The Radavist

November and December have been a lot busier than I anticipated. Usually, it’s my time to get back into a daily routine of riding, riding, riding but I found myself traveling more and more these past few weeks. This Recent Roll is a series of snapshots taken in Portland, Austin and Los Angeles during that time. Shot with my Contax G2 and Kodak E100VS. Enjoy.

I recently got a screaming deal on a Contax G2 with the Zeiss 45mm and 28mm lenses. The 45mm is arguably the best piece of glass, ever and the Contax G2 has been hailed as the best rangefinder ever, even beating out the Leica models (so they say).

While some will argue a rangefinder should be MF, I kind of enjoy the AF. Once the camera came in, I headed out into the night to capture some of the vibes on the East Side of Austin. Later, I brought it to Colorado Bend State Park on a day trip with my parents, who were visiting from North Carolina. The results from my first test roll of 3200 Delta black and white resonated through my scanner yesterday.

Check out some wonderful randomness in the Gallery and I can’t wait to shoot more with this camer.

For some reason, a group of us decided to try out this ride. A “brovet” if you will. Doing 120 miles is easy, doing over 350 in one swoop is a little more difficult. Doing it in the wake of a Hurricane, over the Appalachian mountains is, as we found, even more difficult. I unfortunately didn’t plan on Sandy and showed up to Pittsburgh with arm warmers, leg warmers, shoe covers and wind-proof gloves. Bad times! But it doesn’t have to be fun to be fun, right?

More on this project to come, but for now, #GoYonder and check out some select shots in the Gallery.

Every new bike needs a maiden voyage and last Saturday, that’s what we intended on doing. Ben from Argonaut, Billy and I headed out to Estacada, Oregon for some playtime in Mt. Hood National Forest. I had no idea what to expect other than “we’ll be climbing immediately. And that we did. Before reaching the ranger station at mile 25, we were in a good place. Billy’s sidewall blew out, but a simple dollar bill boot fixed that. Aside from the blow out, mechanical systems were good to go. For the time being.

Around mile 48, I noticed Ben and Billy pulled over immediately (I tend to be at the back a lot on 5-8% grade climbs up mountains). In all his crazy torque, Billy popped a spoke on his drive side, rendering his wheel a wobbly mess. I really wanted to finish the projected 120 mile loop but “no man left behind” is a more pressing mantra. At that point, it was snowing, the roads were wet and we were freezing as we descended at a whopping 14mph, awaiting the imminent threat of an exploded wheel. But alas, we made it to the ranger station, where we left Billy to be picked up by car as Ben and I trudged onward.

In the end, 75 miles and 5,200′ of climbing ain’t bad. Truth be told, it was too beautiful up there to make it a hammer fest, so I’m glad a mechanical merited some time off the bike for photos. We ended up at the Safari Club, a vegan’s nightmare. Why? See for yourself in the gallery. This is one of my favorite Recent Roll posts of all time.

Camera: Yashica T4 with Neopan 400 black and white.

On my recent trip to California, my mornings and afternoons were spent combing the roads for ideal backdrops. Here’s a few outtakes that are free to consume. Please, don’t fret, the weekend’s coming soon.

Over the past year, I’ve had the absolutely amazing experience of riding extensively in California but this last trip might have been my favorite. We rode on the 1, the 128 and in Geyserville. From the Redwoods, to the coast and dry, arid hills, the scenery kept me shooting my 35mm point and shoot, mid pedal stroke. Check it out below!