Wednesday 30 June 2010

Monday afternoon photos

Part two of the Monday batch. Here's a bright looking back pack - I was almost blinded by the sunlight reflecting off it. The antithesis of the Ninja look.


Ageing hipster heading home. He had the cuffs cut off the bottom of his jeans, and wore his bike lock around his waist. Probably an academic.


Another view, with his head in the clouds.


Sunset tonight was pretty awesome. The water in the Bay was not quite mirror flat, but flat enough to look like a burnished mirror in places.


Cyclist taking the low road.



I love the reflection of the clouds on the water.


That building on the left is the UTS rowers club. Top floor is a restaurant. How I'd love to sit up there with a beer, watching a sunset like this.


Yes, it was this dazzling. When I went around the bend, I was completely blinded by the sun.


The reflection off the water at this point was something else. There was a pool of dead still water, and the sun reflecting off it turned the water almost white.

And that's it.

Monday morning photos

Lots of photos today, so I am dividing them into two chunks. To work and from work.

It was a crispy old morning in Sydney - it was 3 degrees when I left home, and I thought my ears were going to snap off before I was halfway into town. I don't know how Tony Abbott has made it through so many Canberra winters on his bike and kept his flappers attached to his head.

Look at that water - beautiful. And undoubtedly bloody cold.


I've used a bit of zoom to capture the top section of the Harbour bridge in the distance - see that curved bit slightly left of middle?


First there was one rower....


....then there was a swarm. I hope they were wearing wetsuits.


They went this way and that, some crews racing against others, other solitary crews doing stroke improvement exercises.


A shot with 2/3 sky...


...and one with 2/3 water. I prefer the water shot, particularly as the water gets so dark as it gets closer to you.


A crew heading home.


The last of the moon over a bunch of boats.

Stopping to take all these snaps just about killed me. I had to take a glove off each time to work the camera, and the lack of motion before I was properly warmed up risked muscle seizures in the legs. But I reckon it was worth it.

Tuesday 29 June 2010

Tuesday photos





Coming home - a pair of cyclists with lots of rear facing flashing things.


Check out the groovy leather lace up boots on this chick.


Sunset from multiple spots around The Bay.



Sunset with dead bush and sticks.


I hope that's sunset - otherwise, the smog is getting worse.


Monday photos

Apart from a few wispy tendrils, there is not a cloud in the sky. Which probably accounts for the overnight minimum of 5 - again. Sunrise certainly photographs a lot better when there are lots of clouds around - something to diffuse the light, and to add a bit of colour to the sky. Plus you don't get this great big white blob in the corner of your photos.


The rowers were out as usual. I'd forgotten what a massively masochistic sport this is. Rowing when it is warm is bad enough - rowing when the temperature is not far above freezing is just plain insane. Lovely flat water though.


Fingertips

Just about froze my fingertips off yesterday. The temp was down to 5 when I left - much colder than the 8-13 degrees that we have been having in the mornings. I blame the lack of cloud cover.

My fingers stopped complaining bitterly after about 10 minutes - either warm blood started circulating throughout the body, or the nerves iced up. I'm off to find my long fingered winter gloves this morning.

My toes were bright pink and painful when I took my shoes off - the shoes are beautifully ventilated so that your feet do not fry in summer. Not so useful in winter. The sun is starting to light things up - time to go.

Monday 28 June 2010

Shortest ad campaign in history

The Kevin0Lemon ads - good for about 3 days. That was it.

61 hours in one day

I read 61 Hours on Saturday. I've never heard of Lee Child (author) or Jack Reacher (subject). The book was handed to me mid-morning at a moment when I had nothing to do, and it was finished just before 7pm. Ripping yarn - loved it. As it is about the 10th book in the series, I now need to go back and start at the beginning. 10 books in 10 days?

Friday photos

Given that it is now actually Monday, you may be wondering why I have called this a Friday photo. Simple - it was taken on Friday. Just around dawn. It's the only one worth publishing, as it is the only one that is relatively horizontal. When I take photos to the side when I am at speed, the camera always tilts one way or the other, and I think I'll get told off if I don't have nice square photos.


It was a bit wet on Friday - you can see two stalwarts walking into the shot from the left. They were about the only two pedestrians I saw that morning. There are some whackos who go out rain or shine, wind or hail, hot or cold - the weather fazes them not.

I must stop and ask those types if they are ex-infantry, and whether they were dropped on their heads as babies.

Thursday 24 June 2010

Kevin Rudd's Downfall

Thanks to Catallaxy. Yes, the idea is old, but I do get a kick out these when they are done well. And it's done well.

Thursday photos

Yes, yes, yes - there is stuff happening in the country today, but I couldn't give a rat's arse. This is just business as usual in our family - one relative was a player in three previous historical political assassinations, and compared to the Big One, this is a bit passe. I'm over it. Here is much more interesting stuff - diggers in the mist.


Which one do you prefer?


Although it was reasonably frosty out there this morning, this madman was riding in a sleeveless top - no arm warmers and no leg warmers. Some people just don't appear to feel the cold.


Does cropping it to remove all the cars improve the photo? I like how he's heading for that misty gateway in the distance...


Being a shared pathway, there is usually a bit of dodging that has to be done to get around the slower movers. The fun really begins when a fast moving bike wants to overtake a slow moving bike, and the slow moving bike is trying to overtake some pedestrians. I am sure I am going to witness a really good pile up one day.


Heading home in the dark, following a proto-ninja. He's not quite entirely dressed in black from head to foot, but he's getting there.


Wednesday 23 June 2010

Wednesday photos

Rain, rain, rain and more bloody rain. It rained so hard on the way home, I didn't dare take a single photo in case the camera drowned. The wet isn't deterring many cyclists - I wouldn't say the bridge was crowded this morning, but there were quite a few about - like the 3 in this photo.


There were even a few heading out of town.


This is my camera getting wetter and foggier as the journey went on.


The rain didn't deter the hardcore joggers either.


The cold and rain does take a bit of a toll on your skin though. I've resorted to using a facial scrub when I get home to remove the film of oil that builds up from all the oily water flicking off the road. My face felt like a Louisiana pelican tonight. The hands cop it from the cold - let's just say there is a bottle of hand cream in the bath room that is slowly emptying by mysterious means.

Tuesday 22 June 2010

Tuesday photos

This week appears to be all about rain - will it or won't it? If I wear my spray jacket, it doesn't rain - and I sweat instead, getting just as wet inside it. If I take it off, it rains. Question is, what is preferable - warm sweat or cold rain? At least the clouds are keeping the minimum temp up. It was 8 degrees last week, it's more like 13 this week.


It's been bleak and grey and cloudy these last few days. Not a breath of wind though, which is nice. Notice the lack of lights in these photos? All the sensible people are still in bed.


One unforeseen hazard though has been wet newspapers that have blown around the place. I was going up a hill with a corner on it pretty quick tonight, and as I went around the corner, I ran over a sheet of soggy newspaper. I was laying down the power to keep the speed up, and when I hit the newspaper, the back wheel lost all traction. As it was dark and murky, the grey newspaper didn't stand out against the grey concrete, so I didn't spot it until the front wheel was upon it.

Apart from spinning my legs at about 300rpm, the rear also started going sideways. There was something about going uphill and the way my momentum was travelling that kept me upright - if I had been going downhill, I reckon I would have been a goner. I'd be scrubbing the last bits of gravel and sand out of my ripped up skin about now.

The best thing about the rain is that it sweeps away 90% of the pedestrians. I can race around the Bay with little fear of crashing into an idiot dog walker or pram pusher.

Monday 21 June 2010

Monday photos

I did my usual "poke the camera in that direction" this morning and got this photo. I didn't notice the planes at the time, but there are two in this photo. You need to click on it to enlarge it and see the more distant one. I was actually interested in the cloud formations. It appeared to be raining in the distance, yet it was clear overhead where I was.


Is the cycleway now permanently open, or is the council going to annoy us every few days by changing their mind and closing it, opening it, closing it etc etc. I thought that the wet weather this morning had discouraged most cyclists, until I got through Pyrmont and spotted this two.


And then about 5 seconds later, this mob turned up....followed by even more on two wheels. You'll note that a bunch of us, including me, are on the wrong side of the concrete barrier. That's because some idiot somewhere has not figured out that there are cyclists that bear right here and ride around the back of Darling Harbour. The only sensible way to do that is to start from where I am standing - not over there on the other side of the concrete. Why are frigging cycle paths designed by people who have never ridden a bicycle?


Sunday 20 June 2010

Boom and bust in the scooter market

I just noticed that the big new scooter shop on Victoria Rd in Drummoyne is now for lease.

Either they moved on to bigger and better premises..... or they've moved on to going out of business.

Scooter shops popped up like weeds after rain when fuel prices went up last year. I guess there was a limit to how many people wanted to trade in the Commodore with climate control, cruise control, leather seats, a good sound system and so on for bugs in the face and rain trickling down your neck.

Saturday 19 June 2010

Anthony Green analyses the Penrith by-election

Gruesome results for Labor.

Brrrr

It's been a very crispy 8 degrees every morning this week when I've headed out the door. The body has finally adjusted to the drop in temperature - I've shed the top layer and am now comfortable with 2 instead of 3. That means I'm a bit chilly for the first few minutes of the ride, but I am not arriving at work swimming in a shower proof jacket full of sweat.

All the other cyclists who went into hibernation when the mercury first fell have emerged from the woodwork. They've been through their hardening up process and are now mentally prepared for the cold winter months. There were swarms of them about this week.

The Pyrmont bike route appears to be almost ready for Clover Moore to come along and cut a ribbon. Just to annoy everyone on two wheels, the route was opened up on Tuesday and then closed again the following day. However, everyone that used it on Tuesday then expected to be able to use if after that, so they rode into it at the top end, and then found it blocked at the bottom end. I reckon Clover doesn't want anyone using it until she has seen her photo inserted into a dozen press releases about it.


I think the next photo is Tuesday, showing the route largely open.


A cyclist with his winter warmers on - leg and arm warmers. Or is it a her?


Now to get all arty - I like the way the three pointy bits lined up here - the top of the staunchion holding up the tram overhead wiring - the pointy hat on the old building, and then the "astronaut escape tower" on the far building.