No Justice, No Peace

DC to Pitt by Bicycle

For a number of years we have been going on a bike tour around 4th of July. This year we decided to take on the C&O Trail and the GAP Trail. The C&O runs from DC to Cumberland where it changes over to the GAP Trail to Pittsburg. We spent a night in Pitt then took the early morning train to DC where we spent the night hanging out with a friend and checking out the city before hitting the trail in the morning. We were not trying to rush the trip - we wanted to enjoy the ride. We did spend three days riding the C&O and only two riding the GAP as we wanted to spend a little more time along the canal history.

1996 Team Marin

My friends and I are planning for an adventure(more on that soon) and I decided to build a new bike for it. "New" in quotes because it is actually a frame and for from 1996 - a California built, steel, Marin. The rest of the build is a mix of new and old - Shimano 9 speed groupset, Velo Orange cranks, stem and bars, Wald basket etc. There will be a lot more about this bike over on the YouTube Channel but I had to take a few images of it here in the studio.

Swift Campout

I own a number of US-made bike bags by Swift Industries and every year around the solstice they encourage people to get out for a bike-packing over-nighter. This year they had a photo contest to go along with it. Five of us set out to camp in Garrettsville but two decided to turn back. I took a ton of photos and strung them together to make a video - here are a couple of them and the video version will be linked at the bottom.

Arts Awards

My buddy Albert who owns Akron Coffee Roasters was being honored for his patronage of the arts in Summit County. I wasn't working this event and didn't want to get in the way but still did capture a few photos. It was a huge bonus to find out my highschool photography teacher was also being honored! Hadn't seen him since he turned me on to photography all those years ago.

Go Skate Day

 

Go Skate Day is on the Summer Solstice. It started in 2004 and the idea was to get more people out riding and lots of skate shops now host events. A few friends of mine had their own DIY version at the RailYard in Akron. I stopped by to hang out and drink a few beers.

June Things

Here is a little mix of images from the first couple weeks in June. This first shot is from the valley ball courts near downtown Akron while being used by Summit Sports & Social.

Light on The Land

I had a gig in Cleveland at the Great Lakes Science Center - there was some perfect light on the city from there so I had to snap a few photos. After the gig there was a perfect magic hour followed by a pretty sunset. I hung around, got some dinner at the newish BrewDog and took more photos.

Bike Packing Shake Down

A few snaps from an over-night bike trip we did down the Simon-Kenton Trail. Cyclotherapy in Springfield, OH had booked a group campsite and it was fun to meet new and old friends there at John Bryan State Park. I didn't take a ton of still photos but did make a video which is linked at the bottom of this post.

The Market

Erin and I made our first trip of the year to the Countryside Farmer's Market in the Cuyahoga Valley yesterday. Here are a few photos that I snapped.

Jake's Rocks

A few friend invited us out to Jake's Rocks for the weekend. It is a primitive camping and mountain biking park in the Allegheny National Forest. It sits up on a mountain at a bend in the river and had some amazing overlooks. We did a lot of riding and also experienced every kind of spring weather there is. Waking up one morning with snow covering our tents. The riding and camping were still great but I definitely want to come back and ride in the summer.

Light at the Museum

I had an event to shoot on Thursday evening at the Akron Art Museum. All day had been pretty dreary but the sun popped out not long before it set and I had to take a moment to capture the light shining through the museum.

Party Size Cycling

A friend in New Jersey sells some cool cycling swag under the name "Party Size Cycling". When I got my latest order I decided to take some selfies in the studio to help promote it. Fun stuff.

Working in Charlotte

Babcox Media in Fairlwan invited me back to help film the second season of Auto Pros on the Road. Last year we filmed in Louisville and this year we headed down to Charlotte. We had a bigger crew this time as well - three cameras, a sound guy and the two hosts. I shot video with my Canon R5 but also took some behind the scenes stills. In the week we were there we shot hours and hours of footage and I shot over 800 photos. Here is a selection of my favorites from the on location shots to some exploring the area. I also did a little bit of exploring on my own.

Dinner PARTY

After my shoot at Akronym(last post) I rode over to my friend Ryan's in another part of Downtown Akron. Ryan and his girlfriends Ping were hosting a seafood dinner party that they had planned with Erin. The food and company were awesome and after some natural wines it turned into a full on dance party. It was great to be back to fun like this.

Big Brews in Akron

On Saturday afternoon I photographed the Barrel-Aged beer fest at Akronym Brewing. A number of breweries were there pouring their high octane brews. These strong craft beers were also paired with tasty little cakes. It was my kind of photo gig - here is a selection of a few of my favorite photos.

January Things

Here is a little photo dump of some January photos that I hadn't shared yet. Most were taken while out filming YouTube videos. I can't remember a month like that - 3 big winter storms in a row. It has been pretty but I'm also ready for Spring!

Tallahassee, FL

A friend of mine gave me a call a week ago Tuesday and asked what I was doing over the weekend. My schedule was fairly free. He said there was a gig he got asked to do on that Friday but he already had a shoot ....but it was in Tallahassee, Florida! Thursday afternoon I found myself on my way to FL. The video shoot took up the first half of Friday and then I was free(besides checking in on my files uploading). Late Friday afternoon I grabbed a rental bike(Giant Revolt) and explored the city a bit and grabbing some food and beers. I was super surprised to find out the capitol city is actually quite hilly - especially compared to the rest of Florida. Saturday morning I was up early and off on a rail trail to St. Marks. I ended up also hitting some gravel/dirt & mountain biking trails. It was nearly record breaking cold(32F when I left) but it was still nice to be somewhere without 2 feet of snow on the ground). The bike had to be back at the shop at 4:30 so the rest of the trip was on foot or in a Lyft and I flew out Sunday at 3:30. It was a great little get-a-way all in all and the job more than covered it.