DUNGENESS

I last went to Dungeness in 2007, and I haven't really looked at these photos since. I put some on the blog back then, but only a handful, so it was nice to rediscover them this week. I put a load more up on Flickr, have a look by clicking the image.
It's a uniquely weird, creepy and otherworldly place that really doesn't feel like the Kent/Sussex you know from elsewhere.
Go there, take a camera and don't get too freaked out — I'd highly recommend it.

Bike testing

After a very busy few weeks, my diary is clear and I've been able to ride some bikes on trails I know. Like this in Swinley. I'm testing two hardtails from Boardman and Genesis this month — it's not as easy as I thought it would be. I'm riding the Boardman here, Ed from the Future Tense is filming.

Trek Remedy 2012 - testing in Austria

This is what I've been up to this week. I know — I missed Crystal Palace for this, I was gutted (joke).

I did an article about the bike which is on the MBR website. Go have a look.

Wireless

Foals @ Wireless, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

Foals and Pulp stole the show. Saw Metronomy (good) but Missed TV on the Radio and Cut Copy. Next time...

CrossJunkie — Portrait for Cycling Active

CrossJunkie, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman. 

It's not often I get to shoot portraits, so when the opportunity came along to shoot Alan Dorrignton for a Cycling Active Magazine interview, I jumped at the chance. Alan is a huge cyclocross fan/racer/collector/enthusiast, and increasingly well known and respected internationally for his blog crossjunkie.blogspot.com/. To show that, we shot this portrait in his basement, where he stores his huge collection of wheels and tyres. We'd just got back from riding the Ronde Van Oost Lancashire, the Classics inspired ride Alan organised, thus the cycling clothing. It also meant we were pushed for time — Alan's wife was preparing lunch so we only had a couple of minutes to grab the shot.
Here's the end result http://yfrog.com/h2r6nnuj 

French National RR Champs 2011

Chavanel — too fast, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

I had a great weekend. Friday night I went to the theatre to see Gogol's The Government Inspector at the Young Vic, which was absolutely brilliant — HIGHLY reccomended.
On Saturday I raced my bike at Hillingdon, attacking the bunch with three laps to go to take 6th place. Not brilliant, but above expectations given the jetlag I've had since being in California this past week.
Then on Sunday — yesterday — I took a day trip to France to watch the French National RR Championships, a comission for Cycle Sport magazine. Sweet deal eh?!
The race was only in Boulogne, half an hour from the Eurotunnel terminal at Calais.
The race was a spectator's dream, covering 14 laps of a 13km circuit around the town. The sunshine only helped matters (and got me very sunburnt).
Sylvain Chavanel was head and shoulders above the rest, riding super aggressively in the final 50km to catch and pass about four groups on the road, before finally going solo for the last lap for the victory. What a guy, and what teeth! Chapeau!
More pics will be appearing in Cycle Sport in due course — keep your eyes peeled for that (probably in the winter apparently).

Paris for Condor

This was actually the first video I made for Condor, but it's only just gone public now. It shows the making of the Paris frame, together with its intricate bilaminate work around the headtube. These layers of steel look like lugs but aren't.
The frames are made in tiny quantities in Italy, which is where this was shot.