Bicycle Photography: UA Criterium 2012
January 23rd, 2012I'll admit to feeling sad while at a bicycling event. Why? Because we may have seen the last UA Criterium on Saturday.
The closed-course race around the University of Arizona never attracted huge numbers of spectators. But if you were into cycling, you just had to be there. No way could you miss it.
Several streets used by the UA Criterium course are going to become part of Tucson's Modern Streetcar route. And mixing racing bicyclists and streetcar tracks is never a good idea. Not to mention the race organizers. Several of them are about to graduate.
Such is the life of a collegiate bicycle race -- short, sweet, and fun while it lasted.
Here's a look at this year's event...
UA Criterium 2012 - Images by Martha Retallick
And here's a look back at my photos from races past:
Tip: You can view more event photography in my portfolio and on this blog. I am also available for event photography assignments in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. I specialize in concerts, festivals, parades, political rallies, and sporting events. To check availability and to request a proposal, please e-mail me or call 520-690-1888.
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- Bicycle Photography: UA Criterium 2011
- Bicycle Photography: UA Criterium 2010
- Bike-tography 110: Criterium Racing
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Bicycle Photography: The Pedaling Arborist
December 9th, 2011Being the owner of a middle-aged house that I'm slowly fixing up, I've had the need for more than a few tradesmen and women. Many of them have arrived in huge pickup trucks.
Imagine my surprise when I heard about a local arborist who plies his trade by bicycle. Time to do something about that mesquite tree in the front yard. Thing's developed a much too cozy relationship with the house. Whenever the wind blows, the tree branches lovingly caress my roof. Sounds like a haunted house in here.
An e-mail to Aleck MacKinnon, The Pedaling Arborist, resulted in a on-site consultation and a very reasonable estimate. So, we scheduled a haircut date for the mesquite tree.
Aleck's company bicycle is a sturdy tandem that he and his wife have ridden from Tucson to Vancouver, British Columbia...
Here's Aleck, taming my unruly mesquite. This tree has huge thorns, which makes a tree trimming job all the more challenging. And I speak from personal experience when I say that wearing a hard hat is a very good idea. I've been poked in the head by this tree...
After the excess branches were removed, I had Aleck pile them in one of my water harvesting basins. This basin could use a bit more mulch, and the leaves from those branches will more than suffice.
The branch pile will serve as a winter refuge for birds and lizards. In the spring, I'll use those branches for other projects around the yard...
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Bicycle Photography: El Tour de Tucson 2011
November 22nd, 2011This past Saturday was one of those gray, windy days that offered more than a hint of rain. By Tucson standards, it has been a wet month -- almost an inch of rain so far -- so looking for more wasn't out of the question.
Fortunately, the rain held off until after the weekend. And that was a good thing, because more than 6,300 bicyclists were riding all or part of the way around the perimeter of Tucson. The occasion? The 28th annual El Tour de Tucson.
As I have for the past three years, I headed down to the finish to catch the action. Here's a photographic roundup...
El Tour de Tucson 2011 - Images by Martha Retallick
Tip: You can view more event photography in my portfolio and on this blog. I am also available for event photography assignments in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. I specialize in concerts, festivals, parades, political rallies, and sporting events. To check availability and to request a proposal, please e-mail me or call 520-690-1888.
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- Bicycle Photography: El Tour de Tucson 2010
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Event Photography: Fall 2011 Bicycle Swap Meet
November 13th, 2011Well, it's mid-November in Tucson, and that means it's time for another bike swap meet. Yesterday, thousands of bicycle enthusiasts converged on 4th Avenue for a day of buying, selling, and trading bikes and accessories...
Does your bike need a crankset? Plenty to choose from at the swap...
Or maybe your taste runs more toward vintage bicycles...
Perhaps bicycle-themed jewelry is on your holiday shopping list...
Can't have new jewelry without a new bicycling outfit...
Although many people set up shop along 4th Avenue, there are plenty of bike sellers who prefer a more mobile approach...
A lot of people come to sell at the bike swap because they need to clear out the garage. Or they just plain need the money...
Of course, there are some items that just aren't for sale. Like this vintage Russian spaceman's jacket...
Another roving bike seller encountering a human and canine friend...
Looks like Elmer the Bassett Hound is getting a bit bored with the bicycle swap meet. Guy appears ready to go home...
Tip: You can view more event photography in my portfolio and on this blog. I am also available for event photography assignments in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. I specialize in concerts, festivals, parades, political rallies, and sporting events. To check availability and to request a proposal, please e-mail me or call 520-690-1888.
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Event Photography: All Souls Procession 2011
November 7th, 2011Yesterday was one of those cool, breezy days that offered a hint of the Tucson winter to come. And since it was the first Sunday of November, it was time for Tucson's annual All Souls Procession.
This year's edition featured a new route: From 4th Avenue and University Boulevard, go straight down Fourth to Congress Street, then head west to Mercado San Augustin. Couldn't be any easier than that.
Since All Souls is a high-energy commemoration of those who have passed, it brings forth a lot of creativity. Here's Max Morris with his rolling memorial to Tucson bicyclists who have died after being hit by cars...
Each of the 20 crosses shows the rider's name, crash location, and date of death...
Since All Souls is such a colorful event, it draws more than a few photographers. Here's a multi-skulled marcher getting the full paparazzi treatment...
Tip: You can view more event photography in my portfolio and on this blog. I am also available for event photography assignments in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. I specialize in concerts, festivals, parades, political rallies, and sporting events. To check availability and to request a proposal, please e-mail me or call 520-690-1888.
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Nature Photography: Rain, Rain, and More Rain
September 14th, 2011For the past week, Tucson's weather has done a pretty convincing imitation of the Pacific Northwest. We've had nearly 2.5" of rain. As I write this, thunderstorms are moving into the area.
Many of our recent storms have started slowly. Subtly. You don't think that much will come from them. Take, for example, this dampening of my front porch...
Then the weather really gets motivated. And I'd say that it's about time to finish my garden by planting some seeds in it...
All of this moisture has made for joy and feasting in the plant world. My front yard barrel cactii are getting downright plump...
Then there was the Infamous 2nd Saturdays Downtown Storm. This one stomped into Tucson just as things were starting to hop at my favorite monthly gathering. I had plans to visit a couple of art shows and an open house, listen to Latino music, and enjoy some good eats, courtesy of all those local food vendors.
Well, the storm forced me and bike under a cigar store awning. Which leaked. Badly. I was very glad that I'd left the camera at home.
When the rain slowed down, I headed for home. Thanks to continued storminess, heavy street flooding, and numerous detours to high ground, getting here took an hour. Once I arrived, I went onto autopilot: Park the two-wheeler outside so it can dry off, hit the shower, then launder all the soggy clothes and bike gear.
The Morning After? Bright and sunny, but not cloudless the way it was a decade ago. For the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I had to put the flag out...
A quick check of the back yard rain gauge showed that it was half full. What an optimist!
The official tally: 1.8" of rain fell at my place on September 10, 2011. Most of this rain came down while I was trying to make it home from 2nd Saturdays Downtown.
Time to stop procrastinating. I need to clean and lubricate that dirty bike. That is, until the next storm...
Storm update: KXCI Community Radio's emergency alert system is going nuts. And did I mention that I was down at KXCI last night? It's the fall fund-raising drive, and I was answering the pledge phone.
Guess what I rode through on the way home? If you guessed "thunderstorm," you're right! So, the bike got another cleaning and lube job this morning.
Tip: You can view more event photography in my portfolio and on this blog. I am also available for event photography assignments in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. I specialize in concerts, festivals, parades, political rallies, and sporting events. To check availability and to request a proposal, please e-mail me or call 520-690-1888.
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Bike-tography: The Book
September 1st, 2011When I was in my early twenties, I set the goal of bicycling through all 50 of the United States. I accomplished this over a twelve-year period, traveling more than 15,000 miles in the United States, plus a bit of Mexico and Canada.
Traveling without the protective bubble of a vehicle provides a wonderful opportunity to see, hear, feel, and smell the world around you.
Add to this the minimalist nature of bicycle travel. Having limited carrying space forces you to rely on as little photographic equipment as possible. On my bike, I only had room for one camera body and one lens. So, that's what I worked with.
Bike-tography: Combining Bicycling with Photography presents a collection of photos from my bicycle travels and from 'round-town rides in my hometown, Tucson, Arizona.
Tucson cycling aficionados will enjoy images from these major events:
- 4th Avenue Bicycle Swap Meet
- Cyclovia Tucson
- El Tour de Tucson
- Old Pueblo Criterium
- UA Criterium
The book also offers photos from 10 of the 50 states that I pedaled through:
- California
- Hawaii
- Kansas
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- Ohio
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Washington
Preview Bike-tography: Combining Bicycling with Photography:
Tip: You can view more event photography in my portfolio and on this blog. I am also available for event photography assignments in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. I specialize in concerts, festivals, parades, political rallies, and sporting events. To check availability and to request a proposal, please e-mail me or call 520-690-1888.
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- Best of Bike-tography: Top Bicycling Images
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Photo Essay: Downtown Tucson Revitalization
June 14th, 2011Yesterday evening, I did my 100th Meet Me at Maynards walk around Downtown Tucson.
While I padded along in the 100-degree heat, I shot the following photo essay. It's intended to show the positive and negative sides of Downtown Tucson's revitalization efforts. First, the positives:
Let's start with Meet Me at Maynards itself. It's been going non-stop since April 2009. Every Monday evening, it draws hundreds of runners and walkers to the Downtown area...
The Downtown business community has been very supportive of this event. Here's a free water and lemonade stand hosted by Janos Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails...
And there's Downtown Tucson itself. Full of old-fashioned architecture that's still hanging in there. Case in point: Meyer Avenue at Franklin Street..
A few years ago, the Providence Service Corporation moved its headquarters into Downtown Tucson. Providence has been doing some marvelous restoration work on its building on Broadway Boulevard at Scott Avenue...
Further south on Scott Avenue, there are some interesting footprints in the sidewalk. But fear not. In two years of walking the Meet Me at Maynards course, I have yet to encounter the creatures that left these prints...
Okay, time for the negatives.
You're probably thinking that I'm going to launch into a rant about the $230 million that's been spent on Downtown's Rio Nuevo revitalization project, and how there's been very little to show for that expenditure. But I'll spare you. Just read Rob O'Dell's articles in the Arizona Daily Star if you need to get up to speed.
Instead, I'm going to focus on a more visible topic: Public squalor. It's something that this guy's just a few steps away from encountering...
Yeah, I know. Bad photographer -- I just took a picture of my foot...
But look at all that broken glass. It's just a small sampling of what you'll find in the Aviation Underpass, which is part of one of the main routes in and out of Downtown. Great first impression of our city, isn't it?
It gets worse...
Every month, on the third Monday, Meet Me at Maynards organizes a cleanup of Downtown. I've been participating for quite a few months, and I'll have to say that there's something very satisfying about finishing a three-mile walk with a bag full of garbage.
A couple of months ago, the cleanup boss told us not to try to clean the Aviation Underpass. It had just gotten too filthy for Meet Me at Maynards volunteers to handle. She said that she'd be calling the city.
Well, last time I saw her, she said that she's called the city four times (emphasis hers). You can see from the above photos how much effect her calls have had.
So, hello, City of Tucson? Are you aware that one of the main drags in and out of Downtown looks like a garbage dump? Do you care?
And what about the graffiti? Plenty of that around Downtown. Please don't give me that line about how it's artistic expression by the downtrodden. It's vandalism. Nothing more. Nothing less...
Point of history and a little hint for the City of Tucson: As late as the 1980s, the New York subway system had a major problem with graffiti. When William Bratton became chief of the transit police, he led an effort to rid the subway system of graffiti.
It got to the point where tagged trains were called "dirty trains," and they weren't allowed to leave the car yard. I might add that the car yard was up in Harlem.
In his book, Turnaround, Bratton told of a little game that his staff played with the graffiti artistes. They let them decorate the trains. And, oh, they spray-painted some masterpieces. Took them several lo-o-o-ong nights to do it.
Bratton's staff let them finish their work. They even gave the artistes a chance to admire it.
Then the Metropolitan Transit Authority people removed every last bit of graffiti. You could almost hear the chorus of groans from outside the car yard. But the artistes got the message: Keep your graffiti away from MTA property.
Getting tough on graffiti was one of many things that turned the New York subway system away from its fearsome, crime-ridden reputation. Nowadays it's clean and safe, the people are well mannered, and yes, they'll even help you find your way. I've personally experienced such helpfulness.
I'd like to conclude this post with a look at Tucson's dumbest intersection. It's where Fourth Avenue, Congress Street, and Toole Avenue come together. It's scary in a car, and even worse if you're a bicyclist or a pedestrian.
One bicyclist has already been killed here, and the trolley isn't even running yet. Speaking as a bicyclist, I fear for our collective safety...
Tip: You can view more event photography in my portfolio and on this blog. I am also available for event photography assignments in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. I specialize in concerts, festivals, parades, political rallies, and sporting events. To check availability and to request a proposal, please e-mail me or call 520-690-1888.
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Best of Bike-tography: Top Bicycling Images
June 14th, 2011Bike-tography is one of those words I made up to describe two of my favorite activities, bicycling and photography. Bike-tography is the act of combining the two.
Here, for your viewing pleasure, is a highly opinionated selection of my best bike-tography images...
Note: The first eight images are from Tucson, Arizona, which is home to one of America's liveliest bicycle scenes.
The final two images -- the deserted gas station and the grasshopper -- come from my bicycle tours through all 50 of the United States. If you'd like to read more about where I went and what I saw, here's a PDF version of my Discovering America book.
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Bicycle Photography: Swapping and Racing
April 18th, 2011Yesterday was one of those "can't miss" days for bicycling in Tucson. Not just for the warm, sunny weather, but for two wonderful events.
The morning started with a Tucson classic, the Bike Swap Meet, which has been around since the 1980s. Matter of fact, I can remember attending the spring 1988 edition, which was held during a monthly bicycle club meeting in the Biological Sciences West auditorium on the University of Arizona campus.
Let's just put it this way -- this event has gotten wa-a-a-ay too big for an auditorium...
If you were looking to buy or sell anything bicycle-related, well, you were in good company. Plenty of it...
One of my favorite things about the Bike Swap Meet is, well, the artsy-ness of it all. It's not just the beauty of the vintage bikes like these classic Schwinn Stingrays...
...there's the elegance and simplicity of the bicycle wheel...
Okay, enough artsy-ness. Let's go to the races!
Downtown Tucson was the place to be if you like a good, fast criterium bike race. Yesterday's Old Pueblo Gran Prix was the first-ever, but I believe it's destined to be a classic...
The Old Pueblo Gran Prix course was only six-tenths of a mile long, which meant that you didn't have long to wait before the racers went speeding by...
I'd like to offer a special shout-out to the men and women in blue who protected the riders from those who wished to walk, bike, or drive across the course...
To some, the cops came across as real hardnoses, but I speak from personal experience when I say that you don't want anyone but racers on a criterium course. Back when I was living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I was a volunteer course marshal for a criterium that went around the University of Michigan campus.
Things were going just great until some out of state visitors drove right onto the course. It took a lot of screaming and pleading to get them to move out of the way of the riders. Fortunately, they drove off without incident.
Want to see more bike-tography? Pedal your browser over to my Bicycle Stock Images site, now including photos from Tucson Bike Swap Meet the and the Old Pueblo Gran Prix.
Tip: You can view more event photography in my portfolio and on this blog. I am also available for event photography assignments in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. I specialize in concerts, festivals, parades, political rallies, and sporting events. To check availability and to request a proposal, please e-mail me or call 520-690-1888.
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