LIFE-STYLE | TRAVEL | AERIAL
Photographer/Videographer specializing in Life Style, Travel, and Aerial Imagery. FAA 107 Certified for sUAS flight operations throughout the US. Fully insured. Videography work is limited to Aerial productions.
Based in Maine (May-December) and SWFL (Jan - April). Available for travel year round.
I have a couple of items from my recent build that just did not work. Everything is in either excellent or mint condition. If you are interested, please just drop me a note. Best offer gets each piece as I would rather it go to good use instead of sitting around in the gear bin.
Middleburn 100mm cranks with Woof Tooth 30t ring. Brand new, never used. X-Type bb
Middleburn DM Woolftooth 30t ring - Yes, I have a second ring
It has taken the entire summer, but the Mukluk is finally rebuilt and ready for another year of adventures. She had been beaten and abused over the last year, between the relentless dowsing of salt water to the harsh Alaskan winter. I stripped her bare and rebuilt every single part of her. New wheels, hydraulic brakes and an XX1 setup are sure to help me navigate whatever terrain I throw at the bike.
I have gone back to the Jones bars, having found them to be the most comfortable setup I have ever used. While not as good technically, for the type of adventure touring I do, they cant be beat.
The other major shift for me is the switch to Flat pedals. I love the Crank Brother eggbeaters and enjoyed trying some new Look clippless pedals, but they all have serious limitations during the winter. This year, for both the Muk and the Fargo, I am going to try doing some long distance tours using flats and 5-10 shoes. Winter will see me shifting back to the new and upgraded 45Nrth boots once the weather turns really nasty.
Lastly, I am going to go back to good ole fashion Leather for a while. I picked up a Giles Berthoud touring saddle that I am going to try and break in. It is claimed to be waterproof so hopefully it will handle the winter weather just fine. I will post details and thoughts on all the gear as I begin to put it through its paces.
Now lets go RIDE!!
I love when I am able to capture an image that is not only a great photograph, but also a great photograph with complexity to it. I think in large part this is a critical element to finding our own unique vision. Once you have a vision, the challenge is then learning the craft of photography so you can accurately capture and share that vision with your audience.
An example of this is the image above of the Fat Bikers riding back down the beach, supposedly to where they came from. The scene is complex with riders, sand, mountains, tracks that are not filled in and tracks that are. You can make this image about so much more than biking. I am still debating on color v. black and white because I feel each portrays a different 'primary' message. One is about mountains and beaches, water and sand. The other is about lines and abstraction, with a few metaphors of life thrown in to the mix. I would love to hear your thought on which one works best for you.
Down to the wire as I rush to finalize my kit and begin the tedious process of packing. The challenge is to twofold. First leave nothing behind and second, maximize the amount of stuff that can go in the bike boxes. For those of you that have never traveled with a Fat Bike, it is impossible to get a bike and two wheels into the same box. Thus I have to use two boxes to get everything on the plane.
With airlines being so stingy these days, I try and balance getting all of or most of my kit in the two boxes within the weight limit. The flight I booked allows for one of the boxes to travel free, so I will only have to pay for the second box. I will use my HMG pack to carry gear that I absolutely can't afford to loose. Things like my sleeping bag, cold weather clothes, cycling boots, etc.
As part of my final prep, I have created a new section the site that contains two links. The 'Where Am I' link will take to my satelite tracking page. You can interact with the map by not only seeing my last known position, but also by requesting my current position. This may take a bit to update as it actually sends a message to my device and then a location is returned.
The second link is to a Flickr gallery that I will be updating along with Facebook. While I would prefer to just put images up on this site, the reality is that it is easier for me to bulk upload images to Flickr while on the road. My workflow will include an Ipad Mini, my NEX & DSLR, and the Apple connection kit. Using this kit, I can pull images from the camera's to the Ipad, edit them with Snapspeed and Luminance, and then upload to Flickr, FB, and tweet about them.
Now to go finish packing! I hope you enjoy the journey.
Today I head off for my 3 weeks of bikepacking in the Chic Choc mountains on the Salsa Ti Mukluk. The weather continues to be extremely crazy this year necessitating packing for a temperature range of 0 to 50! That is an incredible swing which really stresses out my packing setup. Thanks to Scott of Porcelain Rocket, I have a custom built mission control bag that is built around a 15L OR dry bag. This is larger than Scott's standard setup and is key to carrying my extra winter gear.
Yesterday in northern Maine we had rain, snow, sleet, and freezing temperatures which made for a good final dry run (no pun intended) of all my kit. What I discovered is that almost everything is perfect other than my rain pants. What a lousy time to figure out that what I have is just not going to work. On the drive to my drop off point today I am just going to search out a pair of cheap 'Dry Duck' style pants. Something that will keep me dry even if they don't breathe. I will wait for another day to get something more suitable for the long term.
The other change I have been playing with is water storage. In general I really dislike riding with a backpack, tending to only use the silnylon Sea to Summit bag for food overflow. I love this little bag because when not in use it stuffs down to a size smaller than the palm of your hand. With my current setup I planned on using this for overflow and put my hydration bladder in my frame bag. However, I am definitely not liking this setup so I believe I will switch over to my Deuter speed bag which I will use as a hydration backpack and then use the frame bag for over flow food storage. The goal being to not overload the backpack, something that I find incredibly easy to do if not careful. It is the law of storage -- Any free space you have will quickly be filled with some form of kit no matter how good your initial intentions were. I think this is why I love the bikepacking methodology so much, it really forces you to pair down your kit. None the less, I will give the backpack a try and hope to not overload it.
With the addition of some cheap form of rain gear I should be all set. The new front bag is holding all of my clothes and camp kit. The two new Porcelain Rocket Anything Cage bags are holding my tarp and hammock. The frame bag will have overload food and tools. The Booster Rocket Seat Pack will hold my food and stove kit. Not knowing how easy it will be to find food, I am starting out with a 5 day supply until I get a feel for resupply spots. Five days is pushing it for storage, but thanks to that new Mission Control bag, I think I will be in good shape.
Ready to roll, I am super excited about this first winter bikepacking trip on the Mukluk. Pictures and updates will be available when I find cell signal and I will provide a complete trip write up after I get back. Now for a bit of snow and cooler weather and all will be good.
This is really an awesome video showing the lure of Snow Biking in remote places like the Alaska wilderness. This year I will head to the Yukon for my own version of Snow Bike nirvana.
I have been writing a great deal of late about Fat Bikes not only because they are cool and fun, but because they open up a whole new world of adventure touring possibilities. There have been some epic trips reported over the past several years of people taking their Fat Tire bikes all over the world. These stories have inspired me to expand my thoughts about what is possible for an epic adventure on bike and water.
2012 Salsa Mukluk in Black & RedMy trip this past year around North America on a Salsa Fargo has been so enjoyable that I feel a strong allegiance to the Salsa brand. Their spirit of adventure, combined with a proactive consumer oriented blog, and a fantastic product have made me a self adorned Salsa fanboy. With this said it is no wonder that I am intrigued with the Fat Tire bike offering from Salsa, the Mukluk. My main issue is that moving in this direction will require me to have multiple bikes, something I am not inclinded towards.
The 2012 model has been modified slightly from the very successful 2011 model and is available in several different configurations. The new Black/Red color scheme is quite stunning, especially with the other red components. I realize that this is a very shallow way of choosing things, but even in my quest for simplicity, I am still moved by design and the functionality of objects.
Snow, sand, mud, rivers, lakes, and oceans are now obstacles that can be overcome using only human power. Strap on an Alpaca Raft, and suddenly you can connect the dots between land and sea, blurring once again what is possible. One can argue that there is no simpler form of transport than the elegantly designed two wheeled bicycle. Put super fat tires on one and you have a vehicle that can now take you places that previously required a $75,000 Range Rover.
There have been some great expeditions along the coast of Alaska using Mukluks and rafts that have inspired me to seek out my own Fat Tire expedition. I looked at doing the entire stretch of AK coast as one possibility, but have since turned my sights on something in Europe and the Yukon. My 2012 expedition partner, Richard Harpham of the Big 5 Kayak Challenge, and I, will choose one of these destinations for our own version of an epic winter slog. One possibility is following the frozen Yukon river during the later winter months. Richard is no stranger to the Yukon, having been there several times during milder climates. For me, this would be a first foray into extreme winter conditions, a challenge that has been on my list of to do's all year long. Another possibility would be a trip down central Europe following the Danube river. While that would be epic as well, the distance to travel is a bit long for only using a pack raft. Needless to say, we are evaluating other forms of water based travel that could support the weight of two snow bikes.
In either event, I fully expect to be on a snow bike this winter. My Mukluk test ride a few weeks ago convinced me that this was the most fun bike I have been on since I was a kid. The fat tires inspire one to go wherever, akin to the first time you get in your four wheel truck and drive over curbs, just because you can. Sand, snow, water, ice, here we come!!
Gear lust can strike me hard some times, even though I know better, much better. Still, there are times that it just sneaks up and bites me in the butt and makes me crave something so bad it can actually hurt a bit. I know all of you have had that same feeling at one time or another. For me, well I have a very big soft spot when it comes to products made in the USA and those that are made with the love of CRAFT in mind.
(c) 2011 Moots CyclesYesterday it was the announcement by Moots that they would produce a limited run of snow bikes, the Moots FROSTI. Anyone that has ever seen the bikes that Moots handcrafts in Steamboat Springs knows what I am talking about. The welds and finish on these hand built titanium bikes are simply to die for.
Now if only someone would just place an order for me I would be one very happy cyclist :-)
This fall will see me finish up my 8,000 mile bike around america tour on my Salsa Fargo and then this winter I am planning on some long distance snow touring and my first ever adventure race, the Sustina 100 in Alaska.
