RandoTips

Panda Portraits – You, Your Bike and Your Camera

If you ride a bike much you’ve probably taken a picture like this. Raw, on the go, just you, just for fun.

Well, sometimes you just wander into things that you don’t know and don’t expect.

For some reason I was on Flickr and I wondered into a picture in the same style as the one above, either captioned or titled as “Panda”. Now to set the obvious aside, there were no big black and white animals in the shot.

So, dutifully following the rabbit trail of digital knowledge I discovered the Panda Portrait Flickr group.

As it turns out, the panda portrait is a very specific kind of cycling photo.

It’s a photo taken of yourself, by yourself, on your bike, while moving. The only exception to these rules is shooting the aftermath if you crash while doing it.

Here are a few tips (from a non-photographer who uses his cellphone to take pictures most of the time):

Set the camera to take the picture faster (set the ISO to 400 or higher, higher is faster, compensates for wobbly arms)
Try a few first to get an idea of where to aim (or just forget it and see what happens, just as fun)
If you really want a decent shot, check the image after taking (take again if your head is half cut off etc.)
Watch the road! Quieter roads without too many cars are better. You’ve been warned!
Capture yourself, bike and… something else. Getting a friend in the shot, or something interesting in the background adds a little something to the basic panda.

In the end, just have fun. Be aware that although you probably won’t get fined for using a cellphone on your bicycle, that you still need to pay attention to the road and where you’re going.

Here are some interesting ones for your viewing pleasure. Big, happy smiles were my main criteria when picking. (Photos that are not mine are linked to their pages on Flickr)

Ride Like Warren Buffett – How The World’s Best Investor Can Prevent Your Next Accident

Warren Buffett, a legend in his own time. Ever since I first heard of him I have been amazed at how he works. By simply picking stocks and buying companies in a sensible manner he has managed to get over 13% growth per year on average for the last 40 years.

The average investment advice basically assumes that the market is absolutely efficient, so you can’t really do anything to beat it. The best approach is just to buy a spread and ride the same waves the market rides. Basically everyone ends up with the same odds.

But Buffett proves this assumption is wrong.

By preparing, staying informed, making sensible choices, avoiding duds and understanding the companies he invests in, Warren Buffet has been able to beat the market. It is true that he doesn’t let on to the complete details of his investment strategies, but he proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can beat the odds.

You can beat the odds of having an accident too.

When you’re out on the road cycling, your odds of being in an accident are related to your riding skills, your awareness while riding, your riding position, choice of approach and ability to avoid dangerous situations.

A lot of this has been adapted from Bicycling Safe as I thought it did a great job at explaining things clearly.

Avoid accidents

The ultimate goal for cycling safety is to not have accidents in the first place.

No accident = no injury or death… simple.

Helmets are promoted as the way to cheat death while riding.

Lies, all lies.

Your bowl of polystyrene is very unlikely to put up much of a fight against an 18-wheeler.

Most likely result: big truck 1, little cyclist 0

Ride like you’re invisible

Huh?

The trick here is to be as visible as possible, but to ride in such a way that even if you were invisible, you still wouldn’t get hit by any cars. Basically avoid every single possible situation where a car or other traffic vehicle would have to react or alter their course for you not to get hit. Easier said than done, but worth the effort.

Relying on the other drivers not to hit you is a guaranteed shortcut to the emergency room or worse. Your safety is entirely your own responsibility. Whatever crappy roads or driving get thrown your way, you have to deal with it to ensure you arrive home safe for your loved ones.

Pick safe routes

Better than trusting your skills to save you is to not have to use your skills.

Choose the safest route possible. Choose quieter roads, choose roads with a wide shoulder, choose bike paths, take the longer, less traveled path.

Ride further into the lane

Ride far enough into the lane that you will not slam into a car door if it is opened in front of you. When there are no parked cars you can ride closer to the side.

This position also makes you more visible to cars at intersections in front of you. Don’t hold this position all the time as it can be quite annoying for drivers behind you, but be aware of your safety before their annoyance.

Avoid crosswalks and riding on the wrong side

You are most visible when you are going with the flow of traffic.

Cars are looking for other traffic and that is their primary concern. Pedestrians or bicycles crossing from the right when the car is turning right are not seen. The car is looking for traffic from the left. Best to wait and cross when there are no cars or ride on the correct side of the road.

Don’t stop or ride in the blind spot

The blind spot is the position directly next to the car stretching about as far back as the rear bumper.

Do not stop in this position as the driver cannot see you in the rear view mirror and might turn into you. This also applies while moving, stay out of this position. Drop slightly back to where the car behind can see you but you won’t get clipped by the turning vehicle.

Lights, lights, lights

In Taiwan this is particularly bad. Very many people don’t use lights at night, and the places where there are less street lights, there seem to be even less bicycle lights.

Cars cannot see you. Really.

Cars have the oncoming lights in their eyes, which detracts from their ability to see you. Those same lights cast you into shadow. Use big reflectors if necessary, the bigger, more garish and uglier, the better.

Nighttime kit includes:

front lights
rear lights
front reflectors
rear reflectors
side refelectors
reflective jacket (construction site style)
anything else reflective or bright

And when it comes to the ugly reflective jackets, the phrase “I wouldn’t be seen dead in that,” rings true. If you’re wearing the reflective stuff your chances of an accident are less.

Be Safe

Remember that in the end you want to get home safe and sound. Being overly worried about safety is not helpful, but being aware enough to take the relevant steps to improve your safety is key.

The two guides below are highly recommended and put into text many things which have become second nature after years in the saddle.

Taipei Bike Show 2010

This years show was pretty awesome with a wide scattering of bike and bike parts from big name brands down to much lesser unknown brands, and those without brands.

Although my primary focus is bikes, what I was aiming at with this show is to see just how well local companies manage to represent themselves to a worldwide audience. Not just to see what the big guys like Merida, Giant and Dahon are doing, but smaller guys who have carved out good niches for themselves.

Here’s the lowdown.

Amoeba Bikes

Amoeba make a whole host of bike stuff including handlebars, stems, bar ends, frames and other bits and pieces.

Amoeba are an example of a parts company that have really poured their efforts into their brand. I recognize this brand from years ago and even here at the show, the use of the manufacturing company’s name only appeared in some small places.

This emphasis on brand has, I think, given them a decent and permanent spot on the parts choice list of many riders.

This is their road bike model.

Bear’s Bikes

Bear’s Bikes is a local company making single speed bikes. These guys were sharing a portion of a booth with another company, but Bear’s were getting the vast majority of the attention.

Their stand was really well done. In a tiny space they managed to pack in just the right amount of bikes. They also have videos on the go of them and their buddies riding these bikes and doing all kinds of tricks and stuff. And the two guys manning the stand had intimate knowledge of their products, how they work and what they are good for.

This is a shining example of what can be done with a few contacts, enthusiasm and hard work. I’m not sure how well these bikes are selling, but they are riding on the wave of fixies and single speeds that seem to be doing the rounds at the moment. The main guy is also involved with Giant in some way, I can’t quite remember how.

They also have a bunch of videos on the Bear’s Bikes YouTube channel. Here’s my favorite one of the main dude doing some stuff that I would assume would break the bike.

Dodsun Bikes

The Dodson shown above features a Shimano Nexus hub and some pretty good looking, but probably extremely non-functional fenders. The more interesting bike was the one below.

The bike shown above is their classic road bike frame. This was mated to what the sales guy called the Campagnolo ’59 commerative groupset, made in the likeness of their 1959 groupset.

It had a really retro feel to it, especially with those downtube shifters.

Pictured above is a flat handlebar road bike from Dodson.

Favor Bikes

Favor Bikes are a local frame and fork manufacturer, the bike pictured above is based around their Spun single speed frameset.

HydraKnight

HydraKnight make bags, hydration kits and panniers. Although I don’t use a drinking bladder much anymore I used to use them all the time.

One of the primary things I like about local stuff is the price. I know the Camelbak was always a big investment of money, so I ended up using it for way longer than it was intended to be. My current Camelbak is over 10 years old.

The bladders are very solid and they incorporate some interesting designs. There is a bladder with two compartments inside so you can store an energy drink in one and water in the other, or any combination you can think of. The tubes from the two compartments are fed to a switch that selects which bladder to get liquid from, then goes to the section of pipe with the drinking thingy on the end.

The other cool thing was a range of very waterproof bags for commuting and touring. They come in different sizes and also include a handlebar bag that’s also waterproof.

Nankon Bikes

This long tailed cargo bike from Nankon was one of the highlights for me.

I have had my eyes on this style of bike for a long time now. With two kids it’s a bit of a mission to do any riding with them and I don’t have a bike setup quite right to take them both at the moment. Also the pricing on these is pretty expensive, with the well-known Surley Big Dummy cargo bike going for over US$2,495 as a full bike. This one would appear to be in a better price range and it’s made with aluminum rather than chromoly.

I’m hoping to get to try this one out sometime after I get in contact with them again.

The cyclocross offering from Nankon.

Girly Single Speed

This was propped up against a wall, I have no idea what company makes it but it looks pretty flash. The mix of the red aerospoke on the front, deep section white rim on the rear and gold cranks and handlebars are really stylish.

Free Parable

“Smart Low-Tech” is the moto of the folks at Free Parable. Based in Kaohsiung they design stuff for bikes.

Pictured above is the T1, which is a suitcase/trailer. When the wheels are folded up they are just like the little wheels on a normal suitcase. When they’re folded down they are read to act as a trailer that easily clips to an attachment on the quick release.

They also have what I’d like to call an inverted waterbottle holder. Instead of putting the bottle into a cage, you put an attachment onto the bottle itself, that attachment then clips to the parts on the bike. This allows any standard bottle to be clipped onto the bike.

Lastly was the Monkii, which is a folding tool carrier.

Polar

Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

Of course no show in Taiwan is complete without the scantily clad girls. Unlike Computex though, they were few and far between, and most of them were for slightly less heard of local or Chinese brands (it’s a local thing).

The lady above was a bit surprising as she was modelling for Polar, but it looks like all their stuff is made here. Polar are best known for their range of hear rate monitors.

Lian Hang New Product

These two were dressed just like the computex ladies, those shiny, plastic skirts and tops. Okay, okay these are my only pics of girls.

A Great Show Overall

After seven hours at the show I still only managed to get a good look at and talk to about 20% of the exhibitors, another 15% were just quick looks without talking to anyone.

Next time I hope to get more time to check everything out better. I was really impressed with the whole layout of the show and was amazed at how great it is go on a trade day as opposed to the weekend where it’s just a madhouse.