Well there was another tweed ride this weekend just gone, unfortunately I was a bit under the weather due to Box's farewell drinks the night previous. So it was a late start for me but a great time was still had. Discussion arose in reference to a Spring Tweed, so I'll keep my fingers crossed and stay off the lash the night before.

That's a lot of tweed and leather saddles!

"As one considers one's pictures less, one produces fewer truly considered pictures" - Stephen Shore

For  a while now I've been a little perplexed about my photography style. It seems that I've lost the feeling. Instead of riding along on my bike and finding interest in the way the light falls on something, I merely take photos of damn near everything. The scourge of digital photography I suppose.

So I bought three 35mm SLRs and a 35mm compact.

So over a period of two weeks I picked up:

1966 Yashica TL-Super (Japan) - M42 mount, needle metered.
1979 Fujica ST605n (Japan) - M42 mount, needle metered (TTL).
1985 Nikon F-301 (Japan) - Uses all my Nikon lenses, auto-exposure, the first Nikon with auto film advance!!!
1954 Voigtlander Vito B (Germany) - Fixed 50mm F3.5, no metering, from the oldest name in cameras (Est. 1756).

And a couple of lenses:
Tokina 35mm F2.8
Yashinon 50mm F1.7
Yashikor 135mm F2.8
Yashica 200m F3.5

All up somewhere near $300 with $100 dollars worth of film processing kit in the mail.

I'm having a ball getting shots and can't wait to start developing the film!!

Had a cool (sorry, freezing) morning of cyclocross madness with JP on the trails in and around Stromlo yesterday. Then we headed out toward Burley Griffen and then into Yarralumla for some bakery. It's amazing how tranquil it can be so close to town; crisp blue skies, not a person to seen and long smooth flowing roads.

JP's new (old) Ritchey Mount Cross is a sight to be seen. Note to self, get some bike-porn photos on the next ride.

iPhone camera, not too bad if you know what it can achieve. Luckily there is also a series of applications that turn a crap camera into something a little quirky, like the Polaroid emulator. So I thought I’d post these just because they never really get include in most of my real posts. (And yep, these are all straight out of the phone, no PS manipulation).

I met my niece last weekend for the first time. Happy days!!

After my stay in Queensland earlier this year I had mixed feelings about Brisbane. Luckily that was only because I'd spent too much time the the hell hole they call Surfers Paradise. This time round I stayed smack bang in Brisbane city, with a view of the river and surrounded by 24hr a day fun. Here's some pics from my most recent stay.

On two occasions this year I have had my euro/handmade/boutique bike snobishness drowned in a shower of asian mass produced bike parts.

The first was my Christmas vacation in Adelaide when I borrowed my brother’s carbon fibre Avanti for some extended rides leading up to the 'Be In It' stage of the Tour Down Under.

I picked it up from his house then spent an hour or so adjusting and re-assembling bits and pieces in order to get the Shimano 105 working well and the bike fitting me. To tell you the truth the 105 was pretty much flawless from the get go. I left Rach's house to head up the bikeway that heads south out of Adelaide on a 9km climb into the hills. The words - stiff, light and comfortable came immediately to mind. The front end was rigid and the bottom bracket wouldn't budge. Once over the hill it was time for some speed - precise, compliant and responsive. Soon enough I was in wine country on long smooth paths in the vicinity of McLaren Vale - all day comfortable-ness.

A sub-$3000 dollar bike that rode like an absolute dream! The Tour Down Under stage saw me ride 180km through city streets, winding roads, up mountain passes and along second rate bitumen roads with 40km'h cross winds. I was impressed and somewhat bewildered.
 
Then a few weeks a go I found an ad at work for a Mongoose Randonneur for $350. It’s pretty much a road bike with large clearances and cantilever brakes, built for touring or cyclocross type riding. I bought it with not too much expectation and really because I was thinking of building the same thing and thought the parts off of this two year old $1600 (market price) bike would come in handy.

I picked it up from work and spent half an hour adjusting it so that I could meet John for a softroad ride through Bruce Ridge and Black Mountain that night.

It was.......perfect just the way it was......

So 'twas Langer's wedding on the weekend so me and Rach headed to Melbs. We experienced the best of the best as any good weekend in Melbourne should - city streets, neighbourhood cafes, Ackland Street cakes and great company; even if Tom makes us play Jenga into the early hours of the morning while sipping generous amounts of Gin based cocktails!

As the wedding was in the Yarra Valley I decided the Cooper S was to be the hire car of choice. Without a word of a lie I am now in the market for one!

I'm not much of a wedding photographer so ther aren't too many incriminating pics, suffice to say it was a great wedding in a great spot.

Sunday morning consisted of what may become the inaugural Richmond Coffee-Off. Three competitors, three vastly different machines and three celebrity judges. I was wide eyed and buzzing for the rest of the day! Needless to say, Phil and his fully automatic machine claimed the prize.

Lookin' forward to my next trip south of the border.

The inevitable happened last week when I dropped my iPhone a smashed the glass. If I hadn't tried to catch it, inadvertently forcing it toward the tiles faster, it may have survived, but that's life.

So I had a couple of options, get it fixed, or do it myself. Now, when I have the flu I don't go to the doctor, when I break a bike I don't visit the shop and when I the roller door won't shut I don't tell my landlord; so why would I get someone to fix an extremely delicate and expensive piece of electronics that I rely on every day?

I Googled it, pried it open, disconnected some cables, melted the glue holding the glass, pried of all the shards from the frame, whacked some double sided tape in the right spots and fitted it back together.

This may sound and look easy but it was actually one of the worst DIY jobs I've ever done. Yes I did save myslf over a hundred bucks in repair costs and a couple of days without the phone, but if I do it again it's going to the shop!!!

From FaceBook:

The ten pub ride follows in the gallant footsteps of Ty and Steve's brave efforts one Thursday night, during which I had the fortune to randomly witness the tail end of their mission. (See http://www.tydomin.com/1/post/2009/10/ten-pubs-ride.html for more details.)

Anyone thinking of riding must agree to the rules of engagement, to wit:
1 You must have a bike.
2 You must be proficient at riding same.
3 You must be able to hold your liquor.
4 You must be able to hold your liquor and ride.
6 One drink per establishment. No exceptions until the end. At the Phoenix. Where it always ends.

Convene at The Front at 1pm. Once we have some semblance of a group, we'll have our first drink, and then repair directly to the George Harcourt Inn. Further cycling and chaos to follow, ending at the Phoenix.

And so Ten Pub Ride version 2.0 was.

The first beer went down quite well as we sat on the couches out the front of The Front, the weather was picture perfect and it was promising to be a great day of riding. We headed on an indirect route to the George Harcourt Inn, the reason being that I wanted to take the scenic and most picturesque route. Upon arrival we found that a lot of other people thought the George was a good place for a Sunday arvo get together. The live music started to get to us so we promptly downed our Speckled Hen and were on our way to the Old Canberra Inn.

The highway was the most direct route and we literally flew back into town, ten minutes later we were seated and devouring Rech's from the tap. Then it was through the traffic and onto Trinity Bar where Kirin was the flavour of the day. Next stop was a new one to me, Wilbur's in Hackett. A surprising new bar/cafe situated in the suburban shop, with Little Creatures Bright Ale on tap! we were off to Edgars next for some Squires then we made a deviation to our plan and purchased some beer for consumption in Carroboree Park, supposedly a popular watering hole for Ainslie youth on any Friday or Saturday night.

On the homeward stretch we made our way into civic to enjoy German beer and pizza at Debacle followed by Rumpole Pale Ale at the Wig & Pen. Our final stop was sensational, the Phoenix pumping with live music. Far too many beers for a Sunday night were then devoured while enjoying beats before we sampled the finest kebabs next door and headed our own separate ways.

A big thanks to Eddy for puting the ride together.
 

The following SMS exchange occured late in the morning the next day:

Eddy - You going to work today? I'm c*nted. Just on the bus, but presently trying to decide whether it would be worse if I went to this thing looking like I prolly do, or worse pissing my boss off and blowing it off. Cloudy the future is.

Me - Too late, been here staring at my computer trying to look alive for a couple of hours. In the coffee line now, hope it makes a difference........