Archive | biking

49 years…

–Today is my birthday.  I have been on the planet, breathing the air, since February 17, 1965.  I am an Aquarian, and in the the Year of the Wood Snake to boot.  It’s a heavy combination, if you follow these things.  Those of you who know me well enough will see that the associated characteristics fit me to a “T.”

–My future family were traveling in Europe when I was born.  They settled in Dublin, Ireland for a year waiting for me to arrive.  When I was old enough to travel they hit the road again and stayed in Italy for a couple of months before heading back to America.  My sisters were 10 and 8.  Somewhere there are home movies my father made showing us all at the time.

–I have had my share of successes and failures.  Some of them have been of my own doing and some have been granted or inflicted upon me.  Such is life.  No one is immune to that dynamic.  I suppose it is how we roll with the punches, how we dust ourselves off, that matters.

–Yesterday I surprised myself.  After a tough 2-hour, somewhat technical, mountain bike ride, I bumped into a small phalanx of other riders on my way back home.  One invited me along for a leisurely ride into the hills.  I went.  I usually would not do this,  i.e., join in so quickly.  It was fun.  I met some people I hadn’t met before, had a couple small chats.  Nothing too committed, nothing too serious.  Then I came home.  

–I also had a superb and very difficult ride three days ago.  I rode from Paroikia to Lefkes (45 min.) and then from Lefkes to the radio aerials that sit atop the highest peak (1.25 hrs).  From there I rode down the south-western slope, along an extremely rocky track, that eventually turned into a decent farm road.  All unpaved, of course.  The route eventually led me to Kakapetra, an area just south of Paroikia and a stones throw from a friend’s house (45 min.)  I stopped by for coffee and a chat.  The image below is from that jaunt.  You can see the aerials far away in the distance.

–I have reapplied for my American passport via the mail and the embassy in Athens; I have washed a load of laundry;  I have shopped for cat food.  Tonight, I get to eat dinner with a good friend at one of my favorite restaurants on the planet.   I begin my 50th year as a photographer and an amateur mountain biker.  Looking back, when I turned 30 I was a chef de cuisine (10 years)  and a guitar player (15 years).  Like the snake, I shed my skin.

Biking from the aerials on Paros.

Biking from the aerials on Paros.

 

 

Looking for spring…

–It is February, the Longest Month and Winter seems to want to hold a bit longer here on Paros.  Her hand clutches with grey fingers, wrinkled and damp, thin from the cold.

–Meanwhile, Persephone is in a downstairs apothiki, packing her bags and checking her visa in anticipation of her departure from Hades.  She will arrive soon, skipping through the green fields, wild blossoms in her dark hair, her backpack resting by the side of the road.

–I popped a spoke on my bike the other day up in the hills.  Check my Flickr site to see where I was…

–It is not wise to ride with a single spoke missing.  It puts uneven strain on the others, then they pop and then your wheel “tacos” mid-spin.  That is a good image, and one I do not wish to experience.  So I am having it re-spoked at the local bike shop.  I am getting rid of the stock spokes that are currently on the wheel  and adding stainless steel units.  The old ones were pretty rusty.  I am also having stainless control cables installed and new chain.  This should get me ready for spring.

I feel like boycotting everything having to do with Russia.  Just my political 2 cents.   

JDCM

Back on Paros…

–It is quiet here.  The rain falls through the night and the clouds cover the sky during the day.  There are moments of sunshine–brilliant, silver and brief.   I hope to get out and shoot some film in a couple of days when the clouds roll away.

–I have been out biking, for which I am grateful.  The sense of freedom on a mountain bike that one does not have in either a car or walking.  Fast, but not too fast, panniers full of cameras.

–The people, food and music of Greece keep me here.  The light is nice too.

–I will be going through my files and uploading all my past “header images” from this blog to my Flickr site.  It might be interesting to see how they all look together.

–I have decided that I would like to be known as someone who worked hard rather than someone with any great talent.   Dedication and hard work has always brought me farther than subjective opinion.  I can measure the first.  The second is fickle and none of my business.

–In February I begin a new 7-year cycle of life.   I can already feel the shift.  It feels tectonic.

JDCM

 

 

Mid-December update…

Phrenology at the Street Market

Phrenology at the Street Market.  Leica M8, Voigtlander 28mm; f/5.6; 1/125; ISO 320

-I haven’t posted in a while.  I have been busy with the ending of the 2013 Autumn Session at the Aegean Center.  I have been very pleased with this session.  My steep learning curve as an instructor has taught me a few things and I have been able to avoid some of the pitfalls common to any novitiate.  My overall opinion of teaching is that the small rewards outweigh the tragic gaffes and stumbles.  I keep searching for the Golden Key which unlocks the door.  It has been a humbling three months.

-I am currently in Athens, making my way back to the USA for the Christmas and New Year holiday.  I will visit with family, close and dear friends, and enjoy driving my car.

-It will be frigid in the little town where I grew up.  This will make exercise difficult and lazing about watching movies easy.  For the month that I am there I will probably join a gym and try to burn off the calories as I gain them.  I have no desire to return to Paros 6 kilos heavier than when I left.  One of the many benefits to living on Paros is the ability to get out and about without donning the kind of winter gear I will wear in New York.  There is also no snow on Paros, or none to worry about anyway.  This allows me to ride my bike.  It’s all about layers.

-I was sitting in a café yesterday with some Athenian friends and I was astounded at the general din of this large, ancient and sprawling city.  After the quiet of Paros, the noise is deafening.  It troubled my sleep last night.  I tossed and turned.

-I still adhere to the belief that I am not an “artist”, per se, or at least would rather not be known as one.  Call me a “skilled technician” or “an able-bodied craftsman” or “a journeyman photographer”.  The world has become a market for the “artist”, a place to sell goods, like a street vendor selling fruit, or perhaps something darker.  In order for “the artist” to really be a mainstream success, he or she must conform to the trends and fads that guide the fickle opinions of gallerists and marketeers.  For me, this is a trap.  If I am creating to please the public, then I am on an ego-trip.  It urges me to be the center of attention, in the limelight.  I am not comfortable with center stage.  Once in a while these lines intersect.  The rest of the time I have to be patient with hard work, working long nights and being a wallflower.

JDCM

 

 

Zoom, crash, boom…

A very fun triathlon.  Despite my brilliant hand-off, I am not deterred.  Our team finished 4th with a total time of 55 min, 32 sec.  I think I rode the 12k in just less than 30 minutes.  Very nice.  No broken bones, but six stitches on my left palm and some bruises and scrapes.  Thank you to Minas and Vangelis from the Paros Rescue Squad.  Can’t wait for the next event…

You know it's fun when someone is bleeding...

You know it’s fun when someone is bleeding…

 

Look! Nothing broken!

Look! Nothing broken!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

# 67...Not damaged in the crash.

# 67…Not damaged in the crash.

JDCM

 

The weather turns towards autumn…

I woke up this morning to blustery, grey clouds and very cool temperatures.  Last night, before laying my head on my pillow, I switched on my electric mattress pad for the first time since March.  Yesterday’s Aegean Center for the Fine Arts Friday hike was sunny, brisk and invigorating, yet not the stuff of late spring or summer.  Cries of “Wow!” and “This is amazing!”  punctuated our oregano, sage and thyme-scented walk above the hill town of Lefkes.  The air was so clear that looking north, I counted the houses on Syros and the already narrow channel between Paros and Naxos seemed a mere stone’s throw.  In New England or northern Europe the leaves are currently a brilliance of fiery tones.  It is autumn in the Kyklades so we inhaled the blue skies, dark evergreens, golden underbrush and brilliant light spilling around us.

Tomorrow I compete with a team in the Paros Autumn Triathlon.  I will be bicycling 15km while my two teammates will be swimming and running, respectively.  It is not a competition so much as a community event.  The only race will be against myself.  I am looking forward to this event and am very excited.  It is important for me to realize that here on Paros I am more than just a man with a camera, or an ex-pat American in Greece.  I am more than a summation of my parts, and that whole grows exponentially if I allow myself to be drawn to the larger, communal rings that ripple through my parochial nucleus.  There was a time when I craved a closed system for necessary self-preservation. This attitude is self-defeating and limiting.  I have been increasing my orbit over the past couple of years and this event will signal a shift in my personal trajectory.  Excited, nervous and looking forward to it.

Lefkes, Paros, October 4, 2013.  Leica M8, Voigtlander 28mm, 1/125, f22, ISO 320

Lefkes, Paros, October 4, 2013. Leica M8, Voigtlander 28mm, 1/125, f22, ISO 320

 

 

Bike-hiking and new gear…

I have been exploring the island these sunny, warm days.  I have found a couple of small, very rocky and rough beaches on the north side of the bay, facing Syros, north along the coast from the cave of Archilochos.  They are all but inaccessible unless one rides a bike, hikes or has 4-wheel drive.  A few days ago I went back to one of them with the goal of not returning the way I arrived.  From a decent height I could see smaller paths and a narrow road.  I knew I couldn’t bike it, and that I would have to push/carry the bike a certain way uphill, over rocks and walls, before I reached the road.  According to the map, the road wound about until it reached the Delion of Apollo, one of the higher points on the island and an ancient temple site.

So that’s what I did.  I biked down to the beach area, went for a swim, then packed up my panniers (more about them) and pushed the bike up the hill.  There was some real problem solving involving a small gorge, some backtracking, plenty of thorns (shades of Sikinos!) but I eventually made it to the road.  It was a pretty easy ride to the Delion after that and then a downhill ride back to town.  It was only about 8 km but with all the uphill struggle and 15 kilos of bike and gear, I’ll add another few km to that count.  A nice day, and fun.

I bought panniers for the bike.  Now I don’t have to wear a day-pack anymore.  This was making me top-heavy.  The center of gravity has been lowered and I am finding them convenient and efficient.  Below are four incarnations of my current mode of transport.  There is enough room for all kinds of gear.

Beach Bike

Beach Bike

Mountain bike

Mountain bike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hiking bike

Hiking bike

Shopping bike

Shopping bike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JDCM