IS THIS WINTER?

I grew up on a farm in northern MN. It seemed that there wasn’t a conversation that started that didn’t somehow come back to talking about the weather. I know that the weather is a safe topic and one that pretty much anyone can talk about but I honestly try not to talk about it. But……In the current state of winter in MN, it is simply hard NOT to talk about it. Absolutely crazy what we are experiencing right now. I certainly am concerned about the state of our environment as a whole. I am also doing my best to take advantage of being outside whenever possible.

So when my friend Ben from Heath Creek Cycles down in Northfield texted me that some good folks were driving up from Iowa I decided to ride down to see them. What, a long gravel ride in February in MN? I have lived in MN all but one year of my longish life and I can tell you that I have never done a 50+ mile gravel ride in February!

So I hopped on my trusty Tumbleweed Stargazer, shod in new old stock Nanoraptor 2.1’s and hit the road. I was excited to try these old tires as it’s been years. I always liked them as a gravel tire. I know many don’t like the fact they have no, or little, side nobs. But my local roads are mostly straight. I like the comfort of the big 2.1’s and I like that they roll really well, IMHO.

I was also testing a new to me, old/used camera set up on this ride. Many of you may know that for many many years I have used various versions of the Ricoh GR cameras. My love for the GR’s started back with the GRII’s. I can honestly say it is an absolutely outstanding camera. However, it is a bit fragile with the lens design as well a bit prone to dust inside the lens/on the sensor. My current GR doesn’t always work. Sometimes the pellicle lens cover doesn’t open. Other times it has simply stopped working altogether due to dampness/humidity.

Enter the now 10+ year old Fujifilm XM1 with 7 artisans 18mm f6.3 fixed, pancake lens. A little back ground here. Long time friends and readers may know I have a love for Fuji cameras and systems. My preferred and favorite camera is the 12+ year old Fuji X Pro 1! I recently sold a bunch of stuff at the local bike swap and picked up a used, but in fairly good condition XM1 and the $59 manual focus, fixed lens. This gives me a larger sensor APSC camera with a flip up screen, 28mm field of view (my favorite for on bike). It’s 100% manual focus but with a fixed f6.3 you just need to guess sorta in the ball park and the images will pretty sharp on whatever you point it at. The other bonus is better battery life as the camera isn’t spending time driving a focus motor. Rather, it is simply metering and saving image to a card. Even at 32 degrees on Saturday, I got long life out of the camera and battery. I shot a bunch and it never moved from full charge! 

While this was my first ride with this camera set up, I am very very pleased. It’s tiny. It’s light. It’s capable. OH, and most importantly, I am quite smitten by the image quality! They are a bit moody and imperfect…Kinda like me. Ha! 

I will be shooting this set up a lot so expect more thoughts and images in the future, but until then, here are some shots from a really energizing and fulfilling bike ride aboard one of my favorite bikes to see friends!

As always, click on any image below in the gallery to move to slideshow mode!  

Hope you enjoyed the pics. Side note, I think more barns should be painted yellow! Drop a comment if you have any questions about my camera set up or thoughts on the gear or images.