Back In Seattle

With Over 10,000 photos to sort, organize and distribute in the next week, I'm going to have my hands full.

Coffee and cycling are good for you!!!

This could be the coolest new scientific factoid I've come across in years. Now I don't feel so guilty about my coffee adventuring on a bicycle through Europe during the past 5 weeks.

The next adventure--Jackson, Wyoming for a Fall outdoor sports shoot in the Tetons starts in 10 days!

Sweet Swiss Passes Finished

Link to the Sweet Passes route on GoogleMaps

Over the past two weeks I have cycled a loop around Switzerland and over 14 of its most amazing and historic passes for a total of 55,000 vertical feet of climbing. Along the way, Horst, my Swiss/German cycling guide, and a few others sampled over 30 different desserts (sweets), slept in a bomb shelter, weathered a snow storm, followed in the footsteps of Hannibal and his war elephants, and enjoyed an amazing 10 consecutive days of perfectly sunny weather in the Alps.

Every bike tour needs a "King Climb". The Stelvio, heading east to west from Italy into Switzerland was ours. For the first 14.9 miles we climbed for 6,100 uninterrupted feet via a series of 48 numbered hairpin turns--from a sun-filled apple
valley, to a below freezing, snowy pass it is one of the great climbs of Europe and the Giro de Italia bicycle race.

Here are a few photos of the Stelvio and me chowing down on some Swiss desserts!

Arrival In Bubikon, Switzerland

I'm hangin' with Horst in Bubikon Switzerland. I first met Ruth and Horst in a bar in Zacatecas, Mexico and then spent several months cycling though Central America with them in 2006. Horst has cycled nearly every road in Switzerland and is the grand master of all that is cycling here. He is leading me on a 10-day photo-shoot through the Alps starting tomorrow!

We decided to start our Sweet passes tour with a little test drive yesterday that included the sweets but not the passes!

Side trips en route to Switzerland

On the way to Switzerland I took a few side trips to let the really bad weather that's been looming over the Alps clear up before setting out on my Swiss pass trip.

It's amazing how many doors open when a few nice cameras are hanging around your neck and you have a weathered card that says "Presse" on it.

First, I shot a private vintage car show with Stephan in Rambouillet, just outside of Paris. It was in a garden of some huge palace.





Next I headed up to Germany to attend Eurobike, the largest bicycle trade show in the world. It was pretty neat to check out all of the latest and greatest bike swag. Check out the trick bike frame made of wood.






Finally. I shot the Junior Championship stage race just outside of Zurich. I had a chance to catch up with our USA Junior team at the event. I got lucky with a car #3 placement and got to shoot out of the passenger side window from a great position in the trailing pack.

Some Fun Pics from the PBP

1250 kilometers in the rain produces some excellent bicycle carnage. Here's a few for you to enjoy...

Assignment 1 Completed

I've spent the past week on the back of a super plush BMW motorcycle documenting the Paris Brest Paris ultra-endurance cycling event. It was truly a surreal experience. The wind, rain, and cold weather made for the most challenging Paris Brest in history...bad for the 5,000 cyclists on the course but good for me, the photographer. The roadside carnage was unreal. At one point Stephan (driver) and I drove non-stop for over 24 hours...only taking breaks to shoot and refuel. We didn't sleep for 50 hours and shot on through the night. My last tally was nearly 8,000 photos captured. My risk of using untested remote flash equipment paid off and I am pleased with my nighttime pics in the country side and small villages of western France. What an epic adventure this was! I have the utmost respect for these athletes who pushed themselves beyond what most people think would be possible. Look for some pics in some cycling mags and galleries that I will post links to soon.

Now, I'm off to Zurich for assignment #2, Sweet Swiss Passes.

Cheers,

G

Time for enjoyment?

It's been a busy week but I have taken time off to enjoy France. If you followed my www.ribbonofroad.com journey, you might remember Jamon, the Frenchman who I met in the back of a Llama truck hitching through the Andes. I cycled with him across Peru and Bolivia for 2 months. He's from Paris and has laid out the red carpet for me this week. Wine, cheese, family, local Spiderman hotspots...it's been amazing.

Stephan, who is driving the motorcycle for the shoot, just dropped in too. He's kept himself occupied by leaping from pylon to pylon in Paris.