Two Word Tuesday: Rhyolite Riding

Thirsty Thursday: Iowa Games Time Trial

Rambler: Beth

Drink at Hand: Trader Joe's Sleepy Time tea (its late, but its also Thursday!)

Thirsty Thursday here again! Time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans. This week is more of a shout out to someone else's weekend plans--my parents! The day before the three of us departed for RAGBRAI back in July, they did the Iowa Games time trial. Because clearly the 450 miles ahead of them that week were not enough. They are actually regular TTers and a few weeks after this event, they each won a state championship!

Thirsty Thursday: RAGBRAI Bound

Rambler: Beth

Drink at Hand: Ginger Ale...its what I drink on all domestic flights, no idea why

Hey hey hey, Thirsty Thursday here again! Time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans. I am pretty excited for my weekend plans; plans that will continue all the way through next weekend.

Being from Iowa, and having grown up in a family that was into cycling, RAGBRAI was a summer fixture in our house before our family summers were devoted to driving my sister and I to soccer tournaments and camps all over the Midwest. I'm headed back to do the week-long party across the state of Iowa on a bicycle with my parents, but under slightly different circumstances than RAGBRAI's past.

Two years ago, my dad had a freak thing happen and he is now paralyzed from the waist down. My parents used to spend a lot of time together on their tandem, but once my dad was paralyzed, that wasn't an option anymore. As part of his recovery he started handcycling and mom would ride along with him on her road bike. Differences in speed made staying together difficult, but they still wanted to experience cycling together. Enter Utah Trikes.

Utah Trikes built a super awesome handcrank tandem tricycle for my parents...mom sits in the front and pedals while dad sits on the back and handcranks. Pretty amazing. I was able to visit Utah Trikes a few weeks ago when they picked up the custom built rig and was thoroughly impressed. Ashley and his team at Utah Trikes are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet, and they are incredibly talented engineers and fabricators. I captured these images of the team hard at work to finish up the tandem for my parents.

And here's what the first spin looked like (still a work-in-progress in this image, but you get the idea).

On Saturday we'll head off to start RAGBRAI XLI, which I think is my parent's tenth and my third. They are doing the ride on their new tandem with support from Adaptive Sports Iowa. I'll be along to document their experience and help out the Adaptive Sports Iowa crew (ASI has roughly 60 riders they are supporting throughout the ride). I'll be using the hashtag #RAGBRAIstroz on Instagram and Twitter as I capture their experience. Should be fun!

Thirsty Thursday: Ft Ord Trail Time

Rambler: Beth
Drink in Hand: 2012 Silvestri Pinot Noir

Thirsty Thursday here again...time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans. Last weekend I decided to test my camera carrying set-up with a little mountain bike ride. I loaded up the LowePro and out I went to Ft Ord.

The day before had been beautiful, but of course when I headed out it was a flat, grey, June gloom day...typical of Monterey this time of year. But I made the most of it. I really wanted to capture these two trees tucked away on a ridgeline.

I have a bike-related photo project or two coming later this summer, so this was a good first test to see what I could carry and still ride at a decent speed. Hopefully more fun rides with camera in tow coming this weekend!

Thirsty Thursday: Bike Stalking in Italy

Rambler: Beth

Drink at Hand: 2009 Puma Road Chardonnay

Thirsty Thursday here again...time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans. Apparently we here at Welliver Photography have bicycles on the brain, given Terry's Two Word Tuesday post this week. I actually have bikes on my brain pretty much every day now given where I work, which is a pretty sweet topic to have to talk about and think about all day.

Its funny, when we were in Europe last summer, I wasn't working for a bicycle company. Far from it. It fact, I wasn't even regularly riding a bike last summer. I bet I only put 50 miles total in all of 2013, which is a far cry from the obscene pile of miles I pedaled just a few years before. But there was two things I was drawn to take photos of while we wandered the narrow, cobbled streets of Italy--bikes and doors. Sometimes at the same time. Terry made fun of me for the bike obsession (but he has a bunch of Euro door photos too). There's something so cool to me about these city bikes. Obviously designed for comfort and function, but at the same time stylish and classy. Practical. Timeless. Sexy. Beautiful. Most of them anyway.