Cycling Photo Challenge - the current challenge

[Dave 123]

Do you know what….. I’m just out on my bike thinking ‘I wonder if someone won, and what the new theme is?’ So I’ve just pulled into a gateway to read the joyous news.

Thank you!

Well I suppose to follow on from May-

Flaming June.

Off we go. Bikes, egrets etc…

 

[Dave 123]

Sorry…..
I am currently out on my bike and I thought… ‘oh dear’. I forgot!

The winner is @IrishAl fir smoke, orange tape and a drunken angle

 

[IrishAl]

Sorry…..
I am currently out on my bike and I thought… ‘oh dear’. I forgot!

The winner is @IrishAl fir smoke, orange tape and a drunken angle

View attachment 651321

Wow I didn’t expect to win but thankfully I drop in here now and then to check on the calibre of the competition ☺️ Thanks very much for that @Dave 123!

I’ve been scratching my head for a new theme and what I propose is “Symmetry”. Usual rules apply and hopeful plenty of scope to be creative and artistic.

 

[IrishAl]

Well the time has come to pick July’s winner and it’s been a tough deliberation picking out the best between technical compliance with the subject matter, the effort and artistic quality of the shot. In the end it was too difficult so I’ve just went with the shot I like the most ☺️

Julys winner therefore is @Jenkins with the romp in the hayfield. I particularly liked the effort you’ve gone into to arrange the hay in almost perfect symmetry for the photo, that must’ve taken some time.

Congratulations Jenkins and unlucky everyone else.

 

[Jenkins]

Right - descision made and it's a simple theme: By the roadside.

This can be anything you like - a display of flowers, an interesting wall, something unusual in the grass verge, one of those fruit & veg stands, whatever - but it must be within a foot or two of the edge of the road and with your bike (or a bit of it) in view.

 

[Jenkins]

The final two were whittled down to @EltonFrog 's wonderful selection of wild flowers set against the shiny chrome & blue of the bike

or @Oldhippy 's complete contrast of Margate Lido's faded tower

This is one where I wish both could win, but there's just something about @Oldhippy's picture that strikes a chord with me living near a "past it" seaside town that gives it that very fractional edge. So it's over to you for the September competition and thank you again to all that made this a difficult decision.

 

[Oldhippy]

Morning fellow cycling photographers, after thinking about what subject for this month I've decided on 'A piece of history' Big or small but something in the landscape or urban environment that has clung on in our ever increasing modern world that shows times past. Huge scope I know but I think might be interesting.

 

[Oldhippy]

There were some fabulous interpretations on the subject this month I thought. Very hard to pick one alone, I narrowed it down to @FrothNinja and the long abandoned mining railway still providing parts, @Dave 123 with the WWII memorial another great photo and unusual I thought. @PeteXXX doing the black and white of the old door was excellent as was the thatching photo, @biggs682 with the hillfort, great photo. After a lot of umming and arrhring however I went for the photo from @iandg as for me it encapsulated old bike, new bike history. So, @iandg its your picture that wins this month for me.

 

[iandg]

Watching cyclo-cross on Eurosport this morning with riders bunny-hopping hurdles, carrying bikes up-hill and plodding through mud - I've come up with "Barriers and Obstacles" for the new challenge.

Hopefully some scope there for interpretation with many different barriers and obstacles (such as gates, steps, signs, overgrown paths etc) out in the environment.

 

[iandg]

Really sorry, completely forgot as I've been busy working on the cottage renovation getting ready for heat pump installation and carpet fitting.

A great crop of photos and interesting interpretations. Favourites are @Old Hippy Shingle Beach, @PeteXXX Chapel Brampton, @biggs682 4 bikes and a locked gate and the Broken Chain, @FrothNinja Pendle Hil, @Tribansman Pasty and @avecReynolds531 Trespassers Will be Prosecuted.

I didn't realise judging a winner was going to be so difficult. I think the prize has to go to @Tribansman for the spinach and feta pasty for the clever interpretation of the hunger barrier and choosing one of my favourite pasty flavours

Congratulations @Tribansman - over to you.

 

[Tribansman]

Thanks all, especially @iandg , great theme and some superb entries as ever.

Surprised mine was a winner, but chuffed to have found a pasty-preference kindred spirit!

Tempted to make baked goods the theme as my obscenely unhealthy diet includes a hefty whack of pasties, pies, cakes and the like.

But a bit one dimensional, so I've opted for.... sign of the times.

Good luck one and all 👍

 

[Tribansman]

Evening all. Apologies for slight delay, got COVID a couple of days ago and had a raging fever. Recovering now though and aiming to be back out on the bike this weekend.

A cracking set of entries this month, with a range of takes on the subject and the usual mix of high quality vistas, atmospheric shots and humorous snaps.

What I had in mind/hoped for most was a wry take on the sh1tshow we find ourselves in amid the cost of living crisis, multiple Tory shambles, scumbag companies exploiting their workers, and all the rest of it.

With that in mind, although I liked the autumnal/wintry/tidal photos, and honourable mentions for @biggs682's amusing Christmas themed pic and observation; and @PeteXXX's bike among new fangled escooters pic...the winner has to be @FrothNinja 's sh1theap.

A perfect and pithy summation of the times we're in 👌

 

[FrothNinja]

Been having a thunk about a theme - tempting to go the full cheese given it is December. I am also tempted to threaten penalties for pics that contain crass seasonal commercialism - I suspect you lot of battlers would enjoy circumventing tacky Chrimbo crud. December is also the first month of Winter, on my side of Earth, and the month of Advent. None of which helped me to get to a theme for the month but did make me think something uplifting might be suitable, something that gives the middle finger to the big pile of sh!t so many of us are contending with, something that makes us look for light in the shadows.
I hope that local conditions don't make the chosen topic impossible - and many apologies to those who only ride at night. If you are in the Northern hemisphere the theme is "WINTER SUN", and for all you Southern hemispheroids "SUMMER SUN".

 

[FrothNinja]

Thank you December!
The quality of pics last month was incredible. When the weather co-operated, which it did more often than not, it seemed impossible to take a duff pic. And nary a touch of tinsel to behold, thank you all.
Downside is the usual conundrum of choosing the best pic has been compounded. None the less the bull's whatsits have been grasped and Hogmanay befuddled brain cells stirred out of their pudding lethargy.
@Ming the Merciless & @PeteXXX got in early with some good uns that boded well for the month, especially their use of shadow. I was sure they would figure in the final reckoning...and then it went off the scale in the second week with the hard freeze.
Not really cycling weather for the sane but those prepared to risk broken bits couldn't wrong with the camera. Frozen sunshine is a magical combination and it was always going to take something preternaturally special to beat it. Problem for the magicians is that magic was also woven while it was frozen and @roubaixtuesday cast the first icy spell - IFO a gate into the bargain.
@All uphill came close to breaking the spell with JC slides (crepuscular rays) with @Ming the Merciless @Emanresu @Tribansman @Jenkins following with visions of December sunshine that foreshadowed the promise of Spring.
@Rickshaw Phil returned us to a touch of white and @Dave 123 returned to his site of hope and tugged on the ole heartstrings again. @biggs682 and @Old Hippy teased with the classic combo of sea and Sun - possibly due a lack of them in Summer??
@Willd hid in sun dappled woodland as @IrishAl headed south for the Winter with the pack, but in the end my eyes were frozen by two pictures above all others.
As an ex-Queenslander it was probably inevitable that a proper winter tableaux would catch my sun bleached eyes, and @Ming the Merciless's frosted forest was joined at the last minute by @gtmet Somerset snow and sun.
In the end it was a cloudless sky and the prospect of a journey to come that only just edged out the destination achieved. Anticipation trumped accomplishment but both were worthy finalists.
Many thanks to everyone that entered and New Year congratulations to @Ming the Merciless
#16,797

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Arthur Conan Doyle

“When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.”

My photo challenge for January 2023 is to capture “flow” when your only thoughts are on the ride you are undertaking.