Hello, all! I just posted some photos of the Tour of Ireland on our flickr account. And I wrote a bunch of text for each photo. Are you sitting comfortably?
The best way to enjoy the photos is to click through, in order, as a set. Here’s how you do it.
1. Open the set by following the link:
http://flickr.com/photos/willbakker/sets/72157602086146256/
2. Click on the first photo — the upper-left corner of the group.
3. Read the title, above the picture. Read the description, below it. Snicker, guffaw, marvel at my wit.
4. Check to see whether there are any “notes” on the photo — boxes on the picture itself that point out details.
5. If you have something to say, write a comment! (Disclaimer: Comment on Flickr may or may not be eligible for Commenter of the Week awards. Bakker Bugle not responsible for any injury and/or loss of income due to commenting activities.)
6. Time to move on. There’s a grey control panel to the right. It shows the previous photo and the next one. Click on the next photo.
7. Repeat until:
- your belly hurts from laughing
- you’re bored
- your eyes cross
- the boss walks by, unless your boss is Keely
- you reach the end of the set
Oh no! Don’t be sad! There’s another set! But it won’t take as long. Start here:
http://flickr.com/photos/willbakker/sets/72157602086280884/
If you don’t want to see next year’s Tour by the time you’re done with this, then I’m not worth what Fáilte Ireland is paying me.
5 Comments to “Photos for Phans of Cyclists and/or Bakkers”
21 September 2007
I love the symbol of the clover shape as the cyclist- nice
I guess it is true that spandex is universal.
21 September 2007
Spandex is truly universal — even for pirates! I’m sure Sharon has an opinion about which movie-pirates are hot in spandex.
Okay, going out with Anita to watch rugby at our local. This town is crazy for the rugby!
21 September 2007
ok, so I made the mistake (hah!) of checking the ole bakker while at work. i mean, hey, it’s almost 4pm on a friday and the big guy has left already for the week, but i think i want to go home, pour a glass of wine and check out the pics from my recliner. ooooh! can’t wait. life is soooo good.
28 October 2007
I just remembered another term for a breakaway, that is, the group of cyclists that gets ahead of the main field (the peloton): the term is “escape group”.
It’s a great phrase, because it evokes the image of a group escaping the clutches of the peloton. And that’s really how it works — the escape group extracts itself from the peloton and makes a run for it. Then, the peloton lashes out with a kind of pseudopod — a strung-out line of riders who push the pace of the whole group, but also don’t want to lose connection with it.
Sometimes, the pseudopod catches the escape group. In that case, the group has failed, because they put out more energy than the others riders in the peloton, but they’re in the same place as the others.
Other times, the escape group breaks free, and it becomes easier for them to build the gap as the peloton retracts to a relatively relaxed speed. So they almost snap off, like a rubberband that’s stretched too far.
So the peloton acts like:
– an amoeba reaching out to food;
– the residents of a small town chasing Dr. Frankenstein and his monster after they try to leave town;
– a running riot of soccer fans;
– a platoon running down deserting soldiers;
– zombies chasing the teenagers who were making out in the graveyard;
– a large water-drop on a car’s hood
For me, a rough guide to the excitement level of a given (long) race is the number of escapes attempted, and whether there’s a good mix of failed and successful escapes.
If you use the word “attacks” instead of “escapes,” as they do in race statistics, the visual metaphor really doesn’t work.
9 November 2007
What happens when you’ve taken too much EPO? You get rid of Sheryl Crow and start dating an Olsen twin. That’s right, cycling fans. Lance Armstrong and Ashley Olsen are now a couple.