I resisted blogging for a long time, but finally succumbed to madness. There are things to say even if no one is listening. Fast Eddy's excellent blog "Flandria Cafe" inspired me to share my modest life in this great sport of cycling. I first met Eddy when he worked in NE Bikes, the unofficial base of CCB where we used to come to tell lies and get abused by the owner. Come to think of it, cycling, skiing and photography are my really lifelong passions, with other hobbies/fun things like windsurfing and scuba diving sandwiched in between. As long as I remember myself I was on the bike and my first camera Lubitel (Amateur)was given to me at the age of about 10. Apparently it still exists. The trouble was at that time my mother had no money for film.
Growing up in the 50s in Russia, owning a bike was just like owning a helicopter in US today. Very few had their own bike. The bike was just way too expensive for my mother to buy. So I borrowed bikes from the lucky owners.
When my mother finally saved enough to buy that fat tire, cowhorn handlebar 35 pound bike, she was just as happy as I was. Little did she know what kind of trouble she got herself into. From then on she was constantly worried about her son riding 40-60 km rides with no way of knowing if he is still alive while sharing narrow Russian roads with trucks and buses.
Cycling and photography came together eventually, when I scaled my cycling down and started taking pictures of other people racing bikes.
No comments:
Post a Comment