Tag Archives: cycling

Snippets of Kolding, Denmark

Between The Rainshowers Snaps

It’s autumn in Scandinavia, so the weather changes here rather quickly. As the light gets thinner and the evenings arrive earlier each day, it’s a challenge to find balanced light for taking images.

This short photo essay is filled with shots that Mark took in Kolding, Denmark as he dashed out one afternoon between the persistent bursts of rain. Enjoy!

Surface application of floral artwork on a house in Kolding, Denmark.

A sculpture of a young man in an open-air display area within the Old Town section of Kolding, Denmark.

A public art display in an urban park within Kolding, Denmark. Stone sculptures are placed on the stairs and flat platforms within this space.

Modern sculpture of a woman on a motorcycle. Public art discovered on a walk around Kolding, Denmark.

For the numerous cycling enthusiasts and commuters, the ever-present bike parking racks in Kolding, Denmark.

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©Deborah Harmes 2007–2019 and ©Mark Harmes 2007–2019
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Deborah Harmes is a freelance writer, editor, and photographer and may be found at http://www.deborahharmes.com — Linkedin — Twitter — Instagram — Alamy photographic portfolio

Photo Of The Day: The Clever Commuter

I am continuing to go through unedited images to upload to my own portfolio site as well as my agencies in Europe, the UK, and New York. And I continue to discover new images that really speak to my love of human interest photography — my same primary interest back when I was a newspaper photographer.

This was taken in Berlin, Germany — and the man in the pic was a commuter at the end of his day — taking his bike down from street level into the train station below for his commute home via the wonderful train system in Berlin.

Enjoy!

A man taking his bicycle down an escalator into the train station below the street level in Berlin, Germany.

Lovely By The Seaside at St. Kilda In Spring

The throngs are yet to arrive — it’s only Spring y’know — but several dozen people were sprinkled up and down the beach and boardwalk at St. Kilda Beach this week. We’re lucky to live in such a pretty place, but I’ve lived in seaside towns in the USA and the UK and there certainly was a familiar feel to our stroll along the boardwalk. In spite of the whipping wind, the smallest bit of sun appears and off come the shirts, out comes the lily-white skin, and up go the refreshed signs from the local council telling folks what they are and are not allowed to do on the beach.

The sparsely populated St. Kilda beach and boardwalk on a sunny Spring day in Melbourne, Australia

Spring sunbathers at St. Kilda beach in Melbourne, Australia

Sand sculpture of a shark at St. Kilda beach in Melbourne, Australia

Woman on a bike at St. Kilda beach in Melbourne, Australia with her Jack Russell dog sitting in the front basket

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No dogs allowed on the beach at St. Kilda, Melbourne, Australia, during the 5 months of high tourist season

Thieves In The Night in Melbourne, Australia

If I seem a bit off my game for the next week, it’s because I am dealing with a very stressful situation right now. We’ve been burgled.

Sometime between Saturday night and early Sunday morning, someone broke into our garage and stole 2 of the 4 bikes in there — the most expensive ones — the customised Specialized road bike and mountain bike that Mark is out and about on several days each week. Not only that, they got all of the peripheral gear like the heart rate monitors, the bike repair kit, the brand new high-vis lights, the brand new pannier frame that only was installed this past week, and in Mark’s cycling bag was a digital camera which was also stolen. To add insult to injury, they left their ratty old bikes outside our garage as they rode away on Mark’s lovely bikes.

Mark and one of his STOLEN Specialized bikes

We are feeling quite gutted. The police came out from the St. Kilda Police Station to take fingerprints and they were lovely to deal with both in person and on the phone. But the likelihood of ever seeing these items again is quite slim.

Now I have to troll backward through YEARS of online receipts and paper receipts and pictures to find enough evidence to PROVE to the insurance company that we actually owned all of this. So my entire week may be getting eaten up with this ridiculous nonsense. It’s hard to feel happy about returning to Australia when we have to go through things like this and it came out of both of our mouths yesterday. We forgot to lock our car doors in Moyon or St. Martin de Brehal or St. Girons quite a few times when we were living in France for several years. Nothing ever got touched. But we return to Australia and within weeks back here we are burgled???

More soon-ish…

Time For The Tour de France

It’s that time again — the 3 weeks of each year when my husband’s concentration is fixed on the Tour de France. Unfortunately we aren’t in France this year — we’re back in Melbourne, Australia.

Mark saw the Tour live in Normandy in 2011 when we were living there — and then he saw the Tour live again last year in the South of France when we lived in the Midi-Pyrenees. Ah well — television coverage will have to do for this year.

But you DO know that your sweetie is a ‘cycling tragic’ (fanatic) when he decorates his hard hat from work with Polka Dot Jersey red dots!

An homage to the Polka Dot Jersey in the Tour de France on Mark’s hardhat

Back soon!

Biking Bits of Brussels, Belgium

I have long admired the European attitude to cycling within cities as both an economical and eco-conscious mode of transportation. So I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see so many references to bicycles as we travelled in Brussels, Belgium.

Can you see that small red child’s bicycle mounted on the street lamp? The sign below it indicates that you have arrived at a Point Velo Fietspunt where you can rent a bicycle or leave your own for repairs. That would be a comforting feeling to know that if you had a flat tire or your chain came off, you could just look for one of these Fietspunt signs sprinkled around the city.

Bike mounted on lamp post indicates a Point Velo Fietspunt bicycle hire or repair pick up spot in Brussels, Belgium

This poster on the window immediately below the bicycle-in-the-air shows the range of services that they offer.

Bike shop for small repairs or bicycle rentals in Brussels, Belgium

Not owning a 2nd car (and in some cases a 1st one) if you live in an urban environment with good public transportation AND a respect for cyclists when you choose that mode of travel? What a healthy and sensible way to live!

Cycling At Night in the South Of France

Daylight was slipping away as the scraping sound echoed up the stone walls and through the street. Barricades were being dragged across the end of the block, people began unpacking their cars in the parking lot across the street, and men in safety vests began taking up positions up and down the street.

Officials and riders preparing for a night-time road race in St. Girons in the Midi-Pyrenees in France

Cycling is such a passion for people of all ages in France and the Tour de France is not the only racing or touring event that attracts attention. We discovered yet another reason to love living in St. Girons 10 days ago when a night-time cycling event was held here that circled the town and passed right beneath our window again and again and again.

Cyclists preparing for a night-time road race in St. Girons in the Midi-Pyrenees in France

Hours passed, the light changed from twilight to darkness, the streetlights illuminated the pavement, and the cyclists went around and around the circuit until after 10 PM.

Cyclists on a night-time road race in St. Girons in the Midi-Pyrenees in France

Mark was a very happy man as he watched some fellow cyclists going around and around the curve at the end of our street. And he did it all from the best spot possible — out the front window of our apartment.

Watching the cyclists go by in a night-time road race in St. Girons in the Midi-Pyrenees in France