Many purpose built bikes and a few daily rides showed up for the big game. Rules weren't really important to us, we just wanted to get the ball rolling and make sure we were set up for the summer, I had an absolute ball! More news to come!

Took the Yashica Mat 124g up with me too.

Just goes to show how lucky we are to live in Canberra, considering after a short drive in the opposite direction I could be sitting at a pristine beach watching the waves roll in. Looking forward to heading back up with the bike when the snow starts disappearing.

It uses big rolls of film, you look through a massive viewfinder on the top of the camera and the image is reversed.........hmmmm.

So it's lucky my other recently purchased Yashica, the 35mm Electro 35 GS Rangefinder, is far easier to use; as it's been going everywhere with me lately.

Edit 15 Aug 2010:
Spent yesterday out and about with the 124g and can't believe this camera, mostly can't believe the dynamic range of film coupled with amount of detail captured on the medium format negs. I was using Ilford HP5 Plus 400ASA and with my limited experience didn't even stuff up a single exposure setting (waiting for a battery for the metre). Only downside is that these negs have so much info in them that it well and truly pushes me into the realm of purchasing the scanner I've been eyeing off.

Then it was Todd and his Colossi, talk about tight geometry!!

There really is nothing like seeing a happy new parent......except jealousy........

Next was preparing the laboratory (read: kitchen). Deadly chemicals sorted in order of requirement and reminders written on the back of old photos (timings are the key to developing so I had to make sure everything would run smoothly). I found that the best instructions were on Fecal Face, they worked and were simple so I think I'll stick with them from now on.

In simple terms it involved - filling the tank with developer and shaking for 7mins (developing the film), emptying the tank and filling it with stop bath for a minute or so (stopping the developing process); emptying again and filling with fixer for 4 minutes (fixing the image on the film), then lastly opening the tank, rinsing the reels and film (cleaning chemicals off), and processing the film in anti static (applying a protective layer to the film).

I thought it'd be a lot more difficult than it actually was, but as long as you have everything set out and prepared it's actually quite a therapeutic activity. Once I was done I hung the film out to dry and took a creative photo with a rainy backdrop. I did the dishes as usual, only with the aim of removing deadly chemicals instead of food scraps.

Then the DIY scanner came into play again and this is what resulted.

From the Voigtlander Vito B:

And from the Fujica ST605n (and no, I haven't tried to be super artistic, the weird ones are the end result of my aforementioned accident):

I'm prepared to say I'm well and truly fixed on film photography and home development. To me it feels a little like each roll of film is a tiny time capsule, a chemical imprint of what your eye saw through the lense, to be released only through manual labour and a few dangerous chemicals. It's another past time I'll never be able to describe, much like my other afflictions: prime lenses,  singlespeeding, fixed gear bikes, manual coffee machines, ukuleles, singlemalt, Land Rovers, the fact I've never been to Ikea........maybe I'm just a bit simple.

The Shogun frame is actually very nice, built of Tange Infinity tubing; something I've been setting aside for a project, but I already have too many bikes so it's perfect for this. The rear hub is free, with a ratio giving me somewhere near 50 gear inches. At this stage I have a rear brake, we'll see if that's workable. I may or may not fashion a front disk to protect the spokes but not going too far just yet. Who knows if polo will even take off in the Can'!!

Pretty simple really. Just a shoe box, full of whiteness, with my SB600 on commander mode flashing through a hole in the top, the negative attached to a side over another hole and utilising the bright white light to present the image. My D90, with macro lens attached then takes a pretty picture and I spend a couple of minutes playing in Photo Shop to get the end product.

Of course they are crap images, but for zero outlay and a kind of cool effect, I'm really happy with the result.

Epson V500 on it's way as soon as I'm sick of playing with the box!

It was a short spell on the Federal Highway before we reached the base of Mount Majura and the fire roads surrounding it. Great views were plentiful and flowing trails, with the occasional climb, lead us past Mount Ainslie, Campbell and into Russell. Following the path around the Eastern side of Lake Burley Griffin we decided to lunch at VeloRepublic, how appropriate.

Before we cooled off too much we jumped back on the bikes and navigated our way back onto the dirt along the side of Red Hill, through Yaralumla and almost to Deaks Forrest before we followed the fire trails through the Arboretum (I don't know what that means either...). Soon enough we reached Black Mountain, and the hardest climbs of the day; the steep undulating firetrails lead us through Bruce Ridge and back onto Gunghalin Drive where we had to endure a few kilometres of bike path to get back to my place.

The ride ended up at 70km long and we considered it the basis for many future variations; for instance we think it'd be possible to design a ride in excess of 150km if we wanted, or even bias one toward a series of painful climbs. We do know that it was a great way to spend four hours on a crisp 12 degree Canberra day!

And there's more to come on the latest incarnation of the Slingshot!! Drop-bar MTB AIR!!!!

Needless to say, it wasn't the most social ride I'd ever done, but allowed those who wanted to really test themselves to push as little or as much as they wanted; unlike some other rides I've done that had ended up being painfully slow, the result of riding as fast as the slowest rider.

A somewhat unlikely bunch of riders, it seemed that we had inadvertently created a Solo World Championships training camp, with only one of the fourteen riders not competing in October. Bikes were a mix of back country tourers, dual suspension and super light race bikes - the recurring theme however, was the popularity of 29ers, proof of there endurance prowess.

It all started at 6am, Wooley St, Disckson; on a freakishly warm winter morning with temperatures reaching a scorching 3.9 degrees, the warmest for a month or so! Fueled by Joel's strict breakfast of rich jam donuts, we headed through the burbs to Majura for a lap of the single track at the break of dawn; by the time we started heading toward Queanbeyan the sun had risen, with beautiful view of the Majura Plain.

Bitumen lead us all the way over the range and onto Hoskinstown Plain where the roads straightened before we hit the dirt which was flowing and smooth until we hit the Talleganda Ranges where it got rockier and headed up. Soon enough we hit the smooth stuff again just before Major's Creek and it was back on with the winter clothes as the cross winds were freezing.

The views descending into Araluen Valley were astonishing and it was fast bitumen once we reached the valley floor; the reward for our work so far was hot food and cold beverages at the Araluen Valley Hotel. The bunch had split significantly but the short stop ensured a few of us caught up to each other once again.

After a lunch of pie and coke we re-assumed our journey further through Araluen Valley and onto beautiful undulating roads that followed the river. Unfortunately this part of the journey was followed by one of the only climbs I've ever attempted that has nearly broken me (considering I've spent hours at a time climbing on the same bike, fully laden with panniers, this is no mean feat!). 4.5km doesn't sound like much, but the lack of effective granny gear on the Rohloff left me grinding up the climb with significant difficulty; something I really shouldn't complain about considering Brett was on a singlespeed....

The top of the range afforded great views once again before Kevin and I may have headed the wrong way, no great loss except the addition of an extra 10km to get us to Mogo on the Princess Highway. The sun soon disappeared as we rolled into Batemans Bay. We checked into our cabins and I enjoyed one of the best warm showers I've had in a long while.

We enjoyed great recovery dinner and beer in town before retiring to bed. The majority of riders left bright and early to ride back to Canberra on roughly the same route, minus some of the bad bits but a challenge just the same. Kevin and I secured a ride in Joel's car; him suffering from his recurring swollen ass and me, a knee injury (alarming considering it's the first time I've suffered an over-use type injury, not happy). Although at the time it felt like the soft way out, the weather we encountered on the journey home made me petty damn happy I was inside that tiny car, bikes stacked on the roof.

It was a great ride, something I'll definitely do again, but I'm not sure the knowledge of the climbs will make it easier or harder? Special thanks to Ed for inventing it and again to Ben for building my front wheel, it seemed to hold together perfectly, now for the Rohloff to be re-laced so it matches the bright red front!