Today I celebrate the first birthday of this humble wee blog. Started a year ago as a visual scrapbook for me to collect and share everything i found cool in the world of cycling, Iv seen it grow, both in readership and in the range of content that gets posted. Iv enjoyed the journey of meeting many like minded others and sharing in our love for all things pro cycling, bargainous schwag and stylish attire. I would like to take this opportunity to thank some of the people who have supported the bianchista blog in many ways, Laura at Rapha, Claire from I Get Cross, Blogging guru Brian from the WMP, my boys in the skids CC, Mr S and many many more! Its been a brilliant year (not so much for my actual cycling thanks to the ever-continuing disc issue) and I hope that I can continue to bring you bits and bobs of interest for another year. So thank you all for reading....
Bianchista towers was very kindly delivered the latest installment in the Rapha Racing album collection, the companies musical compilations cataloging each epic grand tour and providing the tunes to take you to on a journey to the heart of ther race. This cd is entitled 'The Vuelta' and obviously has a very spanish theme. The album coincides with the 75th anniversary of the end of year Grand Tour. The albums are compiled by Simon Rose ofPitch & Sync, and Simon can be found online on his twitter. Obviously readers will know i waxed lyrical about the 'Giro' CD, so this one has a lot to live up to.
Like the last album, theres a great blend of traditional old style, with classic Catalan guitar tracks, to some Indo-European slow burning disco beats.With a distinctly Spanish flavour the high energy tracks are interspersed with extracts from extracts from the'Viva La Vuelta!' book, with the extracts providing a nice narritive anchor. The tracks serve to provide listeners with a taste of the heat and passion of the race, in no less than 13 underground musical gems.
As with the last record, the packaging will feature a deluxe inlay with all the main protagonists photographed from past and present. The CD will be priced at £12 and available at Rapha. I believe a digital edition will also be avaiulable for download, presumably from Itunes.
Rapha & RSA have collaborated on three filmic ventures to celebrate the three stories behind their club jerseys. The three films, based on Sean Kelly, Dario Pegoretti and Johan Museeuw offer an intense aesthetic explored in three very different ways. Filmmakers Ben Ingham, Nick Livesey and Adrian Moat have created unique films, of which the trailers and information regarding screenings are available to view below. The films will be released online in full HD glory on three different dates, and can only be viewed by logging into the rapha website on the designated screening date, the temporary nature of the films serving to enhance the viewing experience. (All screening times in GMT)
A Throw Of The Dice - Nick Livesey Screening > Fri 13th Aug 1pm - Sat 14th Aug 9am
This year Getty Images have assigned an award winning photo journalist Spencer Plattto shoot the tour alongside veteran cycling snapper Bryn Lennon. Spencers recent assignemtns include a US Military embed in Afghanistan, shooting in Lebanon, Iraq and the Congo. Upon hearing Spencer was heading to the tour I was excited to see what kind of imagery would be captured, as his frames would be shot through the eye of a photojournalist, not a sports photographer. Below is just a taster of some of his material pulled from the Getty archive.
Over at the brilliant CyclingTips blog, you are invited to post up questions to ask the infamous Alejandro Valverde, and the top 15 will be used in an interview on CyclingTribe.... head there now and ask the man himself anything you want....
Kitsune Noir website has some great wallpapers available for download, particularly digging the bike chain designs... Check out the collection HERE. Thanks to my main Skid Marx CC homie and overall uber housemate James for the link.
Bianchista stumbled across Cheryl King's work recently, and wanted to share some a little insight into the very talented UK based photographer. Im really looking forward to seeing more of Cheryl's work, and hopefully watch Bianchista for some coverage of the 2010 Smithfield Nocturne direct from Cheryl.
B - How long have you been shooting cycling? and why do you shoot cycling?
CK - I have been shooting cycling for a couple of years now. I used to race XC back in the mid 1990's and have kept involved in the sport ever since. It was a natural progression to combine my photography with cycling.
B - Do you cycle? if so what bike, what kind of riding?
CK - Sure I ride! Like any keen cyclist I have a collection of bikes. The most used are my Specialized Sworks Enduro MTB and my Specialized S-works Road Bike. I couldn't choose between mountain biking or road riding, though if it's raining I prefer mountain biking.
B - What was your favourite moment shooting cycling?
CK - It's all great. Whether its MTB, Road or Cross, what stays the same is the friendliness of the people involved and the beauty of the sport.
B - What is your favourite picture of your back catalogue and why?
CK - The above photo of Dan Craven of Rapha Condor Sharp at this years Ryedale GP.
It was a really hard race, it rained all day and lots of riders abandoned. Those that finished, Dan included, crossed the line soaking wet. Though it is always difficult photographing in those conditions the results are worth it.
If you are seeking editorial or creative coverage of cycling, Cheryl can be emailed direct at cherylking06@aol.com. Check out cheryls full porfolio of work here.
Being out at the World Cup, I find myself wasting time inbetween matches scouring the net for cool articles... I found the following over at Dazed Digitalabout Nike's initiatives in Soweto, a township close to Johannesburg. A good read....