Le Tour de France 2012
Word Press Photo Challenge: “Summer.”
With this week’s photo challenge being “Summer” my first and only thought was the upcoming 2012 “Tour de France.” I love to cycle and started about 12 years ago. I ride almost everyday and the longest ride on a single day was 110 miles. The most beautiful ride was cycling the back roads from Seattle, Washington to Bellingham, Washington and then on to Vancouver, BC. It was sponsored by the Cascade Bike Club and called the “RSVP.”
Le Tour de France
Hands down the “Tour” is the most demanding sport around. Three weeks of cycling, average speed is about 25mph, and average riding distance per stage is between 105 miles and 144 miles. Don’t forget the numerous mountain stages where they finish the stage climbing up to a mountain ski resort with an average uphill grade of 8 percent! Total distance of the three week “Tour” is over 2,100 miles.
The closest comparison sport to the Tour de France would be this: Each day of the “Tour” is like running an individual marathon. Riders perform back-to-back marathons for three weeks with only 2 rest days! Mountain stages! Times trials where they go all out! How they recover after each stage and go out and do it again day after day… My-oh-my!
Tour de France Celebration Images
So in celebration of “Summer” and the upcoming Tour de France in July 2012 here are a series of cycling black and white close-up images shot with my Nikon D300. The orginal color image was converted to black and white using Nik Software plug-in “Silver Efex Pro.”
Chainring and Front Crank Arm
This first image was shot hand-held using my 18mm-200mm lens at f/11. Using an f/stop between 9-11 usually creates the sharpest image. I focused on the word “Shimano” and I wanted just enough depth of field as to outline, but no completely blurr the other chainring.
Rear Cluster
With this shot, I placed my Nikon D300 on a tripod using my Tamron 90mm macro lens. I switched off the 18mm-200mm lens because the macro lens allows me much better control of the depth of field. I focused on the rear cluster using f/3.1. I wanted the front “crank” and chain to blur in order to have the viewer focus on the rear cluster, but still leaving the viewer with the knowledge that this image is of a bike.
Rear Derailer
This final image was shot using my Tamron 90mm macro lens at f/3.5. Thank you for viewing my images for the Word Press Photo Challenge: Summer.
cycling and summer
. nice take on theme
Summer & cycling! I ride year around. Come summer it is great to shed the extra layers of clothing. Thank you for stopping by!
Very nice shots Monsieur Diffley.
I don’t watch Tour de France myself, I’m more of an off-road/downhill type. As you know I also had a post on bicycles not too long ago:
http://cardinalguzman.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/bicycle-maintenance/
Yea, I remember your post about do-it-youself bike cleaning. I do my own. Found out I have a defective rear rim. There are cracks forming in the rim with every other spoke.
Thanks for the comment!
I love the smell of chain lube in the morning! And the look and feel of a full Dura-Ace drive train, made putting on the miles a dream!
Great shots Rick. When I was racing mountain bikes I did a LOT of road riding to train, my wife became a “Tour Widow” every July. I still watch a little of the Tour, but not as much as I used to.
Ah yes. The smell of chain lube (-: Started out riding a mountain bike and switched to a road bike. Best exercise. Still use my 25 year old mountain bike for foul weather riding in the winter.
Did you have any injuries riding the Mt bike?
Thanks for stopping by and enjoying the images!
I knew the Tour de France was tough but didn’t realize THAT tough! Now, I workout a considerable amount (I log about 40 HIIT miles per week on my elliptical in addition to weight and core training) but a marathon every day for three weeks??! WOW. Now that is crazy.
I like the middle image. Nice depth and play of light and shadow.
Congrats on your workout schedule. Yes, daily marathons for almost 3 weeks! I’ve done 2 of them and the recovery time takes a few days.
The middle is a favorite. Thanks for taking the time to view and add your comments!!
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