Cycling the World

[mvsoske]

Wonderful article and photographs Mr. Marino and a method of seeing the world I can heartily attest to. After cycling Costa Rica, Austria, Scotland, Ireland and this Spring Croatia, it is the best way to get close to the people and culture while providing great freedom and flexibility. Thanks for posting.

Mark

[dreed]

In regard to being involved and seeing the scenery as a photographer, walking is to cycling as cycling is to driving (well at least that is what my experience in China taught me.)

[LesPalenik]

How does the camera and the lenses cope with all the shaking and vibrations on an extended bicycle trip?
It would be interesting to measure the focus accuracy before and after the trip.
After all, if the car manufacturers send routinely their cars for testing to Arctic, maybe Nikon would fund a coast-to-coast bicycle shake trip.

[NigelC]

Just wondered - had you considered a bike trailer as a possible solution for easier access to gear? (I have seen an old photo of an Edwardian photographer transporting a plate camera and mobile darkroom that way!)

[PierreVandevenne]

Wonderful - simply wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

[mvsoske]

How does the camera and the lenses cope with all the shaking and vibrations on an extended bicycle trip?
It would be interesting to measure the focus accuracy before and after the trip.
After all, if the car manufacturers send routinely their cars for testing to Arctic, maybe Nikon would fund a coast-to-coast bicycle shake trip.

In his article, Nicholas talks about his padding and how he braces his handlebar pannier on the sleeping bag on this front rack providing some isolation.  I've done similar things and always use padding and wrap lenses and cameras in neoprene.  Depending on the type of trip, I've also had my camera in a Mountainsmith lumbar bag around my waist with the bag on my lower back.  Bottom line is that with some precautions so far I've never had a problem other than when I dropped my camera trying to get a picture.

[OldRoy]

Ah, to be young enough once more for this to be a realistic possibility...
Roy

[D E Mitchel]

Wonderful post, and a useful alternative to modern trophy photography.  I do wonder how you manage battery charging both for cameras and laptop? 
50 years ago I had a bicycle headlight system that ran from a generator spun by a roller off the sidewall of the front tire.    It was the film era so there were no concerns with batteries, just lighting.  So battery voltages were not a consideration.  Perhaps that can be the basis for charging batteries, especially when rolling downhill?
 D.E.M.

[SunnyUK]

Wonderful article. I would love to have the time (and physique) to travel in this manner.

[NikoJorj]

Perhaps that can be the basis for charging batteries, especially when rolling downhill?

I've sometimes heards about the possibility to charge a smartphone, with a dynamo hub (much better efficacity than tire-side dynamo) - in the end all that is needed is a good AC-DC converter and some cables.  Better not to have too much to charge though, I'd think : downhill rides don't last for days!

[jeremyrh]

Brilliant, inspirational article!!

[Alan Smallbone]

Amazing trip and story. I don't think I was ever in good enough shape to do that for that long, the altitude alone would take some getting used to, let alone cycle in it. Thanks for sharing the trip and the article.

Alan

[mats]

Very intresting!
I am currently planing my own big trip but rather than biking I have deceided to walk...
The plan is to walk from Stockholm, Sweden to Sydney, Australia.
This summer I went for a shorter test walk to see if it was possible (and that I really wanted to do it!) Walked almost 1800km through Sweden in 53 days.
There is a lot more information about both the test-walk and the upcoming, longer project at:

www.the-walk.se

Photo equipment is always a problem on a longer trip, especially when you nedd to carry everything yourself and need to have a computer along as well. Add charging needs and there is a lot to take into consideration.
Would love to hear more suggestions from anyone about the best solutions...

This summer I used a M9 and three lenses but am looking at other cameras for the Sydney walk. At the moment I an testing a D600 with a few prime lenses. It is very important for me that the quality of the files be as good as possible as I will be trying to have an income from them during the-walk.

Any suggestions about equipment would be very welcome.

[schrodingerscat]

Goal zero offers a good range of solar chargers, even capable of charging a laptop, that would work well for bike travel. And possibly foot as well with the smaller units. http://www.goalzero.com/

For backpacking/hiking, Brunton and others make a range of solar chargers that will charge camera batteries as well as phones/AA/etc.

If you've got the M9 and lenses, why migrate to a larger, heavier alternative?

In '72 my roommate and I rode from LA to FLA, and then from VA to CO. A marvelous experience by and large.

[mats]

Unfortunately the M9 was only a loaner.. The Nikon is what I am using for work at the moment and it is easiest to base a system around it. Would love to continue using a Leica system, it is the perfect size for travel, but there is no way I can afford to buy it. Thats money I need for traveling!
Thanks for the charging tips. Don´t anticipate any problems in Europe but some sort of solar-powered charging system seems to be a geat solution.
The camera kit at the moment is the D600, the new Sigma 35mm 1.4, a 150mm 2.8 Macro and a wide lens around 17-20mm. Am undeceided as to which wide as yet, any suggestions? It needs to be high quality and prefferably relatively small. One solution might be a Sigma 12-24mm, which although not small will be a good landscape lens.
Sigma in Sweden have promised to help me with some lenses and the new 35mm looks to be very promising. I hope to lay my hands on one in early January, giving me plenty of time for testing.

[dreed]

Unfortunately the M9 was only a loaner.. The Nikon is what I am using for work at the moment and it is easiest to base a system around it. Would love to continue using a Leica system, it is the perfect size for travel, but there is no way I can afford to buy it.

So write to Leica and ask them if they would be willing to support your effort by donating a camera and lenses to use for your journey. I'm sure there are a myriad of ways for something beneficial to both parties to arise from this.

[mats]

I have contacted Leica and have had some discussions, but nothing has been decided.
In fact I just received word that I will have the use of a DP2M and a DP1M from Sigma.
This is a great kit, essentially giving a form of backup but still only 2 relatively small cameras. The DP2M has a lot of quirks, but the image quality will hopefully make it worthwhile using.