Friday, February 22, 2008

Snowball's Chance In Hell Bike Race






Two weekends ago on Brownie Lake in Minneapolis, a bunch of crazies gathered for the SnowBallsChanceInHell Bicycle races. (the actual name is much longer) They are held right on the lake - the frozen lake, for you out o' towners. In a nutshell, a "course is shoveled/broomed off and bikes race around for a number of laps. The course is a figure-eight, so there are frequent collisions, many intentional, and loads of screwing around. Nobody take these races too serious, it is all about fun. Refreshing. So was the temperature. I believe it was in the negative temps, or zero at best.

There were some prizes given out by the sponsors: One on One... can't remember who else, maybe CRC Coffee?

Some guys showed up with studded tires - not the wimpy store bought ones, but home-made with sheet metal screws versions. Most were without studs at all though. A number of Surly Pugsley's were there too. Again, for out o' towners, the Pugsley is a mammoth tire'd mountain bike. It is the SUV of bikes. Balloon tires are 4+ inches wide. They are specific for winter riding. The guy doing the wheelie is on one.

If anyone knows the names of guys riding, feel free to leave it in the comment section. Credit where credit due and all.

Windsled - School bus for freezing lakes


I was assigned to Bayfield, Wisconsin last week to shoot a "windsled" that kids take across Lake Superior to get to school. These kids live on Madeline Island, one of Wisconsin's Apostle Islands. Strange device to be sure. It is like a swamp boat made to go across thin ice, or lakes that are still freezing and may have open water. It is driven by two large props - which are each driven by a 502" chevy race motor. They don't put these motors in street vehicles. They are powerful mills! Anyway, if you'd like to hear more, head to the NY Times site and view the slideshow while you are there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/us/22ice.html?ref=us

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Mount Shasta!






Last spring I begged to be assigned a story on climbing Mt. Shasta that I knew the NY Times was doing. At first the reply was "no, we'll find someone closer". Bummer. Then less than two weeks before the climb, they call me and ask if I want to do it! Well, so much for training in advance. I just took what fintess I had and went for it.

Stephen Regenold, Minneapolis based freelance writer (and fellow adventurer) and I struck out to climb the 14,000+ beast. If you want to read how it went, copy and paste this link: (tried to post as a link and blogger would not do it?)

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/travel/escapes/15Shasta.html

It was my first mountaineering climb, and as mountains go, this was a good first-timer's choice. It was not easy, but there are not heavy techincal sections. I have a long history or rock climbs, so this was something altogether new. It is basically a long, steep hike in the snow. Up, up and up some more.

Sadly, we never stepped foot on the summit. We endured 70+ mph winds and little sleep at camp (10,500') and in the morning we saw several avalanches in the area that we were to hike through. "Wind loading" was becoming bad. No other climbers made summit all week though, so we felt a little better about bailing. I am here to tell of the story rather than burried in snow. I feel good about the decision.

I got some nice photos despite the circumstances and had a good time to boot. Northern California is fantastic! Oregon is really nice too!

Enjoy the images. The guy descending is me - photo credit: Stephen Regenold.

Monday, February 11, 2008

R.I.P. Polaroid




So, Saturday I found out that Polaroid, the instant film company has quit making their products. I am sure that most of you know Polaroid for the big clunky cameras. Those ruled! However, there was a lot more to the company. We (formerly - pre-digital) medium and large format, or 4x5 users knew it as an easy way to get a preview for how our film would turn out. It was spendy, messy and likely toxic, but we loved it. I have warmed hundreds if not thousands of polaroids under my arm pits. Sometimes, when working on fashion sets, I'd have two under each arm ( to speed up the processing of the chemicals). And to dispell a myth, shaking them did not speed or help the process at all.

Polaroids had a distinct smell. A mild chemical smell, that I have to admit that I loved. I became quite fond of it. I've said too much...

So, here's to Polaroid. An american, photographic icon. So long old friend. And to my artist friends who still use and rely on Polaroid, I am sorry for your loss...

*I'll scan a few and post them here when I return home.