Category Archives: cycling

News and Information regaurding the most important vehicle of any century

First T-Shirt design Available NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be the first in history to have an Xvelo Designs Original T-Shirt

Based on the design from yesterdays photoshop fun, It’s my vintage Gerhard racing bike that I keep at my home in central France.  They’re printed on American Apparel shirts so they’re real American and they’ll becoming from RedBubble in Australia. Click on the shirt to go to the store to buy it.  They’re only 20 bucks!  Anyways buy two, I don’t actually make any money from it but it’s narcissistic of me to want the entire world wearing my shirts…Ha!

Thanks for looking and wasting your braincells on this site, now go buy a t-shirt!

Photoshop on Sundays

Not alot to post today, didn’t really do anything besides hang with the family, eat some delicious Messican food and play with photoshop.

My buddy sent me this link to these guys over here and though they are probably famous and I’m the last guy on the interweb to find them, they have some really cool shows.  I followed the link above to do my own version and it was a great learning tool for many different tricks with photoshop.

I started with my photo of my favorite bike in the entire world, it’s a 1930’s – 1940’s Gehard racing bike.  It’s new enough to have the Sturmey-Archer 3 speed derraileur on it so I’m not too sure of it’s real age.  I pulled from an attic of a garage in central France that was owned by a crazy scottish guy, who will always be my favorite person in central France.  He has so much cool stuff in his garage and he’ll talk cycling all day long!  In English!!

Any way, here is the before picture….

Not over all good shot but It’s my bike and I love her any way…

Here is the after from following the web show posted above

I think it was a cool effect, hopefully you do to, enjoy.

One more, no before for this one just the mid way through.  I didn’t like as much as the one above.

Until next time…Ride fast and take chances!

Winter Bike

I have been a cycling commuter for my entire professional career as a data monkey.  I never make much of a fuss about it but today was a particularly snowy day and I just got a new 60mm 2.8 Micro Nikkor lens to take photos with.  So here are the first shots from the new glass.

Here is a close up of the front brake with all of it’s snowy glory.  For ghetto brakes these things really hold up.  I have about 2-3k miles on this bike so far with it’s original brake pads and they still work!

This picture is the complete bike, the Cayne Uno, I changed the bars, stem and brake levers but other than that it’s stock and bullit proof.

More macro shots for the sake of macro photography, I must say that the 60mm 2.8 lens is as crisp a lens as i’ve ever used.  I had the priveldge of using a 70-200 VR from Nikon and I think this one is sharper.  But what do I know, most of my photos are poorly composed and out of focus anyway.  Ha ha!

That is all for today, i’ll have some more soon and possibly it might be more interesting next time!

The end of the 2008 cycling season…

The end has come.  It’s been fun but it’s time for the real world.  In reflection it seems like I have just arrived, yet I’ve been here forever and time flys.  I don’t exactly know how to feel all those things at once but I’ll sort it out.  I’m leaving for Denver tomorrow.  I’ll have a ton of photos and charming anecdotes about my summer in the coming posts.

Sunset over Patinges

The sun has set on 2008 cycling…Talk to you in a while.

An Ordinary Day…

Most days in our lives pass through as an ordinary day. We wake up do some stuff, eat something and then go back to sleep. Seemingly pointless…unless you have a blog to tell other people about your pointless day. Does that give it a point? Could someone else be even more bored to waste braincells reading about a strangers ordinary day? Who knows…

My ordinary day begins as any other day, wake up, drink coffee, check photos on JPG Magazine and begin the day.

Look in the mirror to see the broken blood vessel in my eye.

Broken blood vessel in my eye

No changes, so I decide to go for a bike ride in the forests surrounding our region. It’s amazing, we’ve lived here in central France for almost 3 years and I’m just now going out on these old forest/logging roads to see if I can get lost. Had a great ride, no photos though, the rain has been coming down and I had no idea how the trail conditions would be so better safe than sorry. Here are some after ride shots.

Glad I threw some big tires on the Orbea for these roads, most of them are butter smooth but the mud, oh the mud is like cement, and sticks to the bike and body worse.

The ride was only 10 miles today but I did get lost, bled and had to walk through 2ft deep mud for quite some time. Not epic, but certainly good times on an ordinary day.

Back at the ranch we’re cleaning up the borders that have been overrun by nasty vines and scraggly bushes, we worked on the front border outside the mill house today.

Where to begin??? Input from the whole family is necessary.

Michelle hard at work while play with the Nikon.

The border is still a work in progress, I may or may not post some finished pictures when it’s done. We worked until about 6:00 pm or so and had our obligitory soak in the hot tub. Michelle made an amazing Quatre Saison pizza for dinner and we all went to bed content that another day had come and gone.

Until the phone started ringing. Michelle had been in contact with the family in Denver all afternoon, Laura had gone into labor and baby Bianca would be born today.

Welcome to the world baby girl!

Congratulations to Laura and Aurturo for another perfect child on this planet! We send our love and wish we were there with you now!

The ordinary day had turned extraordinary, the family has gotten larger and happier!

As a new day starts, we have no idea what it will bring (though I have images of plumbing and painting) I’m sure that something will happen to make this day memorable. Enough of this post, I’ll be back with something else some other time.

Portraits of Fast Men…Tour De France 2008

Saturday July 26th my tour group along with our guide Darren and myself spent the day watching the Tour de France time trial in Saint Amand Montrond France.

Shooting fast moving sporting events has always eluded me and my photography skills. The time trial is an excellent chance to photograph these elite athletes one at a time. The speed is higher but with the riders singled out they provide excellent portrait opportunities.

All shots are with my beloved Nikon D70 and Nikon 80-200 ED 2.8 lens at various manual and automatic settings.

Below are a few of the riders and what I beleive to be fairly good photos of them…

One of the most aggressive and prolific riders of the tour. Jens Voigt

Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial Saint Amand Montrond France

Bernard Kohl beginning his sprint from the last corner of the course.

Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial Saint Amand Montrond France

Either Andy Schleck catching Kim Kirchen(sp?) or vice versa???

Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial Saint Amand Montrond France

Carlos Sastre in his yellow jersey keeping ride!

Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial Saint Amand Montrond France

The man, the myth and the legend…Eric Zabel

Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial Saint Amand Montrond France

George Hincapie looking at the camera during his ride.

Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial Saint Amand Montrond France

Top American GC hope Christian Vande Velde smiling for his portrait in the final straight.

Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial Saint Amand Montrond France

All for now, I’ll be posting a few pictures from Paris in the next few days but I still have some interesting portraits of these amazing cyclists in my gallery

Tour de France Stage 5 Chateauroux

Wednesday was a great day to be in Centre France. My weekly tour group and I went to have a look at the big race, for the group it was the first time they’ve seen the Tour live, I told them it’s better on television but everyone should see it at least once in person.

I had some issues with the auto focus and rapid shots with the D70 and the 80-200 2.8 ED lens so I didn’t get as many shots of the peleton as I would have liked but here are a couple of them along with a photo from the CSC team truck. I have some more decent photographs from the day, I’ll post’em as I have the time.

The yellow jersey tucked safely into the pack.

Tour de France Stage 5 2008 Chateauroux

The leaders flying ahead. They’re caught in their valiant effort 200 meters from this photo.

Tour de France Stage 5 2008 Chateauroux

CSC Truck

Tour de France Stage 5 2008 Chateauroux

This is the last photo I got before the buffer filled up on the D70, note to photographers everywhere; Don’t shoot raw action shots.  This shot is George Hincapie leading out Team Columbia for the stage win for Mark Cavendash(sp?)  A guest who was shooting right next to me with his newer Canon got some amazing shots and fired at least 20 in the time my camera shot 6.

Tour de France Stage 5 2008 Chateauroux

The lesson has been learned for now, no more raw shots when trying to shoot professional sports with a D70. The time trial at St. Amand may lend it’s self better for it but I’ll try both and post the pics to this site.

All for now, I have some arty shots of Bourges that I may put up later.