Category: Cycling

Photo of Rossa Before the Storm

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“Stormy Skies” Cedar Park, 2021

Our crazy weather continues in Texas – today thunderstorms were in the forecast, which postponed several high school graduation ceremonies. Anyways, I changed the brake pads on the Bianchi Alante and wanted to go for a ride and photoshoot. With the storm threatening to hit, I went to the nearby elementary school, quickly grabbed a few photos, and then headed home just as the front hit our neighborhood.

Mission accomplished:

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/4, 1/170 sec, ISO160
 “Rossa” Cedar Park, 2021

Oh, and I asked my brother what to name the bicycle (since it is his old bike) and he said “Red”. I decided to ultimately name her “Rossa” which means red in Italian. I think it’s a good name.

I hope you had a nice day! またね～

BBQ Thoughts While Riding

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/6.4, 1/1100 sec, ISO320
 “Graduation Setup” Cedar Park, 2021

I went for an evening bicycle ride around the neighborhood, and it seems that many people had fired up the barbecues! Some of the scents of grilling brought back memories, specifically the smell of grilling hot dogs. That smell will always remind me of summer picnics at the parks, where people would use the park grills. I prefer eating burgers over hot dogs, but absolutely love the smell of the frankfurters getting a bit of crisp over the fire!

Anyway, the bicycle ride was nice. I rode over to the school stadium, where they were setting up for graduation ceremonies. The chairs were all set up perfectly, and the band was rehearsing Pomp and Circumstance – it was an idyllic suburban scene. 😀

I even took a photo of beautiful Sophie:

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/4.5, 1/280 sec, ISO160
 “Sophie” Cedar Park, 2021

I hope you had a nice day!

New Version of My Old Bike

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Photo info: Apple iPhone 12 mini, 4.2mm, f/1.6, 1/60 sec, ISO320
 “Kona Blast” Cedar Park, 2021

At the bike store, I spotted the 2021 version of my year 2000 bicycle. The Blast has been in Kona’s lineup year-after-year as a mid-tier hardtail mountain bike, which I think is amazing. Even 21 years later, the Blast features the Shimano Deore drivetrain! And even the color scheme is similar… orange and black.

I’m not in the market for another bicycle, especially a modern mountain bike, so I wasn’t really tempted to purchase it, but it was cool to see the descendant of Mango!

Photo info: Apple iPhone 12 mini, 4.2mm, f/1.6, 1/60 sec, ISO400
 “Kona” Cedar Park, 2021

Sunset Bicycle Ride

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/8, 1/500 sec, ISO320
 “Twilight Clouds” Cedar Park, 2021

We had another stormy day today but the sky lightened up just after sunset so Mango and I went to the nearby park to see if there were any interesting clouds. They were pretty good, in my opinion!

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/8, 1/100 sec, ISO400
 “Mango at Twilight” Cedar Park, 2021

We only went out for a few minutes to take the photos because it was still sprinkling a little bit and there was thunder rumbling as well so I thought it best not to be out on the bicycle too long. 😁

The Third Bicycle

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27.7mm, f/3.2, 1/10 sec, ISO3200
 “Bianchi” Cedar Park, 2021

Some of you more perceptive readers might have noticed that not only did I bring my Peugeot bicycle home, but I also took my brother’s old Bianchi mountain bike. It’s in better condition than the Peugeot was, so it just needs some new cables and will be ready to go.

Did you know that Bianchi is the oldest bicycle brand in the world? I didn’t know that before today. At any rate, this bicycle is from around 1990 and is a type of bicycle that is popular right now: vintage mountain bikes. I guess people like the steel frames, rigid forks, and old geometry. I’d like to customize it a bit with some new tires, a new saddle and maybe a front rack. We’ll see!