The Foot Down » Photography

Is Playing in Traffic Too Dangerous?

Ty — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:47:38 +0000

Last week the 18 year old dumbass that ran over and killed Rob Jefferies was sentenced to a truly insulting 12 month, 200-hour community order, 18 month driving ban and a compulsory re-test.

How the fuck can killing someone because you are a complete and utter ignorant prick result in practically no punishment at all? A Community Order is not even a slap on the wrist; it is however another massive slap in the face for cyclists. Stories like this are becoming far too common, it seems that it’s perfectly fine to run cyclists over; the sentences are so measly that drivers could almost deliberately use us as skittles in the knowledge that they will get away with it.

The vast majority of us enjoy playing in traffic, there’s a huge amount of fun to be had racing cars and weaving in and out of lanes but is it maybe a bit too dangerous? The photo above by Chris Lanaway captures not only the excitement of our pastime but also perfectly illustrates just how small and vulnerable we are on the roads.

Every time we take to the streets we take our lives in our hands, we dice with death. Whether we’re riding foolishly in busy city traffic or sensibly along a less congested road like Rob Jefferies was is irrelevant, the fact remains that even a Smart Car can permanently put an end to our fun in the blink of an eye let alone a bus, a lorry or a dick in a silver Clio (it’s nearly always a dick in a silver Clio).

Do tragic stories like that of Rob Jefferies put you off riding though? Do they make you change the way you ride? They generally have very little impact on the way I ride because at the end of the day I know that cycling is extremely safe even when we ride like knobheads and regardless of the fact that we’re sharing the road with millions of potential murderers, manslaughterers and irresponsible kids that respect their G-Star RAW jeans more than our lives.

There is always a fine line between safe vs dangerous, we just never know when the scales are going to tip against us…

Riding in Traffic I went out with Evs to try and shoot some photos today, I failed pretty miserably but got this one ok shot....

John Amunét Photography on Bikeminimalism

Ty — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:46:04 +0000

Mikko from Bikeminimalism sent over a link to a killer gallery of photos shot by Helsinki based photographer John Amunét. Shooting bikes is a tough gig but he makes it look easy!

Check out the rest of the gallery at Bikeminimilism and at Amunét’s I Never Stopped Looking blog.

A look Inside the John Cardiel Issue of Huck Magazine Here’s a quick little video showing of the latest issue of Huck Magazine, you know, the one with John Cardiel on the cover....
John Cardiel on the Cover of Huck Magazine John Cardiel is on the cover of issue #25 of the London based Huck Magazine straddling his bike, should be a good read....
Brother Cycles Track Frame Now Available Brother Cycles track frames are now available for £299. Worldwide shipping available....

Preston Riders by Jan Piotrowicz

Ty — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:48:31 +0000

Spotted these portraits of fixed gear riders in Preston by Jan Piotrowicz over on Deaf Pigeon earlier, check out the full set!

Deaf Pigeon Poker Race The Deaf Pigeon Poker Race on June 5th 2011 is gonna be a good ‘un, see you there!...
Flaming Pigeon Race Deaf Pigeon comes through with another alleycat for 2011, the Flaming Pigeon on Bonfire Night......
Deaf Pigeon Bank Holiday Ride Video Check out Perki and Matt burning around the streets of Preston at night....

Jean-Luc Stair Gap by Max L-H

Ty — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:15:11 +0000

This photo of Jean-Luc nailing a stair gap in Bristol by Max Laird-Hopkins is an absolute banger, one of my favourite bike photos for a long time! There are big things happening in Brizzle fo sho.

Halo Fix-G Hub Competition Entries! Right then folks, the Halo Fix-G hub competition entry period is over, now you have got until WEDNESDAY 07 DECEMBER 2012 to LIKE YOUR FAVOURITE PHOTO....

Gnarrlyness Photo Series

Ty — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 22:17:19 +0000

You’ve probably seen this already but if you haven’t you should definitely have a look. Jason Sellers shot all the photos in the series over 2 days, to shoot that many quality photos is such a short period of time is a real accomplishment. Check it out…

Awang Splinter – Most Detailed Photo! Awang's splinter, on closer inspection, was much more dramatic than originally thought....
Condor Cycles World Series Frames Condor Cycles release a limited edition range of retro inspired lugged steel frames to celebrate their founders 80th birthday......
Crayonfire Tour de France Series Neil Stevens has created an amazing set of illustrations, one for each stage of this years Tour de France....

Mikey Merkenshlager NYC July/August 2011 Book

Ty — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:21:17 +0000

Mikey Merkenshlager of 14 Bike Co / helmet advocation fame has put together a book of his photographs from his trip to New York a couple of months ago. I’m really into his photography, expect this book to be feature a nice mix of cycling, street and people photos.

There are 60 photos, it’s limited to 100 copies and only costs a fiver, I’ll be putting my order in! Get yours here.

Cyclorama Book Preview Cyclorama is a great resource site from York featuring articles about cycling history, technology, products, how-to guides and loads more......
Condor – Past Present Future Book On October 11th Condor will release a new 148 page book called Past Present Future, I think it is safe to judge this book by it’s cover....
Cyclepedia Book Launch Cyclepedia - A Tour of Iconic Bicycle Designs officially launches at Look Mum No Hands! in London next week....

Sam Gaunt on Bristol Dropouts

Ty — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 22:20:54 +0000

Namir from Bristol Dropouts has uploaded some of his photos of Sam Gaunt, ch-ch-check em out.

Samuel Gaunt Ripping in Bristol A couple of killer shots by Max Renaud of Bristol fixed gear freestyle ripper Samuel Gaunt jumping stairs and riding walls....
My, What Beautiful Dropouts You Have Newspapers, plastic bottles, custom dropouts, it's all about chain tension, yo....
Fixed Gear Tricks in Bristol A couple of videos of a chap named Swede doing some fixed gear tricks around Bristol....

Help Jono Help The LCEF

Ty — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 07:55:22 +0000

Swansea’s bestest ex-messenger and all round philanthropist ~~Bono~~ Jono has entered the photo above into the Chrome This is My City competition, if it wins he will donate the prize of the Chrome Niko camera bag and Nikon D3000 camera to the London Courier Emergency Fund, which is a body set up by messengers to offer support and financial help to those bicycle couriers who have suffered an injury whilst at work.

This is your mission:
- ‘Like’ the Chrome Facebook Page
- ‘Like’ Jono’s photo
Even if you like another photo more vote for this one instead because your ‘Like’ will directly benefit cyclists like yourself!

Chrome Halloween Scabs Contest Chrome have a competition where you can enter your most gory and disgusting cycling injury photos to win gear....
Chrome Anza Jacket Review The Chrome Anza is a simple jacket with a few well thought out key features geared towards us cyclists....
Awang Splinter – Most Detailed Photo! Awang's splinter, on closer inspection, was much more dramatic than originally thought....

My ESB Cheated On Me

Ty — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:00:37 +0000

So, I went over the water to Bristol on Saturday and had a killer day riding with all the FGFS dudes. My bike is obviously so rad that everyone wanted a go and I was more than happy to let them, it was nice seeing some real tricks being done on it rather than just lame attempts at beginner shit. Max was on hand with his camera and shot Jean-Luc busting out a nice hop bar as well as the video below.

Sam Guant was knocking around on his road bike but proved that he can rip at the drop of a hat on all bikes whether they are his or not. He really does kill it and I predict that when he gets his trick bike built up and running again you are going to be hearing a lot about him.

Swede was about for a bit flaunting his buttery steeze like he just didn’t care before going home to hit the books. Was nice to meet Tobias and Harry too, mad skillz all round (have I missed anyone, if I have sorrrrrrrrry!!!).

In other news I had a good chat with Matt and Namir of Park Skate Shop who will be fully stocked up with fixed gear parts soon, more news on that in a few weeks…

Aaaaand finally, Dene, the mastermind behind (iL) Soigneur musettes popped down to Dean Lane skate park to say hello and it was nice to finally put a face to a name, I’m sure he would have preferred to keep his ‘Ty the Adonis’ dream alive but nothing lasts forever.

Exist Skatepark, Swansea Exist Skatepark in Swansea is skater owned and operated, indoor and rad....
3 Clips at Dean Lane, Bristol Three short clips of Andreas at Dean Lane Skate Park, Bristol....

Hop Bar at Dean Lane

Ty — Fri, 13 May 2011 09:13:53 +0000

Killer shot of Andreas at Dean Lane Skatepark by Max Laird-Hopkins. I’m hitting Bristol tomorrow to ride with all the dudes so expect more photos and some video next week.

3 Clips at Dean Lane, Bristol Three short clips of Andreas at Dean Lane Skate Park, Bristol....
Brick Lane Bikes in The Guardian There was a great big photo of Brick Lane Bikes in The Guardian a few days back accompanying an article about handbuilt frames, have a read....
Brick Lane Bikes Sponsors Keanue Here's some more sponsorship news for you, Brick Lane Bikes in London has hooked up Keanue with a BLT frameset, Velocity Chukker rims and Fyxation Session tyres....