Not Actually About K Walls

photo credit

Indeed, for the most part this blog is about bikes, or maybe it's more about pictures of bikes. In fact allot of the time it is, just pictures of bikes. It is other things too, I occasionally write about what's on my mind & I like to mix the random photos. Sometimes people even ask questions, fellow blogger Libertyonbikes! wanted to know what kind of camera I'm using.

Well the answer isn't terribly exciting. It's just a Nikon coolpix s600. Just a basic hand held point and shoot camera, nothing special really. I just know what to do with it. But these days the camera is really just half of it. Always bear in mind, I'm a graphic designer and I have access to professional level photo processing software. So if your thinking, "I've got that camera (or one just like it) and my photos don't look like that" you probably don't have or know how to use AdobePhotoshop, Lightroom, or Bridge (or one of the cheaper clones, ie: Aperture) . I should also point out, that even with the best camera, you still really need photo processing software to get a good picture like 90% of the time.


All the wonderful looking digital pictures you see, and are accustomed to, are made possible by Photoshop. Almost every photo can be improved from its RAW sate, and if you've haven't got the software for that its a pretty serious handy cap. It's not impossible to get good shots without it, just more difficult. It's like trying to hang in a race training ride on an old 10 speed. Sure if you've got the skill you could do it, but you be a hell of allot faster if you were at least ridding on a bike with brifters.
Moving on, I would like to bring to your attention this rather unconventional ride. You could say that by this blogs standards, this is a sensibly equipped bike. But it's really just not enough bling for me, the wheels are pretty mediocre & that triple crank has really got to go. Put a double with cylocross gearing, you will never need that small chainring on this bike.
But those obvious short comings aside, its actually a pretty solid bike. The Ultragra shifters, XT derailleurs, and Avid mechanical disc brakes are a good complement to the scandium (correction 6061 double butted aluminum frame). This bike is actually much lighter than it looks. I didn't get it on the scale but I would say its easily under 20 pounds. With wheelset and crank improvements this could be one very sick ride, but I suposed the current build is very well suited towards commuting.
Finishing up, I would like to bring to your attention this photo for consideration. This newly minted prime beach front real estate in Huntington beach, is empty. With no real promising prospects for tenants. The market in the area was completely over saturated with surf shops before planing even began for these stucko pop-out instant retail centers. As the builders peel off the last of the painters tape, I wonder how the investors (are they still really investors if there only loosing money?) plan to deal with this inevitable source of crushing debt. All of this is made even more interesting by watching this video where Jim Kunstler expounds on the pitfalls of the modern American suburban living arrangement.