First Magazine Cover

I found out about this a few weeks ago and it came as quite a surprise. Today I got to see what the cover looks like and it was still a huge surprise even though I knew it was coming. So without further ado here's what it looks like. This photo is from the Pedal Magazine Facebook page.

On newsstands soon, the latest issue of PEDAL

The cover photo they used is one I took in September 2012 at the GPCQM Worldtour race in Quebec, one of the last professional races for Michael Barry. At the time the focus was on his upcoming retirement so I made a point of getting some good photos of him as well as doing an interview about his retirement. Then USADA shook the world of cycling apart and Michael was the prominent Canadian in their revelation (that was October). Much media attention, the "Lance story" got huge focus and all the major media outlets wanted people to talk. Pro cyclists including Michael were busy for a while, pundits expressed opinions and interviews were happening all over the place with lots of noise and static. It took a while for the real facts to emerge.

In November I followed up with an in-depth interview with Michael for the issue, talking with him by Skype over a couple of days and then working on the article with a tight deadline. This led to me submitting a number of photos for Pedal to use along with the piece but there was never any discussion about the cover. Until I got a phone call asking for me to check and revise my bio. They would be running it in the Contributors section as my article, a number of my photos and my shot on the cover would all be featured. Quite a rush!

It was no a small feat getting there though. The interview almost didn't happen in time; I have Michael to thank for both making the time and for being so candid and open in our extended conversation. Then there was the matter of getting it crafted into a meaningful piece under 3,000 words (much longer than any I'd done before). My first draft was meandering and not up to my standards. Andrea put her editorial hat on and used a lot of red ink on it, making some great (and challenging) suggestions on directions I could take with it to make it much better. I tossed out the first draft and started over with her good ideas alongside the story I was imagining in my mind.

The piece went in about a week after I started trying to get time with Michael, 2,750 words when I was done and featured on the cover as "Michael Barry Confesses" (not my title). If you read it I'd be interested in hearing what you think. I enjoy writing, it doesn't come as naturally as photography though so don't be too hard on me : - )

My contribution: I expect there will be about 4 pages for the piece I wrote, around 8 photos, the bio, and the cover. I guess I should keep a copy of this issue?

A very nice Christmas present to receive...

Deeply saddened

Anyone with access to any form of news, anywhere in the world, has heard about Newtown, Connecticut. And we will all continue to hear about it. Until something else really messed up happens.

From the New York Times talking out how people are reacting to the thought of "Holiday Joy" now, through the list of names as they were announced, to a mother talking about how damn hard it is to deal with a mentally ill child since all the supporting institutions across the U.S. have closed (published on gawker.com and other sites) the range of questions and discussion and opinions are all over the map.  Literally everywhere.

Here's mine:
Let the enormity of this tragedy sink in a little more. And then
DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

Pick any of the threads that you feel most passionate about and get engaged. Write to politicians, get organized with others interested in the same thread, and act on it. I have to believe that some good might be possible, that some action or actions might save the lives of other children. Can't just sit and do nothing though.

When I first began to form an opinion I thought I was with Liza Long. We need to help people who are trying to look after unstable and mentally ill people just as much as anything else (like gun controls). As the enormity of this tragedy really begins to take shape I'm not confident about even that (here I am blogging about another blogger writing about someone else's blog).

I am still of the opinion that addressing mental health is as important as any other aspect of this unfolding tale though and I struggle with how all the attention and focus might miss the real insights.

And I'm still prepared to let it all sink in a little more and then do something.

I'd rather write upbeat entries. And I will. Just not today.

A month between posts!

Even when I was on the road busy travelling, covering events and in the midst of this next chapter I didn't go a month between entries here on my blog. And now that the racing season has wound down here I would think I'd have more time.

I'm going to put it down to having written a lot lately, just not here. In particular I've been doing interviews. The most recent one was with Gerard Vroomen, one of the co-founders of Cervelo, about his new bike company OPEN. Here's the video interview I published earlier in the week.

And I'll add a few photos from the event as well. Some of these were published on PedalMag.com.


The other major interview is one that I worked on for a while and it took place via Skype over a couple of days. That will be published in the next issue of Pedal and should be about 4 pages including photos. It was actually a challenge to trim the piece down to fit, I had enough material to do about twice as long. And in fact I had to prune it from over 4000 words to 2750. That was the hardest part. That plus getting rid of my classic comma splice syndrome.

The ultralight OPEN 29er O-1.0

Gerard Vroomen being playful