pdxcross

You could smell just a hint of spring in the air as the group gathered at the base of Linnton Trail in Forest Park, just off Hwy 30. One bike after another carried trail maintenance volunteers to the small parking area, where Forest Park Conservancy folks had a tent set up to greet anyone who showed up to improve the park we all love. At the urging of Erik Tonkin, a whole mess of S&M cyclists, as well as other cyclists, recently joined the Conservancy as a way to help improve the trails and to build a constructive conversation about the ways we can use and conserve Forest Park. In a world that focuses on friction and disagreement, it was nice to spend a day digging in, pulling ivy, chatting with new friends in fresh air, and feeling like we were earning the beer and food at the Lucky Lab at the gathering in the afternoon. Oh, and riding a bike to the trailhead felt great, but that’s a given, isn’t it? Hats off to Erik, to the Conservancy, and to those who came out to put in a little honest work with hands and tools in the Park.

Happy New Year Cross-istas!

Thank you to everyone who visited pdxcross.com this past year and supported us. Like we said in Dirty Pictures, when we started this site, we didn’t know if anyone but our immediate family would see it. We didn’t even know if any of them would care to see it more than once. Thank you, also, you to all of you who raced this year. We love to see what you do, how you do it, and we had a blast riding with you (some of you, that is. We’re not fast enough to ride with all of you).

As 2009 rolls around we plan to figure out what the hell we’re doing. It’ll be something. We hope it’s cool both for us and for you. Beyond that, we’re still scratching our heads a bit. Ahh, clarity!  In the off-season, we have some photography projects to pursue which we will publish here on occasion. We might show up at one of those “other” races with our bikes and cameras in hand — but certainly not as often as we did during cyclocross season — we have other jobs and families and television shows (CHiPs is on DVD now) to tend. So check in every once and awhile…something might be here. And, please keep in touch. If you have thoughts about cyclocross, photography, philosophy, or anything else you need to get off your chest, send ‘em on in. We’ll probably respond.

We wish you all the best for 2009! See you out there on two wheels. Be careful. Have fun.

We knew we liked the tone of the evening as soon as we saw that for several blocks in any direction from Roots Brewery on Wednesday night, finding a parking space for our bikes was going to be harder than finding parking for a car. Every signpost clung to a maximum number of bikes by u-locks, cables, chains, and handcuffs. It was enough to make a bike thief cry and a bondage junkie smile.

In any case, the scene outside was just a preview. Inside Roots Brewery milled a crowd of folks who just love all things bike. Sweet. We had our table off in a corner, next to a bike with a hammered-copper fender. On our table we had a bunch of postcards, one hard-cover and one soft-cover copy of Dirty Pictures, our book from the 2008 Portland cross season. We had beer (Chocolate Habanero Stout!), a great time chatting, and an educational moment or two.

Here’s what we learned: the only thing more fun than making pictures is watching people look at the pictures you’ve made. We enjoyed seeing people point at something and laugh, or smile, or say “Hey, that’s me coming out of the port-a-potty with a six-pack on my head.”  Double sweet. So thanks if you stopped by to say hello. Hope you liked paging through Dirty Pictures. And keep in touch.

For some more photos of folks checking out the book, visit Coco Ink.

Hi all. We are very excited to announced that Dirty Pictures is ready! All you have to do is click on the picture below and it will walk you through the process.

All the printing, shipping and payment is handled by Blurb, the printer of the book. If you want to get it by Christmas their website says to order by the 9th for ground shipping or the 15th for FedEx.

We apologize but we did have to raise the price by 5 dollars. The extra money goes to pay for better paper and what’s called a custom workflow to ensure quality. We tested the books without those options and it really made a difference. So, we feel that the money is worth it.

To see photos of the book, visit Cococello design.

Thank you to each and everyone of you who contributed your thoughts and support to us during the season. It was an absolute blast!

We hope you enjoy the book. If you have questions, please feel free to write pdxcross@gmail.com

Dirty Pictures

Volume One

By pdxcross

Book Preview