Ten Great American Bike Trails

Forbes Traveler is back with another top ten list, this time offering up their picks for ten great America bike trails.

The trails that make the list come in a wide variety of lengths and styles. There are short trails, requiring only hours to complete, while others will stretch in length for days. Some of these are designed for road bikes for those looking to cruise, while others are technical and demanding, just the thing for the mountain bike crowd. The trails stretch across the country, and offer a variety of scenery as well.

Some of the routes that make the list include the popular Slickrock Trail in Moab, which is just 12 miles in length, but can require as much as 8 hours to complete depending on your skill level. For intermediate riders, they offer up the Katy Trail, found in Missouri, that stretches 225 miles along the Missouri River, in the path of an abandoned railroad line. And for the truly adventurous there is the Trans-America trail, which runs coast to coast from Yorktown, Virginia to Astoria, Oregon, a distance of more than 4247 miles.

With spring officially here, it's time to dust off the bike and head out on your favorite trail of choice. Perhaps one of the trails on the list runs near your place or better yet, maybe the story will inspire you to ride one of the longer ones yourself. Put some air in the tires, and get out on the road.

POV: Style Evolution

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Having just returned from Guatemala, I thought of revisiting the photographs I had made during an earlier trip to La Antigua (and some other towns and villages) during the 2002 Semana Santa, and comparing these to my most recent photo gallery Between The Three Volcanoes.

I rarely -if ever- photographed in monochrome at that time, relying on color (whether digital or film), using a 70-200 zoom lens for most of my shots, and essentially shooting for stock and magazines...as the top photograph (with space for text on either side of the subject) clearly is for. Storytelling or street photography wasn't part of my DNA at that time, and although I was mindful of Costa Mano's advice to shoot more complex images, I was still enamored with simple travel portraits.

Over the years, I witnessed the slow and progressive shift in my aesthetic vision (vision as in seeing rather than its more abstract meaning), and a desire of telling more in one image. Whether I succeed in "complicating" every photograph I make or not is open for debate, but I do try my best in achieving this goal...as in the lower photograph from my latest effort in La Antigua during a festive day.

It is only natural that one's craft should evolve over time, and hopefully improve with practice. But these two are different sides of the same coin. My style could've remain static, and I could've kept shooting for stock and simple travel portraits for all these years, and with time, I might have become really good at it.

Alternatively, I am much happier that my style has evolved to being a hybrid of travel-documentary photography, or as someone told me a style where "travel photography meets photojournalism". I still shoot travel portraiture on occasion, as I would shoot street portraiture, but my heart and visual acuity is now much more attuned to the 'complexity' of the lower photograph.

I may not be able to tell a story with every photograph or set of photographs, but the intent is there...bubbling under the surface, and sometimes the photographs fit together like a jigsaw puzzle...and a story is told.

Zeiss Touit 12mm | Fuiji X-Pro 1

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Well, I succumbed.

I've been think about another prime lens for my Fuji X-Pro1 for quite some time, and having the XF 18mm f2.0 "pancake", I just couldn't make up my mind between the XF 35mm f1.4, the XF 23mm f1.4
or the XF 27mm f2.8.

I tossed around the pros and cons of various Fujifilm X Mount Lenses, and finally decided on the Zeiss 12mm f2.8 Touit.  It’s a solid, all glass lens that feels well made, and while it's manufactured in Japan (as if that is a downside), it feels 'German Zeiss'. It's essentially an 18mm f2.8 equivalent on the Fuji X-Pro1 1.5x crop sensor. And it's hand-built.

The decision was made based on my heavy reliance on my Canon 17-40mm f 4.0 lens during the past 2-3 years. I went back to my images from the Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition, the Vietnam: North of the 16th Parallel Photo-Expedition/Workshop, The Sufi Saints of Rajasthan & Kashmir Photo Expedition-Workshop, The Sacred Cities: Varanasi & Vrindavan Photo Expedition-Workshop and remembered my lens usage statistics, which confirmed my preference of using my wide angle zoom and get really close to the subjects I'm photographing.

To underscore the point; most of my photographs on The Birth of Color photo essay were made with the Canon 17-40mm, at its wider setting....as the following photograph demonstrates.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Canon 17-40mm f4.0

While the Zeiss Touit's 12mm wide angle is perfectly suited for landscape and architectural photography, I'm certain it'll suit my style of photography whether for environmental portraiture, or street photography.

It'd be superfluous for me to to review this lens in any depth as there are many more qualified photographers who have already done so. For an eminently readable and succinct review of the lens, take a look at The Phoblographer. 

As for street photography, I've snapped a couple of 'from-the-hip' photographs yesterday, and although it's a little too early, I was pleased with the results. One of these photographs (below) was made in front of the Papaya King on Sixth Avenue, and there are a few more on The Leica File.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
Fuji X Pro-1/Zeiss Touit 12mm.

The Zeiss Tuit has smooth rubber for the focusing and aperture ring, and while this doesn't bother me, I did find the aperture ring moves easily, and I had to make certain that the aperture was set on my chosen f-stop. The lack of a depth of field and distance scales are also disconcerting, but I managed to get by. It'll take some practice to get used to it, as most of my street photography is by shooting from the hip.

As I said, it's a little too early, but my gut feel is that this lens -while having marvelous optics- is better suited for environmental and documentary photography. I'll keep using it on my wanderings in New York City for some time, and see if I will change my mind.

Carlos Esteves | Bhaktapur

Photographs © Carlos Esteves (CE-TOP Photography)- All Rights Reserved

I start the new year with photographic work from Carlos Esteves, a Portuguese photographer who, in some of his galleries, merges travel photography with an aesthetic akin to fashion photography.

I particularly liked Carlos' work from Bhaktapur in Nepal, where he not only photographed in the streets of this ancient city, not far from Kathmandu, but also photographed what I presume are dancers in traditional Nepali court costumes. At first glance, and seeing some of these dancers looking out of ornate windows, I thought that they might have been Kumari Devi (the "living goddess" who are pre-pubescent girls considered to be the earthly incarnations of the goddess known as Taleju in Nepal), but they were dressed as such.

Bhaktapur is known as the 'City of Devotees' and is considered as Nepal's cultural gem. It is one of the three royal cities in the Kathmandu Valley. The others are Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and Patan.

Carlos Esteves has a degree in Computer Science and a Master in Business Administration, and is  mainly a self-taught photographer. His portfolio is certified by the Associação Portuguesa dos Profissionais da Imagem. He's passionate about traveling, and travel photography is a large component of his portfolio, and photographic interests.

Absa Cape Epic Mountain Bike Race Begins Tomorrow!

The Absa Cape Epic mountain bike race gets underway tomorrow in South Africa, with top riders from around the globe preparing to face off against one another in an eight day event that crosses more than 685km (426 miles) of African backcountry along the Western Cape. Racers will compete as teams of two, entering in the mens, womens, mixed (coed), and masters categories.

The race officially begins with a time trial prologue tomorrow that will have the riders battling it out to the top of Table Mountain, the iconic and dramatic, backdrop to Cape Town that is more than 3560 feet in height. Teams will be staggered in 30 second intervals as they head out on to the course hoping to reach the top in the fastest time.

On Saturday the race will have its first full stage, with six more to follow, that will put the riders out on true mountain bike trails. Over the course of the week they'll climb over 14,660 meters (48,097 feet) as they cover stages that range in length from 60km (37 miles) to 114km (70 miles). Judging from stage profiles on the course page, I'd say that the shorter stages make up for the difference in length with more challenging climbs.

All told there are over 600 teams signed up for this great event. It's going to be quite an endurance challenge for everyone involved, and they'll be racing through some of the best scenery anywhere in Africa as well. What a great place to ride, and South Africa has really become one of the top spots in the world for adventure sports events.

Thanks to Lisa over at AR.co.za for sending this my way. Both Lisa and I would like to let everyone know that we're looking for a sugar daddy and a sugar momma respectively to fund our entries into all these great events. ;)

And as a side note, this post marks my 3000th entry into the Adventure Blog. I think I need to get a life. :)

Shane McConkey Killed in BASE Jumping Accident

There is breaking news tonight, as it is being reported that skier Shane McConkey, age 39, was killed today in a ski-BASE accident in Italy. Ski-Basing is an offshoot of BASE Jumping that has the skier jumping off high cliffs, opening his or her parachute and gliding down to snow below. McConkey was very experienced at the sport, and had been doing it for a number of years.

Shane was in Italy filming an upcoming ski movie, along with his friend J.T. Holmes and a film crew. The plan was to hit a jump, go over a cliff, release both of his skis, and glide to the ground below in a wing suit. Unfortunately, that's not what happened, and he ended up spiraling out of control to the ground below.

You can read a lot more of the details on Shane and what exactly happened, in this article over at The Adventure Life. It's a sad story and my thoughts are with his friends and family. Shane is survived by a wife and three-year old daughter.

Charles Bridge, Prague - In the Night

The famed Prague Castle is adorned in lights in the backdrop of the Bridge. The hurriedness and the bustle of  the daytime on the bridge fades away rather rapidly. The night's calm complements the tranquility of the flowing Vltava beneath. In all the senses, Charles bridge at night gives you more than one reason to be yourself.

Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle
Photo Courtesy : here 

In many ways, Charles Bridge reinvents itself under the dark skies. The waves beneath the bridge adorn the sights of the pearls of lights on the famed Castle ahead.

The Lamp-posts of the bridge accentuate the magic of the Bridge as so does their glistened reflections flowing in the water beneath.

If you visit this post dusk but before it's too late, you could come across some shops around the bridge still open. The 'clearing sale' would aptly apply here. 

Charles Bridge : Splendor at Night
Photo Courtesy: here

****

I remember meeting an artist on the night that summed the moment perfectly:

 "Charles Bridge is a canvas as well as a painting in process. The Canvas is too large and the painting, perpetually incomplete. You add colors and strokes. for others to do on their own."

PS: The morning dawn would be the best time to visit the bridge.

Everest 2009: Czechs Get Ambitious in the Himalaya

A late Friday afternoon report from ExWeb give details on the plans for a Czech team that will be climbing Everest as a warm up for Annapurna.

The South Side of Everest continues to get more and more traffic, but Libor Uher and his Czech team won't notice, as they are planning to pass on the South Col to try their luck on the Hornbein Couloir instead. Alan Arnette is reporting on his Everest 2009 page that due to the North Side remaining closed though, the Czechs are already working on a contigent plan just in case. Few teams use Everest as a warm up, but that's just what Uher, along with Petr Masek, Radim Sliva, Petr Valchar and Ján Behun will be doing as once they finish up there, they'll head to Annapurna to attempt the East Ridge. According to ExWeb, they'll head to Nepal next Monday.

Meanwhile, Polish climber Piotr Morawski and his Slovak partner Peter Hamor, have plans of their own for the spring season in the Himalaya. Relaunching their "Triptychs" project, the two men will warm-up on Dhaulagiri before attempting a new route on Manaslu's West Face. At the moment, they'll share Dhaula with just a single team from Korea, as there are few announced plans to climb that mountain.

Finally, Alan also brings us a good story today about Lori Schneider, a climber with MS. Lori will be climbing Everest with Alpine Ascents and if successful, she'll claim the last of her Seven Summits.