. As the tyre is worn it becomes mishapen, and this affects handling.
The contact patch on a motorcycle is about the size of a credit card, thats a very small area to trust your life too. Once the handling starts to go off, replace your tyres. A bike with fresh tyres is like a new bike.
Well a fantastic four days travelling round North Yorkshire.
The weather on day one and four was challenging and dramatic, possibly the second worse rain storm I have ever ridden in, thanks to a great bike and good clothes we got through it and even enjoyed it.
The middle two days were spent generally riding round and site seeing. We went on a bit of a waterfall hunt. With the rain they were in full flow and a truly dramatic sight. We even found the waterfall from that scene in “Robin Hood Prince of Thieves”‘ where Marion is watching him bathe.
It was a hot afternoon, and it was tempting to jump in, but instead I just photographed the scene.