Cycling Photo Challenge - the current challenge

[Aravis]

I had a look at the Wikipedia entry for October to see what possible associations there might be. Apparently it's Vegetarian Awareness Month, something I ruminated over for a while.

Subjects based around autumn have been chosen at this time of the year before and have always been popular, but I'd prefer to find a new angle. I would therefore like to make October's subject "Fall". Please ride carefully when attempting this challenge.

Entries to be submitted by midnight on October 31st, with the result unveiled as soon as possible afterwards.

Good luck!

 

[Aravis]

Very well done on all the entries, folks. I can't remember anything resembling a frost so far this autumn, so in these parts anyway there's precious little sign of serious autumnal colours, making everyone's task that bit harder. The level of inventiveness you've shown in these testing circumstances is amazing!

As I've reviewed them once again this morning, inevitably I see additional merit in several of them that I hadn't appreciated before, making me wonder if I'm doing the right thing...

But I'm no photographic expert, and I have to stick with the image which made the biggest impact when I first saw it and still intrigues me every time I look at it. The image from @gtmet taken at Sea Mills by the Avonmouth road out of Bristol. Superficially a static scene and yet there's so much happening, and the bike sits there just perfectly. Naturally enough the first thing I registered was the stone bridge, which I first took to be a railway, but quickly realised is not - and I'm drawn in:

Well done gtmet!

 

[gtmet]

November Challenge.

Since I flippantly referred to the late iron age I have been unable to get the idea out of my mind.
Hence, the theme:

'Age of Iron'

Whether the Iron Age has ended or not, its drama and artefacts are all around us, so plenty of scope. Usual rule, at least part of a bicycle must be included, in a pictorially appropriate way.

To avoid the obvious risk, the usual important safety rule: Anyone even suspected of trespass upon the Iron Way will be disqualified with extreme prejudice.​

 

[gtmet]

This is difficult, I was tempted to follow the literature prize jury that recently decided to declare joint winners.

But I have not shirked my duty, so, in short:

After due consideration the winner is Oldhippy for his simple but dynamic seaside image of iron stanchions marhing out of the sea, combining the most basic and most elegant of iron artefacts.

Over to you Oldhippy.

*********************************

At great length:

Starting with subversion, moving on through isolated street furniture to still life, then iron as dominant element, I had plenty to choose from. Strangely no iron horses, blast furnaces, forges or iron foundries, possibly because all these are now rare in the UK.

PeteXXX 's big roller and bicycle was the first to contrast the simplest and most sophisticated iron products, featuring steel as a highly developed iron alloy.

I was tempted by Specialeye's big gun, symbolising iron as ruler of all, and on the same theme, biggs682 's iron memorial silhouettes to the victims of iron as the material of war. In contrast Chriswoody's turbine hints at the equally immense power commanded by iron for peaceful use.

Oldhippy's still life with iron ring and bicycle saddle appealed as a composition, as did biggs682 's simple iron spheres, which I hope was not a subtle comment on the theme. The anchor composition from stoatsngroats combined the sophisticated and basic elements very well.

Oldhippy's all enveloping pier structure was the first where iron really dominates the whole scene, followed by chriswoody with a black and white image whose spirit lowering tonal range portrays the world of iron as oppressive. Yo vanilla achieves a similar dominant greyness in a colour image.


Oldhippy 's pier is just pipped by his simple but dynamic seaside image, combining the most basic and most elegant of iron artefacts. Interestingly, to me, this seems to lead out of the sea rather than in. *


(* On a technical note the stanchions are almost certain to be rolled rather than cast, but this is a photo competition, not an examination in metallurgy.)

 

[Oldhippy]

Ok folks, I've had a think and I've come up with the subject of Derelict. Your bike in front of something that has seen better days. Buildings, vehicles or anything else relating to the title Derelict. Have fun with it. Looking forward to seeing the photos.

 

[Oldhippy]

Morning all, I wasn't sure what to expect when I came up with the title Derelict but as usual there have been some out the box thinking and excellent photo subjects. @PeteXXX started us off with his Brommie in front of a long abandoned Pill Box followed by @biggs682 evocative photos of engine sheds from another era. Ultimately it came down to @Dave 123 with his classic black and white derelict barn photo, @yo vanilla did a good shot portraying of an old trailer but after much deliberation my favourite photo was the majestic derelict arch of St John the Baptist church in Bought on by @PeteXXX and declare his photo my favourite for December. I'm a sucker for medieval archaeology and the period and thought that the representation of one of the heights of technology of it's day as a background for one of one of the most practical pieces of modern technology of today were a good contrast. Despite being derelict the arch still stands with dignity somehow. So Well done @PeteXXX and thank you to everyone else. Over to you Pete.

 

[PeteXXX]

I am honoured! Thanks for a fun competition, @Oldhippy . Lots of great entries by all..

I'll think of a new topic for the new year and post later today..

 

[PeteXXX]

I have thunked..
As an opposite to the competition that @Oldhippy has just run...

'NEW' is the theme for the 1st challenge of the year.
Usual rules.. Bike, or part thereof and photo taken twixt today and the last day of this month.
Egrets are allowed. 🦅

 

[PeteXXX]

Well. Lots of lovely entries for me to choose from this month. Thanks folks!

Joint 2nd place goes to @biggs682 for the slow new tarmac..

And @Oldhippy 's new winter day pic.

But, in my humble opinion, and I'm the judge, my favourite photo was the New Old Bridge by @gtmet

Over to you @gtmet

🥇

 

[gtmet]

Let us abandon rusticity for a while.
After checking the OED, the theme for February is:

URBANITY



Usual rule, the picture must contain at least part of a bicycle.​

 

[gtmet]

Are we using the two definitions, @Willd's pigeon's, but also the 'scenes of urban life' in some online dictionaries?

There I was thinking you were all out in the fresh air, scouring the world for pictures, and it seems everyone but old hippy has their nose stuck in a dictionary.

I chose 'Urbanity' because the OED gives defines three overlapping strands of meaning, all broad, so there should be plenty of scope for creativity.

This is the OED entry (from https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/220391? You may need municipal library access):

urbanity, n.​

Forms: late Middle English urbanytie, late Middle English 1600s urbanitie... (Show More)
Frequency (in current use): Show frequency band information
Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French urbanité; Latin urbānitāt-, urbānitās.
Etymology: Originally < Middle French urbanité (French urbanité ... (Show More)
1.
Thesaurus »

a. The character or quality of being urbane; courtesy, civility; refinement, sophistication, elegance (of manners, temper, etc.). Also in extended use.
▸ c1475 in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Harl. 642) (1790) 33 (MED) Kervers and cupberers..nedeth to be well spede in taking of degree in the schole of urbanytie.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 328 Ane man he wes of greit vrbanitie.
1547 A. Borde Breuiary of Helthe i. Prol. f. ii Egregiouse doctours..of your Urbanyte Exasperate nat your selfe againste me.
a1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) sig. Eiij A right courtier is vertuous, gentill, and full of vrbanitie.
1616 J. Lane Contin. Squire's Tale ix. 152 Cambuscan..eyenge Giant Horbills iollite, rann at his tassant plumes vrbanitie.
1630 Pathomachia ii. ii. 15 Those things which Citizens doe vnto Strangers may seeme to proceed from Craft: but that which they practise with their Friends is Vrbanitie of manners.
1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires p. xxxvii His Urbanity, that is, his Good Manners, are to be commended.
1713 T. Birch in Guardian 22 Apr. 2/1 The Virtue called Urbanity by the Moralists, or a Courtly Behaviour.
1746 Gentleman's Mag. 7/2 Urbanity is a certain impression of politeness and goodness, which appears in the mind, conversation and sentiments of a person.
1777 W. Dalrymple Trav. Spain & Portugal vii He was all urbanity and good humour.
1814 W. Scott Waverley I. xi. 152 If you have no respect for the laws of urbanity . View more context for this quotation
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iv. 439 That exquisite urbanity, so often found potent to charm away the resentment of a justly incensed nation.
1881 Eclectic Mag. May 700/1 ‘Vastly obliged, I'm sure, my dear’, he replied, with the urbanity of tone which with him portended anything but urbanity of temper.
1907 W. Raleigh Shakespeare ii. 56 He delighted..in that graciousness and urbanity of bearing which is sometimes found in his princely men.
1973 H. Essame Patton xii. 185 He certainly tried Eisenhower's forbearance and urbanity to the limit.
1996 G. Studlar This Mad Masquerade i. 13 Gracefully balancing moral gentility and primitive instincts, wilderness skills and genteel urbanity.
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Thesaurus »

b. In plural. Civilities, courtesies.
1630 B. Goodall Tryall Trauell iii. sig. I 3 Last louely posture sages noble deeme, Vrbanityes defind its an esteeme.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. vi. 23 The passages of societie and daily urbanities of our times.
1724 W. Dunkin Mezentius on Rack 11 But let this piece of Politeness pass with the ineffable Urbanities and liquid Spirit of his Longinus.
1799 Orphan Heiress v. 70 His taste and his urbanities were themes of general eulogy.
1822 J. Galt Provost xlii. 308 There is a surprising difference, in regard to the urbanities in use among those who have not yet come to authority.
1866 C. C. Felton Greece, Anc. & Mod. II. v. 71 In the urbanities of social life,..Athens was without an equal, without a second.
1966 Times 16 May 12/6 This fiery particle of radicalism..was never tamed by the urbanities of political life in London.
1995 Independent 22 Dec. 11/1 Mr Evans is not a man to cloak his feelings in diplomatic urbanities.
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Thesaurus »

†2. Sophisticated wit or humour; pleasant or witty conversation or language. Obsolete.Often, and esp. in later use, difficult to distinguish from sense 1a.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes i. f. 48v Whiche woordes yet for all that bee more full of galle, then to bee conueniente for Aristippus, whose vrbanitee & merieconceipted woordes are not of so poynaunte a sorte.
a1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) sig. Bjv Then grudge not at all, if in my behauiour: I make the Kinge mery, with pleasant vrbanitie.
1640 E. Reynolds Treat. Passions xxi. 214 Men are delighted..with Elegancies, Tests, Vrbanity, and Flowers of wit.
1656 E. Reyner Rules Govt. Tongue 223 Use Recreational speeches;..this is urbanity, or pleasantness of speech.
1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires p. xxxii Moral Doctrine, says he, and Urbanity, or well-manner'd Wit,..constitute the Roman Satire.
1750 J. Dunn tr. C. F. Lambert Coll. Curious Observ. II. ix. 92 A vast number of varied or feign'd histories..discover a very fine and delicate taste, since wit, manners, urbanity, lively descriptions, characters and contrasts, concur to render them beautiful.
1845 A. Barnes Epist. Paul v. 109/1 Εὐτραπελία..urbanity, wit, humour.
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Thesaurus »

3. The state, condition, or character of a town or city; urban life.rare before the late 19th cent.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) vi. 34 Tha detestit vrbanite and desirit to lyue in villagis.
1789 W. Belsham Ess. I. xvii. 328 The serenity, the elegance and urbanity of Paris.
1818 Analectic Mag. Apr. 305 He displays man and nature..in characters not the less easily recognized for the wildness, the rusticity, or the urbanity of the situation.
1877 R. Martineau tr. Goldziher Mythol. Hebrews iv. 83 This trait of glorification of the old-fashioned Beduin-life, to the disparagement of the free urbanity of the townsmen.
1898 F. W. Maitland Township & Borough 13 A difference between..urbanity and rusticity.
1963 J. Morris Road to Huddersfield i. 15 The desire for weekend cottages comes late in a society's lurching progress toward utter urbanity.
2002 N. Bullock Building Post-war World vi. 135/2 His central charge was the failure to create the urbanitynecessary to the idea of a town.
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This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

• Entry history
• Entry profile
• 
  
• Previous version:
  OED2 (1989)

In other dictionaries:​

• urbā̆nitīe, n. in Middle English Dictionary

 

[gtmet]

February 2022 Challenge Result: Theme: Urbanity


In short, the winner is @FrothNinja 's dystopian vision of urban badlands, cyclists dismounting in trepidation as the walls close in.

Suggested title:

"Steve,... ...I've got a feeling we're not in Ra'mell anymore."​

At length, elegance never really got into the running, my dreams of elegant carbon fibre frames posed in front of Georgian and Palladian architecture, perhaps some 'rus in urbe', lie trampled in the dust. Probably what you get by setting an urban theme for a rural people like the Anglo-Saxons, who plainly just do not like towns.

@Oldhippy led off with ambivalent views of attempts to soften urban life with painted facades on play areas. regimented holidays, and of course - cycling banned in quaint old shopping streets. @biggs682 picked up the same feeling of overcrowding, even in recreation, as did @PeteXXX with the close trimmed grass on the municipal rec standing in for countryside. The nightmare continued with @Dave 123 's Animal Farm analogy for human housing, and @yo vanilla was driven to disturbing visions.

@All uphill brings us modern urban utilitarianism and modern decay with just the fountain to hint at an elegant past.

A special mention to Mini T for smiling in Stevenage, perhaps it is the thought of the train out of Stevenage, and his father @Tribansman gets a special mention for effort for scouring the whole Great North Road in search of elegance. An elegant facade but no way in. @Dave 123 has certainly found a pretty seaside urb, but it seems a long way off. (And a bit of attention to the horizontal next time young man!)

Some very elegant buildings from @PeteXXX get closer to what I had in mind, obviously Northampton is worth including in a cultured cyclist's tour of England, but the bike does look as if it is awaiting covering fire before making a dash across the street. Must be the times we live in. Not so elegant but definitely urban is @FrothNinja 's final entry, but again a view from outside, and a slightly cynical one, 'Ye Olde Pubbe' where alcohol softens the life of workers in the fortress-like mill dominating the place. And it looks as though you leave your bicycle outside the town.

So in the final face off between elegance and dystopia it was Northampton Cultural Quarter vs. Liverpool Canal Badlands, and the dystopian majority view gives the win to @FrothNinja , for a well composed picture, radiating unease, with the bicycles an essential part and plenty to keep the eye moving.

OVER TO YOU @FrothNinja .​

 

[FrothNinja]

March's theme is:
HOPE

I've had a think and this what I thunk, and apologies to those who think my thunk is a bit cheesy (coz it is ).
Given that Lent is starting, the plague is lessening, and the world is getting a bit silly, the pics should represent Hope.
It doesn't have to be some great world hope, just something that helps you look forward to a new day or ride or whatever.
Give a little explanation to clarify the import of the image if it's not immediately apparent, an indication of the hope it holds mayhap.

ps - I hope I haven't posted an unworkable theme.​

 

[FrothNinja]

Is it always so tricky deciding a winner?
In Hope I hoped that I hadn't proposed an unworkable theme, and hope was fulfilled - we had loads of entries.
PeteXXX managed to slip in a last minute one that made me smile and Dave 123 cracked off with a pic of his wedding bench.
There were photos of hope for builds and returning bikes to the road, geographical hopes, fishy hopes, social hopes, hopes for Spring a springing, hope for good weather (wet and dry), economic hope, Hope for hubs, hope for leisure and entertainment, hope for family, film themed hope, things called Hope, hopes for others, and hopes for the future. Quite the cornucopia of hope.
gtmet countered with 'abandon all hope, ye who enter' attached to a pic of a track that looked like it would be fun to me.
I shortlisted Oldhippy's gates because they were revealed by his search for hope, Dave 123's bench not only for his stated hope but also for the hopes of two lives implicit in any true marriage, PeteXXX's Hope Centre for obvious reasons, Oldhippy again for his Margate shelter, Tribansman's shadow hopes for his son & sun, yo vanilla's urban mural of faith in the next generation, and PeteXXX's sad forlorn hope for the forsaking of war.
There wasn't much to pic() between them but the final two were Tribansman's shadow hopes and yo vanilla's hope mural - which also neatly continued the previous month's theme.
In the end this was the winner:

Suggested title - Sons in the Sun
Tribansman's photo combines the hope for the future inherent in many of the entries with a more immediate hope for opportunities to get out on our bikes to enjoy and share our binding passion. I also like the way that the relationship between parent and child is central with no distractions. Yet the speed blur also gives the impression of time flying, and the shadow of the pole behind them suggests the past, a line crossed as they move toward the future with hope. There is beauty in the hope captured in a transient moment.
All the photos have shown that Hope is in the eye of the beholder, even when the beholder hasn't initially seen it.
Congratulations to Tribansman and his son/sun, I pass the bidon to them for April. I Hope it goes well...

 

[Tribansman]

Thank you @FrothNinja (and others), was a great theme with a real range of strong entries, love your judging commentary. You uncannily got the intention behind my photo, lovely caption too. And you made Mini T's day yesterday

I thought long and hard about this month's theme. I really liked Mrs T's suggestion of Re-fuelling but that prompted me to think of something that could encompass that but also reflects what the last few months and last couple of years have required, and also my love of long days in the saddle and getting out in all weathers.

So, April's challenge is... Endurance