The Clash on the way to work:

WTMD 89.7FM rocks. It's the only station I listen to when I play the radio. This morning they served up some clash while I made my way to work. Perfect song for this morning: The Magnificient Seven

- Mike

7 count em' 7 photos from today.

- Mike

Photoshopping...

phattire dot nut? ... just playin' around.

-Mike

Ahh.... dirt at last...

I’ve been in much need of a good romp through some twisty-turny singletrack, these past few weeks, so yesterday I hit Loch Raven Reservoir. Despite the many months spent off the bike, my face developed a perma-grin as soon as my knobbies made contact with dirt. I settled into a slow, albeit comfy, rhythm and steadily turned the cranks as I dodged rocks, hopped logs and leaned through tight turns. My elbows brushed budding saplings and sappy pine bark while I pushed the limits of the rubber lugs on my tires. What a rush!

I made a lot of stops, (“tea parties” as my old riding clan would call them) to pull out the Nikon and snap a few pictures and take in the sights. I felt like a million bucks straddling my cross bike in the golden rays of an early spring sunset. Below are some images from the ride.

- Mike

Orpheus

I was tooling around Fort McHenry on my bike this morning and stopped to read about this statue. It's not Frances Scott Key. It's Orpheus the greatest musician and poet of Greek myth. He was chosen out of 32 submitted ideas to honor Fances Scott Key in 1914. I wonder what the other ideas were.

Bloody windy out there, today, pushing the fixed gear.

- Mike

One from this morning...

My girlfriend & I took Doris on a nice walk around Mt.Vernon this morning in nearly 60° weather. Life is good.

- Mike

United Metal & Iron Co, Inc.

Yesterday started off with my girlfriend’s car overheating. Not the best way to start the day but it worked to my benefit. After dropping the car off at a garage on the East side of the city I hopped on my bike and explored the area I was in. As I pedaled westward I scanned my surroundings: Truck Station, Titty Bar, Police Station, closed down Scrap Metal Yard…. CLOSED DOWN SCRAP METAL YARD? - Jackpot.

I took a lap around the two blocks, which the Scrap Yard occupied and decided the best way in would be to squeeze through a gap in a chain link fence, which gave me access to the train tracks that run adjacent to the Scrap Yard. This was the ticket, and once on the tracks, I saw numerous gaps in the perimeter fence surrounding the Scrap Yard. After a few cliché photos of passing trains and railroad spikes I was making my way across an open expanse of mud towards the handful of dilapidated buildings left abandoned.

The buildings on the premises were filled with, for lack of a better term, what I call “homeless people stuff”. This consists of empty food containers, lots of clothes, mattresses, chairs, needles, lighters, odd household appliances etc, etc…

It was a very sunny, very windy day. The light was great for photographing the Scrap Yard, but the howling wind was a little unnerving. Doors on buildings swung wide and slammed shut while corrugated tin roofing clanged and clattered high above. The combination of hanging chains rattling, swinging light fixtures, peeling wallpaper and creaking buildings made an ambient symphony while I climbed in and out of windows and crept through the structures.

One particular building had apparently been on fire at one time. Charred wood framing and melted glass lent itself well to numerous photos. Among the various debris on the ground I found a stack of soggy slides. Blowing the dirt off of one, I found a picture of snow & ice. On the back was hand written: ”Sexton Glacier”. I slipped it in my shirt pocket and continued on.

The most alluring piece of machinery was the car crusher. An enormous monster of a machine stood silent and still as I climbed the side of it to get a look into it’s belly. What I saw when I reached the summit was what remained of a car that was 90% crushed. It’s radiator, front bumper and bits of car body poked out from under the giant piston that had made its final crunch years ago.

After a few hours I was beginning to get cold and more than anything else; hungry. I took a few more photos with a new fisheye adapter I just got, took a final glance around and headed back to the train tracks where I had locked and stashed my bike. It was a great day for photos and it just goes to show that some of the best photos come at the most unexpected times.

Check out the full gallery of images here.

- Mike