Aye, Corona

What a time to be alive. There is no time to punctuate thoughts. Information flows through without stopping to latch itself to anything resembling an opinion.

We are not good at doing nothing. It defies all expectations we have of each other and of ourselves. Late stage capitalism demands hustle, and the devil in our deep-seated Lutheran work ethic niggles at us until we get up and do something. Anything. Now. But this is a time when inaction is the only acceptable action.

Sit tight.

The news from Italy is disturbing. I listened to the Talking Politics podcast where a respected political commentator described being stopped by police for taking a stroll with her partner in the woods. She was threatened with a fine. Is there any scientific evidence that walking in the woods is a likely means of transmission? At the same time people are going to work in enclosed factories to create non-essential items. This seems upside down.

The Italian PM , Giuseppe Conte now has a 70 per cent approval rating.

Some version of a lockdown has finally arrived in the UK. We can go out to exercise once per day, non-essential shops are closed and we’re being asked to do grocery shopping as rarely as possible. We are asked to work from home if possible, and interact with no one outside of our own household.

As a runner, this is an interesting time. It’s making me realize how at odds we are with the communities we live and work within. When the authorities say ‘stay home’ they’re working on the assumption that leaving the house invariably leads to social interaction.

That’s not the way runners live their lives. We leave the house alone, begrudge stopping for anything, and limit social interaction to a curt nod, or a lifted finger as means of acknowledgment.

We have perfected the art of being alone, together.

Life under UK lockdown reflects my life pre-Corona pretty accurately. Get up, take kids to school, work from home, run solo, work from home, buy groceries, collect kids, spend the evening at home as a family. I never knew I was missing out on essential freedoms until the government told me my freedom was being sacrificed for the greater good.

The big difference is that I have the youngest with me now - the 3yr-old gets to go to pre-school as Laura is considered a key worker. He’s nearly 14 months old, not quite walking, but silly and adventurous all the same. It’s been nice to spend some time together with him, just the two of us. As a father, when your second child comes along they are naturally tied to their mother at first, so you find yourself spending more time with the eldest child. With their needs being so different, it’s not easy to break that routine, and natural division of labour becomes the norm. This disaster has given us the opportunity to bond in a way we never normally would.

I quit drinking at the end of 2019 and I’m so glad that I broke the habit in advance of a pandemic. I can imagine that if alcohol was still on my radar I would find it all too easy to justify drinking every night. If you’re interested in quitting drinking, Allen Carr’s Easy Way book helped me put it in perspective.

Speaking of alcohol, there’s a letter doing the rounds purporting to be from F Scott Fitzgerald on the outbreak of Spanish Flu. The author makes a gag that Hemingway has dismissed it as just flu. That was the giveaway for me. Having worked in a field hospital, Hemingway wouldn’t have been so flippant, surely?

Spanish Flu became known as such because Spain, which was neutral in WW1, was one of the only countries reporting properly on the pandemic - the partisan press in the UK, Germany and France was still censored under so covered up the deaths. The comparisons to Trump and his ‘Chinese virus’ are obvious, but even here in the UK, where testing is non-existent unless you end up in hospital, there’s a very real comparison. How can you know how widespread an illness is if you don’t test for it?

The sooner we have a cheap antibody test the better.

I was listening to a Radio 4 show on existentialism and cinema on Saturday night and it got me thinking about Dada, the deeply political, absurdist art movement that came about at roughly the same time as the Spanish Flu. In fact, Guillaume Apollinaire, the mentor to Andre Breton, one of the founding members of the group, died of the disease in 1918. Breton was a writer, poet and anti-fascist, and the group he was part of was staunchly anti-war, radically left wing, and anti bourgeois. What movements will this pandemic inspire? In the UK, the suffering of WW2 led directly to the Attlee government, social welfare and the NHS that we enjoy today. Will Covid-19 lead to a new era of as-yet-unimagined creativity and greater funding for socially just causes? Even from the confines of our homes, you can feel the mood changing - America is gradually beginning to demand healthcare as a human right and here in the UK, it’s beginning to be understood that you can’t pare services back to a minimum and expect them to be world leading in times of crisis.

Change is coming.

Now more than ever running is a privilege. Strava recently conducted a survey on why we run and I was asked to contribute. This current situation reminded me of one of the questions and my answer:

Sometimes running sucks – but we love it anyway. Can you tell me about a time when your relationship with running felt especially strained and how you managed to get back in the groove?

Honestly, I don't think I've ever felt like that. To me, running is a privilege. Not everyone has the capability or the time to do what I do - even if that's only a few miles at 9pm on a Saturday night when the boys have gone to bed, I can't help but feel grateful that my wife is happy to stay at home with them while I do something for me, or that I'm a middle class white man and I feel safe to go out running after dark, or that I'm nearly 40 and - touch wood - my body is still able to do this. The older I get, the more I recognise that I'm extraordinarily fortunate to be able to do this.

A month later, I feel even more fortunate.

I hope you’re able to feel so fortunate too.

New home

Hi, thanks for stopping by. You'll be able to find more up-to-date stuff from me on my new site andywaterman.info and my new portrait and interview project london-athletic.com.

Loughton Veterans Cross Country

I just bought a new camera, a Fuji X-Pro1. It's lovely, it really is, so I wanted to get out and shoot something this weekend. I've been running a lot recently too, and in researching running clubs, I discovered that there was an inter-club XC race taking place in Loughton.

Those were all the details I could find though - a time and a nearest tube station. After a bit of digging I discovered last year's race had been held in Roding Valley Meadows, which I googled and got a vague reference to a nature reserve. I rode my bike there in the hope that 60-odd runners would be pretty obvious.



After twenty minutes of riding around, I eventually discovered the race, albeit, the final half.

I got chatting briefly to one of the marshals who told me they don't need to say where it is because everyone who needs to know, knows. He wasn't being an arse, just stating a fact. It made me think how good cycling is nowadays, with one online events calendar (that I use at least, as I'm not bothered about TT's) that tells you exactly what's going on, when and where. When I first started road racing back in the mid-nineties, it was still in the predicament running is in now.

And for all that, I really fancy giving competitive running a go again. And I think the first thing to do will be to join a club so I can find out exactly what's going on.

Thatcherism and "getting on your bike"

Another day, another columnist taking a pop at cyclists. This time it’s Rod Liddle in the Spectator; in the recent past it’s been Matthew Parris in the Times, Melanie Phillips and James Martin in the Mail and Harry Wallop in the Telegraph. There are more of course – regional papers have noticed the cycling lobby’s speed and agility when it comes to jumping on any bandwagon of outrage and they’ve begun producing inflammatory columns of their own, rarely well-written or passably sincere, but profitable linkbait nonetheless. Clicks, comments and shares are the currency of the modern media, and a column condemning cyclists a kind of quantitative easing. Need a quick fix for flagging page impressions? Knock out an anti-cycling rant.

One noticeable trend in all this is that the criticism comes universally from the right – it’s rare to see cyclists criticised in this way in the Guardian, the New Statesman or the Independent.

So how did cycling become a political issue, and particularly one of right against left?

I ask this because, as a child of the eighties, I see a direct correlation between cycling and Thatcherism. For example, Thatcher was quoted as saying:

“A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure.”

I couldn’t agree more – bus travel is horrible. As an able bodied young man I’d far prefer to be on my bike, in charge of my own destiny, not reliant on handouts from the state (because although I’ll use roads, paid for out of taxation, on a bike I can travel over virtually any surface. If Upper Street in Islington suddenly returned to dense forest, I’d enjoy the singletrack – I can’t see taxi drivers being so happy) and progressing towards my destination unhindered by bureaucracy, like traffic jams caused by poorly timed traffic lights. Because let’s face it, traffic lights are a purely bureaucratic invention to stop car drivers killing each other and other road users.

The argument made by the right is that cyclists are stuck up hypocrites, too poor to drive, too lazy to walk and too stupid to realise that they’re not actually saving the world.

“They think that they are different. No — you’re not. You just can’t afford a car or are deluded about the impact cycling a few miles makes to the environment. And you can’t be bothered to walk.”
Rod Liddle, the Spectator

Can’t afford a car? False – I even pay road tax and insurance, I just can’t afford to park the bloody thing. Or find the time it takes to get anywhere through London’s revolting traffic. Deluded about the environment? Far from it! I own enough bikes made overseas to recognise that any saving in CO2 emissions made by my cycling over driving, has probably been negated by the shipping and manufacturing process of all those bikes and components. Can’t be bothered to walk? Well, you’ve got me there. Time is money, Rod – we can’t all get by on the income accrued from a 500 word weekly column.

To be a cyclist is to associate yourself with a libertarian ideal, one of individual freedom, and personal responsibility (contrary to the columnist’s schtick, most cyclists don’t take crazy risks on their bikes because crashing hurts and tends to be deadly), an ideal ensconced within Thatcherism. I’ve never voted conservative, but I did grow up in the eighties, and like many people who grew up under Thatcher I see no shame or contradiction in riding a bicycle in my thirties and I can’t see why that will change as I get older.

Is cycling a political issue? If it is, it’s as right wing as it it left, and draws in right thinking people from both sides of the political divide. And Boris Johnson. Maybe its time the columnists got on their bikes for once?

Eurobike

Eurobike, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

Pre Work Epping Singletrack

Pre Work Epping Singletrack, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

On the way to work, 40mins from Holborn. Love summer

Big Walk

Big Walk, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

Via Flickr:
18 miles into Essex, sleep, return

Advice to photographers

The other day a young photographer contacted me asking for some advice about going freelance, and what I'm looking for when I commission people for Privateer. Once I started writing, well, I lost track of the time a little and my email reply got pretty long. So long I figured it might be worth sharing on here...

Hey XXX, I think the biggest - BIGGEST - thing for me is getting photographers who have ideas of their own and the wherewithall to actually put those ideas into practice. 

I get quite a lot of portfolios sent to me and they nearly always have great shots, but by and large they expect me to find them a subject to photograph. Generally speaking, if I've got an idea, I'll shoot it myself and save the contributors' budget to spend on something special I couldn't/wouldn't have thought of.

Here's a list of thoughts in no particular order...

1: I commission on the strength of someone's ideas – technically perfect photos of boring/over-done subjects are ten a penny. Original ideas and a unique viewpoint aren't. 

2: Ideas are free, don't hog them. Talking to editors/other photogs about ideas will lead to more, better ideas. Collaborate. Everyone likes an excuse to go for a coffee and talk shit, don't be afraid to give people a call and ask if they want to go for a coffee, it will lead to good things. Working together with writers particularly – having a writer/photographer team that comes to us ready to work together – is a major plus. 

3: Ideas are easy, getting a project started isn't. If you've got an idea for a project or a feature, get it started, even if you only get the very bare bones of it. If you go to a mag like Privateer with the beginnings of a project, we will be able to see the potential in it, and if it looks good he'll commission it and support you for the duration.

4: Do the stuff that interests you. Chances are if you're passionate about something, you won't be happy with "good enough" and you will go the extra mile. That will come across in the work and the way you're able to sell that work to editors, which in turn will get you a good reputation.

5: Show editors the stuff you want to do, not the stuff you've done for money that came out looking good.

6: Don't think that once you've sent your shots in you're part of the job is over, be a control freak and demand to see proofs of how they have treated your work and don't be afraid to demand changes. In fact, if you've got an idea of how you want them to treat your work, send it over with the shots – we quite often get sent sample layouts with the photos. We always laugh at them, but at the same time, it's reassuring that the photographer has thought about the narrative of the story, and I reckon most of the time, the art ed will take that on board. 

7: Keep your edits tight, and only show the best shots. I've had photographers send me 400 images in the past, their whole memory card. If I wanted to be a dick – or I just had really bad taste and a bad eye – I could use the most poorly exposed shots, all out of focus with non-existent composition. That shows a complete lack of care, confidence and competence on the part of the photographer. Only submit shots you'd be happy to show to biggest paying clients – hide the rest on a hard drive, and bury that hard drive somewhere no one will find it.

Erm, I reckon that will do for now. What do you reckon? Anything in there you hadn't thought of? I think the biggest thing is to be proactive, put ideas into practice, socialise and be entrepreneurial about it – you've got to be a salesman as much as an artist.

Andy

This isn't really relevant but it looks like a cool movie.

Death on Holborn

This morning a cyclist died on Holborn, just outside the tube station afer being crushed by a lorry. When I came into work late, the police still had the area on lockdown, as can be seen in the photo above.

As I rode past Cycle Surgery onto Holborn a police woman told me to look after myself.

Thanks, I will, I thought. But what are you doing to help?

I've only just started working in this area, so I'm learning the roads and my route to the new office. Last Wednesday was my first ride in. I came along Theobalds Road, and where the traffic turns left down to Holborn, I carried straight on in the bus lane, heading towards Bloomsbury Way. I waited at the lights at the crossing of Kingsway, where a fine fellow spoke to me to warn me that the police were waiting across the junction fining cyclists riding in the bus lane. This bus lane runs contra to the main flow of traffic, but is only about 200m long, and the fastest, safest way to get towards Oxford Street. I thanked the man, got off and walked across the junction.

Sure enough, the cops were waiting on Bloomsbury Way fining cyclists.

Another pedestrian pushing a bike (like me) stopped to ask why they were doing it. "It's busses only" they said. But why? we asked. "Because it's too narrow for a bus to pass cyclists safely, you have to go round."

Going round involves dropping onto Holborn and negotiating four lanes of traffic. I've done it every day since and it makes even me, an experienced cyclist nervous. Motorbikes buzz you, taxis rush red lights to get through and huge trucks obliterate the view. It's hellish.

So it was sad but unsurprising to find a cyclist was killed there this morning. Stupid road planning is to blame, as are the police for enforcing a rule that prevents cyclists using the safer bus lane along Bloomsbury Way. 

The idea that that bus lane is too narrow is hokum: A - show me any bus lane in the land that allows busses to pass cyclists with the amount of space recommended in the highway code; B - it's only 200m long, even a slow moving commuter on a Boris bike won't hold the bus up too long in such a short space.

The fact the police were targeting cyclists on this stretch only five days ago smacks of money grabbing opportunism, the real world safety of the issue be damned. If I wasn't so resigned to the fact that we are second class citizens, useful only as a cash cow to prop up dwindling tax revenues, I'd probably be furious right now. As it is, it's just another depressing day for London cyclists

Black Mountains, Darker Clouds

Fort William WC 2013

Fort William WC 2013, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

Beastway #1

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The ride home

The ride home, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

Jim the tortoise

Jim the tortoise, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

Is 60yrs old

Goodbye USA, hello heartburn

Goodbye USA, hello heartburn, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

Howies for Privateer

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Catalina Mist

catalina fog, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

Heading north now, back to Santa Cruz, then home

view from the top, Catalina Gran Fondo

view from the top, Catalina Gran Fondo, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

O Catalina

Getting Rad

Rads Jpgs-3, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.