A Cyclist in the English Landscape
04-06-21, 09:07 AM
#1
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A Cyclist in the English Landscape
If you have access to the New York Times, today they posted an article, A Cyclist in the English Landscape. Amazing shots, all taken by the rider, of himself. And as a bonus, on that appears to be a proper bike. It’s worth a look.
04-06-21, 11:59 AM
#2
two wheels only
Thanks for the tip Mr. Spadoni! That is indeed a beautiful photo essay. After checking out the author's other on-line links I learned that Roff Smith is a photojournalist for National Geographic. The quality of his cycling photographs is what one would expect from a professional at that level. For those who do not have access to the NY Times article the author has a similar write-up, the same photos and more on his web based article "Journeys from my Doorstep: A Visual Diary". Journeys from My Doorstep: Travels At Home - Travels At Home
The photos communicate much of why I love riding a bicycle so much, the opportunity to see the world around us at a slower pace and in face-to-face contact with nature. The essay makes me want to do get out more in the early hours of the day. His bike is indeed a proper randonneuring machine. In one of his photos I think I make out "Enigma" on the down tube. Enigma Bikes appears to be a relatively young, 15 year old company in Sussex, England so, in Mr. Smith's neighborhood. The bikes shown on the Enigma webpage are nothing like the vintage style ride that Mr. Smith is on but Enigma would certainly have the skillset to make a bespoke bicycle such as that shown in Mr. Smith's photos.
The photos communicate much of why I love riding a bicycle so much, the opportunity to see the world around us at a slower pace and in face-to-face contact with nature. The essay makes me want to do get out more in the early hours of the day. His bike is indeed a proper randonneuring machine. In one of his photos I think I make out "Enigma" on the down tube. Enigma Bikes appears to be a relatively young, 15 year old company in Sussex, England so, in Mr. Smith's neighborhood. The bikes shown on the Enigma webpage are nothing like the vintage style ride that Mr. Smith is on but Enigma would certainly have the skillset to make a bespoke bicycle such as that shown in Mr. Smith's photos.
04-06-21, 12:40 PM
#3
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Beautiful photographs! Thanks, Mr. Spadoni !
04-06-21, 01:03 PM
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I like this a lot. This popped up on a different forum as well. The photographer rides an old school steel bike with mudguards so he gets style points for the bike. But there are no good shots of the bike. Great photographs but a little lacking as bike porn, 
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04-06-21, 01:39 PM
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A little internet sleuthing (link):
I have three bicycles but the one that appears in nearly every image is an old-school tourer custom-built for me some years ago by Mark Reilly (now of Reilly Cycleworks) back when he was the master builder for Enigma.
Assisting him at the time was Matthew Sowter, now of Saffron Frameworks.
So you could say it has a pedigree of the best of British framebuilding.
Assisting him at the time was Matthew Sowter, now of Saffron Frameworks.
So you could say it has a pedigree of the best of British framebuilding.
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04-08-21, 10:32 AM
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Great photography, but, jeez, what a lot of work. I'd assume that takes up a huge chunk of his time. And is he packing a tripod?
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04-08-21, 03:34 PM
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I got a lot of new desktop backgrounds out of that article. Great photos.
04-08-21, 04:01 PM
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12-14-21, 03:07 PM
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I revisited this guy's page after a mention in the Guardian. For those who are more interested in the bike than the photos, here's the one that shows the bike best I think;
Recent make (probably ~ 2010?), but definitely great vintage style
And on a related note, it turns out the builder (Mark Reilly) died relatively young (53) earlier this year.
https://road.cc/content/news/renowne...3-video-281791
Recent make (probably ~ 2010?), but definitely great vintage style
And on a related note, it turns out the builder (Mark Reilly) died relatively young (53) earlier this year.
https://road.cc/content/news/renowne...3-video-281791
