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0:00
[Music]
0:10
well yeah it's always best to be sitting
0:12
on a podcast it makes it much more
0:13
interesting he's really far away in this
0:17
shop what you've got to do is find
0:19
another excitable idiot Louis it's Bluey
0:22
it's a kids program well good yeah or a
0:26
film or like half a face
0:28
[Music]
0:32
hello listeners welcome to another
0:34
single track magazine podcast this week
0:37
I'm joined in the virtual Studio by
0:40
Benji so hello Benji hello I'm joined by
0:44
Hannah hello
0:46
and we have a guest this week we have a
0:49
top photographer Pete scullion hi Pete
0:51
hello there and I'm Mark this week we're
0:54
going to talk about a whole bunch of
0:55
things but first of all before we get
0:56
going on that I just want to remind you
0:57
that we do have a brilliant
0:59
subscriptions offer running at the
1:01
moment if you are not yet a full member
1:04
of our magazine and website then there
1:07
is a special code you need to know and
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that code is
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freebel03 that's free Bell zero three
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that code will get you a free Bell a
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bell of significance it's one of the
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best bells for a bike that we think is
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out there on the market it is the timber
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Bell and if you don't know what on Earth
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we're talking about then head over to
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our website check out the offer type in
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free bell03 and you will get a free Bell
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for your bike when you join us so get
1:36
over there and do that now right moving
1:38
on to this week's episode first of all
1:40
we're going to start with Ben Tech
1:42
editor Benji hello what is it this week
1:45
that has has caught your eye Canyon have
1:49
released a invention it's integrated
1:53
into their strive range of Avengers
1:57
bikes only I think and it's called kis
2:00
which is keep it stable fundamentally
2:04
it's something this is a pair of Springs
2:07
and I bolt on cam that bolts onto your
2:11
fork steerer and it makes your
2:14
handlebars straighten up I think that's
2:18
probably the simplest way of describing
2:20
it it's not a damper so it doesn't slow
2:22
it down it doesn't add any friction or
2:24
anything to do it literally pulls it
2:27
back to being straight and I think it
2:30
gets weaker which is the thing that
2:33
people don't understand about it gets
2:34
weaker the more you turn so it's not
2:36
very it's not like you're pulling on a
2:37
pair of braces when you're doing a big
2:38
90 degree turn that's actually quite
2:40
weak at that point it's quite weak over
2:42
here when you're doing big turns and
2:44
then when you're coming more in a
2:46
straight line that's when it's stronger
2:47
so when it sense is a little bit like a
2:50
steering damper in that it's kind of
2:53
position sensitive and the idea of it is
2:57
I don't know yeah
3:00
there's a thing here isn't there I think
3:02
you fundamentally have a problem with
3:03
the piece of tech when you're trying to
3:05
explain it and you're mining at the same
3:06
time we're on video here so we can also
3:08
each other listeners and Pen's actually
3:10
been sort of gesticulating to try and
3:12
Define what this thing does we do
3:14
actually have pictures of it don't we
3:16
bam yeah so many it's definitely
3:18
something that you can't put on your
3:19
bike it has to come on the bike and I
3:22
think it's you don't have to get a
3:23
strive with it the other point I would
3:25
make on Canyon's behalf is you just get
3:27
a normal stride if you want but you can
3:29
get one that's got the kis built into it
3:31
and it's inside the top tube and there's
3:33
like a little fader volume slider Clem
3:36
Fandango Style on the top tube that
3:39
adjusts exactly how much you want it to
3:41
have any effect or not it's obviously
3:43
come about
3:44
for a reason
3:47
and we've not had to go on one certainly
3:50
no one's had to go on one for very long
3:52
other than uh the people at Canyon so
3:55
we'll see how it goes have you been on
3:57
someone we're going to get one we must
3:58
get one I think they want I think they
4:00
want everyone on them for quite a long
4:01
time I imagine particularly after the
4:03
launch where they had quite a lot of
4:04
just a lot of confusion really and a lot
4:06
of just like anything new isn't it
4:08
really I think I remember we had the
4:10
same thing when um gravity droppers came
4:12
out so there we are what somebody rub a
4:14
gator or a springer yeah so you don't
4:17
know who knows I mean it must be to do
4:20
with keeping things calm and on track I
4:23
don't know it's to do with control or
4:25
fatigue and it's obviously something
4:26
that's quite a niche thing it's got
4:28
Fabian Barrel's name all over it
4:30
literally and figuratively and he's one
4:34
of the best motorbike rides of all time
4:35
so I'm not particularly going to argue
4:36
with him and he has had quite a big hand
4:40
in all the bikes that we ride these days
4:42
whether we like technology or not but
4:44
when it was on Kona that is massive Kona
4:47
stab when he was on
4:50
Forks that had a secret third air
4:53
chamber that funnily enough now all
4:54
folks are coming with and kind of
4:56
inventing forward geometry and all that
4:58
so I think if anyone is given the
5:00
benefit of the doubt it'll be Mr Burrell
5:02
so
5:03
there we go but I think fundamentally it
5:05
just looks odd and the packaging of it
5:08
is not helping the idea at all do you
5:10
think Canyon
5:11
have thought about the poor mechanics
5:14
we're gonna have to learn something
5:16
completely new when they want to
5:18
disassemble a bike and do a simple job
5:20
like taking a fork off I don't think
5:22
they are because they already do so much
5:24
integrated stuff that makes the
5:25
mechanics where they don't I don't
5:28
really care they're not really showing
5:29
themselves as the mechanic's friend here
5:30
are they I mean you Ben you I don't know
5:33
the mechanics will get paid more as a
5:34
result everyone complains about internal
5:36
routing or headsets this is like a 40
5:39
Bike Shop these inventions are getting
5:41
more money into bike shops whether we
5:43
like it or not because I'm not gonna
5:44
fast with my bike it's paining ass in it
5:47
so there is a
5:51
is just a bone to moan but there's more
5:55
money and if you can have a big rack of
5:58
bags ready to queue up for the following
5:59
week it's like these good old days of
6:01
the pandemic in it
6:03
right okay right you just likened it to
6:07
um
6:07
you just likened it to a dropper post to
6:10
a gravity dropper do you really think
6:12
this thing is going to be the new
6:14
dropper post and I'm gonna bring Pete in
6:16
here because he's literally just shaking
6:17
his head
6:19
Pete what are your thoughts on this new
6:21
invention from Canyon it's not really a
6:23
new invention is it no but it sort of
6:25
Echoes what you were saying it's like
6:26
can you actually imagine riding a bike
6:29
without a dropper I had a test bike not
6:32
that long ago that came with a static
6:35
seat post and it was like had been
6:37
launched back into the Dark Ages I
6:39
didn't know what and that's all on me
6:41
really I should be able to ride a bike
6:42
with us with a fixed post but every time
6:44
I got to the top of a climb or the
6:46
bottom of descent swinging for a lever
6:48
that wasn't there I've heard apparently
6:50
from a few people that have ridden that
6:52
bike that it's quite good so just for
6:54
the uninitiated out there why would you
6:58
want self-straightening bars
7:01
let's draw the line
7:05
yeah maybe if maybe if you go to ride
7:08
the corner but it's actually maybe it
7:11
spits you onto the Strava line better
7:12
than it um instead of taking around the
7:15
actual ridden line I imagine that if
7:18
you're going down something
7:21
a bit Rocky that
7:24
jiggle about
7:25
as you get towards the bottom and your
7:28
arms are tired then maybe it would just
7:30
take less effort I suppose it would it
7:33
would put it would put bump forces uh
7:35
upside whatever angle we're coming out
7:37
would go not into deflecting your wheel
7:39
and spinning your bars a bit it would go
7:41
into the suspension where it's supposed
7:42
to go on the tire so it does have
7:45
handling reasons it's not done for a
7:46
joke and I think it's quite a subtle
7:48
thing that's the weird thing it's such
7:50
an integral revamp of a whole frame but
7:53
I think the effect is probably quite not
7:55
a lot but the minute is not there and
7:57
this will be for people who are on on
7:59
the the second day of um ews as well
8:02
yeah I'm assuming where they just want
8:04
anything to get rid of the yeah but
8:06
that's something that's kind of like the
8:09
the new Bosch motor for racing only kind
8:13
of thing is like super neat whereas a
8:16
dropper post like retrofits like it
8:18
doesn't require it requires a hole
8:21
the comparison to droppers was um just
8:24
how they've got iteration of design make
8:27
them look better and integrated better
8:28
the first ones were not very good were
8:29
they had to rebuild the money kitchen
8:31
table every Sunday
8:32
but you'd have them but nowadays we have
8:35
a drop post that's quite sleek and well
8:36
done so this is generation one of this
8:40
kis I imagine the people who've designed
8:42
it aren't very happy with it coming out
8:43
at some point people in charge say
8:45
that's got to come out this year
8:47
that's coming out no I know you're not
8:49
happy with it 100 you can always twiddle
8:51
with it are you implying that it's
8:53
unfinished
8:55
everything's unfinished if you have to
8:57
get designer it's like if we ask you
8:59
know it's like um unless you have a
9:01
deadline people would always refine and
9:03
mess about wouldn't you it's true right
9:06
okay I think we've got we've got mixed
9:08
feelings is that a fair conclusion on
9:10
this we've got mixed feelings I think
9:12
it's very easy to be cynical isn't it
9:14
well yeah it's always best to be cynical
9:15
on a podcast it makes it much more
9:17
interesting
9:20
in terms of how oh it's going down with
9:22
the public it's gone down very bad but
9:24
it was always going to it was whoever
9:25
just whoever was tasked with marketing
9:27
kis
9:28
saying poor guy or girl or team or
9:31
whatever this is like we probably needed
9:34
more like the like specialized did with
9:36
the status where they got loads of
9:38
people to ride it before they launched
9:40
it and then they would have had people
9:41
going oh yeah this thing actually does a
9:44
thing or makes sense and that note we're
9:46
gonna move on okay I sent out a
9:48
newsletter on Saturday we do our Weekly
9:51
Newsletter and the first of all I'm
9:52
going to give that a massive plug
9:54
so if you are listening and you don't
9:56
yet subscribe to our newsletter it's
9:58
totally free and we send it once a week
10:00
and it's full of extra editorial that
10:03
you don't see anywhere else and a whole
10:05
bunch of stuff and highlights and things
10:07
that you might have missed if you're not
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signed up to it then head over to
10:10
singletrackworld.com forward slash
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newsletter and if you go there you can
10:15
sign up for our newsletter this is an
10:17
amazing piece of editorial genius once a
10:20
week usually it's me that writes it it's
10:23
true it's true yes but but not this week
10:25
you're on holiday last week so I I was I
10:28
was tasked with writing the editorial so
10:29
I wrote an editorial I just want to
10:31
discuss it a little bit here because I
10:34
was struggling to think of what the hell
10:36
am I going to write about this week you
10:37
know what sort of words of wisdom and I
10:39
just thought you know what the big thing
10:40
that's actually taking over a lot of the
10:43
time in this house and probably
10:44
everywhere else around the country at
10:46
the moment is cutting back on spending
10:48
because of the rates of inflation
10:50
especially energy costs I know this
10:52
doesn't sound like a mountain bike topic
10:54
but it kind of swings around that way so
10:56
just bear with me like a lot of us we
10:59
were sat there looking at all of our
11:00
outgoings and going you know what with
11:02
everything going up we're gonna have to
11:03
make some cutbacks what we're gonna cut
11:04
back on it's there's some easy things
11:06
you can do you know it's like all right
11:08
well which which tins of beans do we buy
11:10
let's buy the value beans instead of
11:12
they're just the beans and beans aren't
11:14
they they're just the same whether you
11:15
get the value ones from Tesco or or
11:18
Heinz I don't believe you weren't
11:19
getting the value ones in the first
11:21
place
11:22
Okay carry on Wow money saving tips from
11:25
Mark
11:26
be not one of the things we saw and I
11:28
think a lot of people might have this
11:29
problem is we suddenly we started to add
11:31
up all of the things that we're
11:33
subscribing to
11:34
and it comes to a scary amount each
11:37
month you know all the streaming
11:38
services you know Netflix we've got
11:40
Netflix and Disney plus here
11:42
how old are you
11:44
Disney how many small children have you
11:46
got at home where else are you gonna
11:48
watch Star Wars if you don't have Disney
11:49
plus Pete you've got Disney plus tell me
11:51
you've got Disney
11:52
DVDs from the charity shop that's how
11:55
you watch Star Wars oh I saw your post
11:56
yesterday I've I've got all of those
11:59
DVDs and you know what we don't even
12:00
have a DVD player now so we couldn't
12:02
play them if we wanted to but anyway so
12:04
I added up all these things and thought
12:06
God we've got to cut back on this and
12:08
one of the biggest outgoings that we've
12:10
got at the moment is myself and my wife
12:12
Vic we go skateboarding twice a week
12:15
which is a whole Topic in itself because
12:18
I'm 51 years old and I've just started
12:20
to learn to skateboard which is a really
12:22
dramatic change and exposure to injury
12:25
but we go twice a week to a place in
12:28
Manchester that do adult skate lessons
12:31
and it's brilliant and it costs a fair
12:35
amount certainly it costs more if we
12:37
added up for a year it costs more than
12:39
streaming services and things and it
12:41
sort of Screams out going you know what
12:42
if we cut back on this we could
12:44
basically make up the entire shortfall
12:46
caused by our increased energy bills you
12:49
know hovering over going should we we
12:50
should cut this back and then Vic says
12:52
but you know what it brings me a lot of
12:54
joy
12:56
and that got me thinking about the
12:59
situation that we're all in right now
13:01
which is that quite often the things
13:03
that bring us joy sometimes top the list
13:05
of things that we think we should be
13:07
cutting back on
13:08
and when I think about how much joy we
13:12
both get from that skateboarding lesson
13:14
not just learning to skate but also the
13:17
people we meet and the experience we
13:18
have we both came to the conclusion you
13:21
know what things that bring us joy are
13:23
just as important as as other things in
13:25
our life like even you know like just
13:27
your food and things and I know that
13:28
we're in a very privileged position that
13:30
we've got the you know we we can do that
13:33
sort of thing but it just made me think
13:35
you know what when we're all cutting
13:36
back and everything it's really really
13:38
important for our own mental health to
13:39
make sure that we don't cut back on the
13:41
things that actually really make our
13:43
lives better and certainly our mental
13:46
health so for us it's skateboarding I
13:48
just wanted to ask each of you you know
13:50
what is it that you would be the last
13:53
thing on your list that you would cut
13:55
the things that you'd really want to
13:57
hang on to before you had to cut it
13:58
because you just needed to eat
14:01
Hannah what brings you Joy Hannah that
14:03
you pay for and you really want to keep
14:05
paying for oh well this is a
14:10
this is the consequence of having got
14:12
divorced
14:13
don't do it kid
14:16
he's single
14:17
um so uh yeah the thing though similar
14:20
thing actually that does bring me joy
14:23
but you have to pay for it is throwing
14:25
myself in the foam pit at the bike BMX
14:29
park
14:30
especially in the winter
14:32
so yeah I kind of I need to I need to
14:35
get back today it clashes they do a BMX
14:37
night and it's a little bit cheaper but
14:40
that clashes with the night ride group
14:42
that I usually go out with so then I
14:45
have to choose like to do a pay more to
14:47
go another night or do I go and ride in
14:49
the dark and the cold and the wet which
14:51
is emotionally for free
14:54
but involves beer at the end so yeah
14:56
post right beer beer yeah beer is
14:59
something we're all happy to pay for and
15:01
would really rather not cut back on I
15:03
should imagine hey there's a foam pit at
15:05
the place where you go skateboarding and
15:06
it terrifies me just watching people you
15:08
know it looks to me you can tell me
15:09
because I've never jumped into a foam
15:11
pit and I'm not entirely convinced it's
15:13
on my bucket list having seen the people
15:15
struggling to get out it looks like the
15:17
hardest part is getting out it is yeah
15:19
it's like a full-on all over every core
15:23
muscle that you don't have body workout
15:26
yeah and because then you start to sweat
15:28
all the like little bits of crumbly foam
15:31
stick to you as well
15:32
it's probably not very healthy right
15:35
it's definitely not on my bucket list
15:36
now thank you
15:38
Ben what's uh what's what's the thing
15:41
that brings you Joy that you would
15:43
really hesitate to cut back on
15:45
Disney Plus
15:47
silence
15:52
a relative
15:54
let me just go somewhere for a bit and
15:56
I've got sucked back into Star Wars
15:58
things and Andor and all the series that
16:01
are just on there yeah blue is on there
16:03
for the kids the uh kids program
16:07
Australian thing cartoon
16:11
um no idea what you just said Louie it's
16:13
Bluey it's a kids program well good it's
16:16
like the new uh Hey Dougie
16:18
nope still nothing I got nothing
16:22
um other than that I think we've ditched
16:23
everything else just trying to think
16:25
ditched Child Care ditched Netflix I
16:27
have just reinstigated so I got a deal
16:30
for YouTube premium
16:32
because I'm fed up of uh Google home not
16:36
doing what I wanted to in the kitchen
16:38
which is just play me a song I asked for
16:40
so I added capitulate on that front for
16:43
a month other than that I got nothing
16:45
yeah you don't put back on the beer
16:46
don't do an awful lot really now Mr
16:49
scullion here though he does not drink
16:51
which might be why he has so much energy
16:53
to get up all these mountains but I do
16:56
drink I just don't drink alcohol
17:00
a desiccated husk otherwise
17:04
so Pete what would you not what would be
17:08
the last on your list of cutbacks
17:10
um that's a good question
17:12
um I will though take this opportunity
17:14
to apologize for failing to grasp the
17:16
concept of a podcast when you asked me a
17:18
question earlier and chose to shake my
17:20
head instead of actually you know saying
17:22
the answer which is how I believe
17:24
understand now the podcasts work
17:28
um I mean I think to sort of echo
17:30
Hannah's um running a lean operation
17:33
like I was skinned as all hell for the
17:37
best part of a decade so I found some
17:39
fairly ingenious ways to not spend an
17:42
awful lot of money before things cost a
17:45
load of money so I don't think I
17:47
actually have a subscription for
17:49
anything I imagine I'd say probably the
17:51
thing I wouldn't want to cut back is
17:53
putting diesel in the car to go and
17:55
shove and bike up a large mountain
17:57
like I'm very lucky I have Trails here
17:59
and that because of my uh work with wide
18:04
open I get sent a lot of nice bikes to
18:06
ride and I could do that from the house
18:07
but every now and again and I that's
18:10
usually um an itch that has to be
18:13
constantly suppressed is to just go and
18:15
vanish into the highlands and spend far
18:17
too much time shoving a bike up the
18:20
mountain that's a questionable value and
18:22
it's riding down potential
18:24
where do you live Pete just to give some
18:26
context there is we don't need your full
18:27
address and postcode because we don't
18:29
have anybody turning up on your doorstep
18:30
but you know that's where are you I am
18:32
in Aberfoyle which is 15 miles June
18:35
north of Glasgow nice you've got some
18:37
good trails up there yes some
18:39
hilariously Steep and slippy trails in
18:42
the woods and then
18:43
the highlands essentially start behind
18:45
the house
18:47
so pretty pretty well spoiled
18:49
cool all right so there we go bear in
18:52
mind when you're making those cuts and
18:53
everything if something brings you Joy
18:55
hang on to it if you can there's always
18:57
something else that you should cut first
18:59
you'll look after your mental health and
19:00
that's a serious note and on that note
19:02
I'm going to hand over to Hannah
19:04
yeah I'm not sure how the Segway works
19:06
there but okay
19:11
well I had a better segue actually
19:13
because
19:14
people's talking about going up into the
19:16
mountains so you do take your bike to
19:20
the mountains that aren't necessarily
19:23
mountains that are good for riding up
19:24
and down because you're working your way
19:25
through them and Rose aren't you yeah it
19:27
became sort of a thing that I realized
19:30
that I'd done quite a few and I should
19:31
probably maybe see how many I'd done and
19:35
then just I started setting myself you
19:38
know everybody sets themselves New
19:39
Year's resolutions that's usually they
19:41
get to the end of January and decide to
19:44
ditch it
19:45
well I just decided to get to a certain
19:47
number of monroes by the end of the year
19:49
and then it just became a thing where
19:51
you're like oh I wonder where I'm at and
19:52
then you get to like I'm on 85 of 282 at
19:56
the minute and I don't really want to do
19:58
them all because I've done some terrible
20:00
12-hour walks with a bike
20:03
um I just want to go I like the find a
20:05
line on a map and if it happens to go up
20:08
a big mountain then go and see if it
20:10
actually goes on a bike usually 9 out of
20:13
10 is what I would call dog eggs
20:16
and the one is solid gold so yeah
20:19
usually you do a lot of terrible bicycle
20:21
riding on bicycle walking
20:24
and then every now and again you find to
20:26
find the good stuff
20:27
so okay
20:29
what makes you
20:31
look at a line on a map that you can see
20:34
goes up a lot of little closely spaced
20:37
red lines and over a mountain all look
20:39
at a mountain and go yeah I'm gonna get
20:42
the top of that because I look at
20:43
mountains and go look they look really
20:45
big from here and that looks like a long
20:47
way and I'll just stay here and look at
20:49
them from here like how do you find the
20:52
motivation
20:53
I it's what me and a pal of mine
20:56
describe as
20:57
um the fidget like I'm a hopeless
21:00
fidgeter and Mark asking me to stay
21:01
still for the recording of This podcast
21:03
is not sitting well at all it's sort of
21:06
like there's just this sort of inner
21:08
drive that um I was an excitable child
21:11
then have grown into a hairy excitable
21:14
child that just sort of never has really
21:16
gone away and it's a sort of shoving a
21:19
bike up a big hill is the one thing that
21:21
gets me it just sort of it's the on off
21:23
switch if you want to reset you go and
21:25
shove your bike up a big hill damage so
21:28
it's innate and there's nothing I can do
21:30
there's no tips I can have to acquire
21:32
such Boundless Energy
21:34
okay well so no no that that's not true
21:38
and um no with that attitude yes you you
21:42
consigned to
21:44
um
21:45
um eons of never having the fidget what
21:47
you've got to do is find another
21:50
excitable idiot and um I would say Miss
21:54
Rosie Holdsworth was the one I found who
21:56
like I didn't ride a big hill until
21:58
2012. Rosie said we should go ride hell
22:01
well in and I didn't even know what it
22:03
was at the time
22:04
and then we went and rode it and thought
22:06
Oh my good Lord I need to do more of
22:08
that so you need to find somebody that
22:10
sort of
22:11
can has enough
22:14
of that fidget that you sort of acquire
22:17
some of it passively and then if you go
22:19
and do the right one then you get the
22:22
you realize how good it is and it
22:23
doesn't look so far away because you've
22:26
actually done it okay you don't sound
22:28
convinced at all
22:29
[Laughter]
22:31
I feel like doing it it's like jumping
22:33
though isn't it you don't start with a
22:34
50 foot double you start with a little
22:36
kicker don't you yeah I think a lot of
22:38
people who do a lot of big Hills like
22:41
myself sort of will go and do what I
22:43
think is the best Hill is probably
22:46
everybody's idea of the worst
22:49
like I love an eye meltingly technical
22:51
descent and for most people like you're
22:54
probably not going to enjoy that I'd
22:56
imagine Hannah
22:57
so all you've got to do is misery on the
23:00
way up and the way down absolutely which
23:02
is not the idea so you've got to find
23:05
somebody with enough sort of sense to
23:08
maybe take you up the one that sort of
23:09
feels way grander than it is but it's
23:12
actually pretty straightforward and then
23:14
like there you go see you can do it and
23:16
then that's you you get the passive
23:18
fidget from that
23:19
is it is it all about the bikes is it
23:22
all about the mountains or is it all
23:24
about the creatures that you see when
23:25
you're out there what's the new find my
23:27
thing well I think it's definitely bikes
23:30
is like I've done a lot of different
23:31
sports like my parents were definitely
23:33
the kind that's like well you get them
23:35
doing everything and eventually they'll
23:36
find the thing that they
23:38
want to do forever
23:40
so I did White Water kayaking and
23:42
bouldering and all that football and
23:44
everything in between but when I got on
23:46
a bike it was the only thing that made
23:49
sense
23:50
like you do sort of was never that great
23:52
at one sport but sort of could do
23:54
reasonably well at all of them but
23:56
biking was the one that was just like it
23:58
gave me a feeling that I couldn't get
23:59
anywhere else it sort of evolved over
24:01
the over time think of appreciate the
24:03
landscape in the end and the wildlife
24:05
and more as a sort of because I started
24:07
racing downhill you don't really look at
24:09
the wildlife or the landscape and if you
24:12
do you're probably going to hit a tree
24:13
very hard and I'd advise against it so I
24:17
think it's it's changed over the years
24:18
it was definitely all about going as
24:21
fast as I could go down a hill and then
24:23
it sort of found that peddling is pretty
24:27
good as well and then taking pictures of
24:29
what you see when you're there so again
24:31
give a Shameless plug for your calendar
24:33
at this point thank you very much
24:36
so I I don't think I know of anyone that
24:40
takes quite such amazing landscape
24:42
pictures as you
24:44
um
24:46
the pictures that you take in the
24:48
mountains and the colors that you
24:50
captured do make me think that maybe
24:51
it's worthwhile going up into the
24:53
mountains and seeing that although I can
24:56
just look at the pictures that you take
24:57
and they didn't have a little bit better
24:59
than I might get when I was there in the
25:01
thick fog so yes Pete has a calendar for
25:06
sale for next year and then you can look
25:08
at the mountains from your living room
25:09
how do we get hold of this calendar
25:10
contact me please Instagram handle
25:14
possibly at Pete scallion
25:17
um it's pretty straightforward
25:19
um I did never went for one of these
25:20
slightly strange um Instagram handles
25:23
it's just my name sounds like it's
25:24
spelled
25:26
how many covers for single track have
25:28
you done Pete uh that is a good question
25:30
um well I can turn to my left but you've
25:33
told me not to because I've I keep I
25:35
keep all the magazines my first was in
25:37
issue 111.
25:39
uh which was the and then of uh three I
25:43
think I think it's three three or four I
25:45
don't think there's anyone had more than
25:47
that Hannah would know more than I do
25:50
but uh but yeah certainly you're in our
25:52
top ranking uh cover photographers and
25:55
it's interesting because we don't we we
25:56
don't um we don't actually
25:59
commission covers we don't go out there
26:01
and say Hey you know Mr Photographer
26:03
this is a cover we need we always choose
26:05
covers from what gets submitted to us
26:08
and we work it on that way so Pete when
26:10
you're out taking shots have you ever
26:12
thought because because our covers have
26:15
a certain it's there's a difference to
26:17
what I'd say is a traditional cover
26:19
isn't that yeah I'll cover is a
26:22
landscape and the way that we use it
26:24
means that the rider or the subject
26:25
needs to be on the right hand side of a
26:28
of a landscape shot so when you're out
26:30
are you conscious of that and do you
26:32
deliberately take shots that you think
26:33
might actually work like as a cover
26:36
well the nice thing is about that and
26:38
sort of the rule of thirds is generally
26:40
you're going to have a rider left or
26:43
right
26:44
so it sort of works quite nicely and
26:47
that that having the subject of the
26:50
photo in where it's either left or the
26:52
right Works quite nicely I mean
26:54
certainly when I've shot I mean you can
26:56
see how the people listening to this
26:57
won't be able to see but they the prizes
26:59
that you sent me when I won uh last year
27:02
are both behind me I would say the one
27:05
the actual the sound of our sake one was
27:08
definitely more of a
27:10
that worked because that's where that
27:12
sort of knoll Rock happened to be and it
27:16
was you weren't gonna you couldn't move
27:17
the mountains just to arrange it
27:19
perfectly for us I could I could not but
27:21
it's it sort of worked rather nicely
27:23
regardless you wouldn't have got that
27:25
shot out to muck egg and rum without it
27:28
whereas the other one which was actually
27:30
a selfie was completely unplanned
27:33
in fact they were both unplanned but
27:35
that one was sort of set the timer and
27:37
pedal like all hell was breaking loose
27:40
because where I needed to be in that
27:42
shot was sort of far enough away from
27:44
the camera that
27:46
so that one was more of a trial and
27:48
error kind of job
27:49
the one that was a selfie that was which
27:51
issue was that Hannah can you remember
27:53
oh Pete can you tell us which one it is
27:56
um it's 135 issue 135. so I think that's
28:00
only one of two covers that we've run
28:03
which was selfies there's I think that's
28:04
you and Sam Needham who've actually done
28:07
selfies
28:08
and uh and it's it's a remarkable thing
28:11
doing a selfie Action Shot how many
28:14
shots did you take to get that shot that
28:17
was one of two bursts of five is that
28:20
saying the camera and getting off
28:22
running off because I think Needham's
28:24
was a sneaky bar remote yes I'm
28:27
engineered either uh either an actual
28:30
Wi-Fi trigger whereas that one is a set
28:34
the timer
28:35
but I've always had nikons so I've been
28:38
doing timer shots since 2014 so you sort
28:42
of get fairly used to where the the
28:44
beeps and the clicks are coming people
28:46
listening to this should go to the
28:48
website and look at the picture because
28:51
Pete's really far away in this shot and
28:54
like perfectly against the Mist on the
28:57
ridge of a hill and all that like I mean
28:59
that morning was really quite
29:01
spectacular because it was sort of I
29:03
think it was you Hannah had suggested
29:05
that um I think I'd gone up that hill
29:07
three times and been thwarted by snow
29:09
and then you're like well why didn't you
29:11
write a sort of the art of persistence
29:14
and I thought well if I was gonna go and
29:16
shoot it
29:17
again why don't I make it as good as it
29:20
can get
29:21
and I think we had one it rained 27
29:24
consecutive days that November and the
29:27
one day it didn't rain that happened
29:31
but I started like at 5am in the dark
29:34
under a completely
29:36
um Starry Sky and saw the massive blue
29:39
meteor that unfortunately didn't make it
29:42
into a photo
29:43
and by the time I got back to the car I
29:46
think I'd been awake for nine hours and
29:48
didn't know what to do with myself so I
29:50
hadn't actually looked at any of the
29:51
photos wow so it's sort of one of those
29:54
amazing mornings that you don't really
29:56
ever get to appreciate until after the
29:59
fact
30:00
I I Hannah we were talking before we
30:03
were going to ask Pete weren't we about
30:04
how your tips how do you get a really
30:06
good shot how do you I think it's just
30:08
kind of outlined it doesn't it it's
30:09
getting up but stupid stupid o'clock
30:12
hang around all day get massive God the
30:16
commitment to be able to do this is
30:17
quite stunning but
30:19
if you had some simple tips for people
30:22
to get decent let's let's say these good
30:24
riding landscape shots you mentioned the
30:27
rule of thirds which of course I think
30:28
is all photographers out there would
30:30
probably understand but I I guess most
30:32
of our listeners might not know what
30:35
you're referring to there is that is
30:37
there something in that that you can
30:40
shape into a tip
30:42
yeah essentially I mean I imagine most
30:45
if you're shooting with a phone or a
30:48
camera you'd be able to get the real
30:49
thirds overlay onto the set what you're
30:52
shooting with and it's essentially
30:53
you're breaking the
30:55
um
30:57
breaking the screen down into
30:59
essentially nine squares
31:01
and you want to get the subject on the
31:04
corners of the Central Square
31:07
or somewhere along those lines
31:09
um and don't ask me why because I don't
31:12
know yeah it just seems to work you put
31:15
the subject on anywhere on the on that
31:16
Central Square and it will look better
31:19
than if it's anywhere else
31:21
it must be some some way that the human
31:23
brain works that appreciates that sort
31:26
of layout but my foot my migrant my tip
31:28
would be to go and read the article I
31:30
rate for single track called The Art of
31:33
art of the photograph
31:35
how where is this article where is this
31:37
article I believe you can either access
31:40
it on the on singletrackworld.com or um
31:43
go and purchase the actual magazine as a
31:46
a back issue I think if to go back to
31:49
your previous question mark if if there
31:52
was tips the one tip I think the problem
31:54
is and I've um fallen into this trap
31:57
before is because there is so much media
32:01
because phones are making it so good to
32:04
just churn out sort of half decent like
32:07
phone cameras and ludicrously good now
32:09
especially if you're the kind of person
32:11
who queues up for the new iPhone then
32:14
you are going to
32:16
um
32:16
you're gonna get a good camera that can
32:18
just take a decent photo with the Press
32:21
of a button you don't have to think
32:22
about it whatsoever
32:23
I think people just go and take photos
32:25
because they feel like they have to it's
32:27
like if I don't take a photo of that
32:29
really sort of flat light muddy ride in
32:32
a plantation Forest
32:34
like I'm gonna get left behind but it's
32:37
arguably the worst place to take a photo
32:39
because there's no light and there's no
32:40
color the UK being the UK is it's gonna
32:43
you're gonna have it's gonna be overcast
32:45
which means the light's going to be
32:46
terrible so maybe just don't take a
32:48
photo everything needs to look bigger
32:51
than it actually is to make it feel as
32:53
big as it is when you're riding it
32:55
because you do like a four foot drop and
32:57
yeah heart starts doing 220 and then you
33:00
see the photo back and it's like your
33:02
wheels haven't don't look like they've
33:04
come off the ground so yeah it's sort of
33:06
I think when people get frustrated with
33:09
the the photos they're not getting
33:11
is um that also don't see the amount of
33:14
times of um a photographer won't get
33:17
what they're after
33:18
like what you don't see is a lot of the
33:22
photos where I've
33:24
got up at half five in the morning and
33:26
the forecasts changed and it's
33:27
absolutely absolutely slapping down with
33:30
rain and I've just gone back to bed but
33:32
I still got up at R5
33:35
or you get to the mountain and you can't
33:37
see it because of the fog and you think
33:39
well there's lots of Fairly precipitous
33:42
Cliffs around the summit maybe it's not
33:43
the best uh time to shove up a new
33:46
mountain in the dark so you've gotta you
33:48
gotta give yourself enough opportunities
33:50
to actually get the good stuff can I
33:52
take a total
33:54
I don't know side track here go for it
33:57
is that allowed so
33:59
my daughter
34:01
I and all her friends take terrible
34:03
photographs like deliberately terrible
34:07
photographs and those are the ones that
34:09
they choose to print out and put on
34:12
their walls and stuff so literally
34:15
the the teenage fashion is for pictures
34:19
that are like the ones that you got on a
34:22
film where you went oh [ __ ] that was a
34:24
waste of getting developed wasn't it and
34:25
you took them out
34:27
I think it's the one that comes with the
34:29
were you moving too fast sticker
34:32
yeah or a thumb
34:38
reaction to having for anybody under the
34:42
age of 40 what Pete's just referred to
34:44
there is a phenomenon way back in the
34:46
days of film when we'd get our photos
34:48
back from the chemists and the chemists
34:50
themselves decide that they're going to
34:52
pass judgment on our photographic skills
34:55
by putting stickers on them that said
34:57
you were moving too fast
34:59
too dark yeah two good times but yeah so
35:03
I think it must be a reaction to having
35:06
the perfect shot like the Instagram shot
35:08
in your pocket at any moment and I do
35:11
wonder what that will do to oh and the
35:13
other thing is that they love old
35:15
cameras like my first digital camera
35:17
that has four pixels or something like
35:21
they like to take pictures of that and
35:22
then get them printed out
35:24
so I wonder what it will do for the art
35:26
of the photograph with this generation
35:28
comes through that's interesting yeah
35:31
anyway nothing to do with bites at all
35:33
but
35:35
photography that's where it's at right I
35:38
think we will probably bring this to a
35:40
close okay it's issue 142. that's where
35:43
you need to go back if you want to read
35:45
Pete's article in the Arts I'll
35:47
photograph we go to issue 142 of single
35:49
track one
35:50
we'll make sure there's links in the
35:52
story that we put on the website around
35:54
this podcast and uh and go and check it
35:57
out it's well worth doing it so I'm
35:59
going to say thank you Pete for joining
36:00
us today thank you amazing Pete scullion
36:03
one of our most prolific freelance
36:04
photographers it's been a pleasure
36:06
having you on the show
36:08
and uh make sure that you go and check
36:11
out some of his articles and some of his
36:12
work so from all of us that's goodbye
36:15
from me and goodbye from us
36:18
goodbye goodbye from him later
36:22
[Music]
36:43
foreign
36:51
keep still
36:56
boys
36:58
give me something that works I will but
37:01
your microphone's bashing around as you
37:03
did that's it that's your microphone
37:07
get you can get a hold of it and just
37:08
hold it like that then then I won't say
37:11
anything I'll just sat here holding a
37:12
[ __ ] cable so no one can see you I
37:15
know but I'll just be doing that
37:17
right I'm gonna set the talent free
37:23
I'm getting edited out at all
37:24
[Laughter]
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