The Framework Hereafter
It wasn’t too long ago that a majority of Photo Pace rendezvoused in San Francisco to photograph a story around City Slickers—a casual ride variant of ours. There was more to this specific affair on this day because we also had the responsibility to bring the—new at the time—Fizik Overcurve into the story as well.
What we do in the space that we are carving out is undefined and, without speaking for the entire group, there’s a part of me that enjoys the nebulousness of this space. It allows us to function authentically and without the anxiety of being counterfeited. On this particular day it was “all hands on deck”. We rallied as many members and friends within our bubble as we could to play model, photographer or both so that we could tell many different stories that would interweave into one. Emily C., Emily W. and Erin O. were all making their cameos to support our effort.
Click, click, shuffle, shuffle. All the things that go into the production that is a Photo Pace gathering occurred as they always do. The informality of a City Slickers ride always invokes the energy of a traveling picnic sans the smokey barbecue pit. I attribute a lot of my recent daydreaming to excess free time that the pandemic has afforded me but during the shoot I couldn’t shake the reverie of what Photo Pace is and what it will be in the future. I’ve made numerous Instagram posts eluding these thoughts and here I am again sharing them in a public forum of sorts. But, throughout the ride, every real moment seemed to advance in slow motion as I thought deeply about the fabric of the Photo Pace ethos that was being woven right before my eyes.
Some months later, which is only a week or so behind us, I met up with Emily C. again. This time we were assembling our gravel rigs in the suburbs of Hercules, CA. We had been trying to reconnect several times since our last meeting but plans continued to fall through. Eventually, after trying to sort out an upcoming weekend, Emily invited me to join her and her friends on a new, experimental route that she had drafted. Gene was initially part of the planning but ultimately it was just myself that would be present for this ride. When we met on this occasion the ensemble was reversed. I was the sole PP member while Emily and her friends made their way across the bay. Andy, I had met previously on a Fat Cake ride and the other friend, Katherine, was a new face to me. There was either something about me or something about the time between our last encounter that changed. It could have been the weather because it was remarkably nice on that Sunday morning in the East Bay but there was a different energy in the air. Even if it was only myself that recognized this ethereal spirit, I’m ok with that. Perception is reality even if it is manufactured. The fact that we connected to enjoy cycling in a way that felt genuinely refreshing was an affirmation to my thoughts that I had several months prior.
The day was beautiful the route was beautiful and once again I found myself dreaming. This time I wasn’t dreaming about the future, I was dreaming about the now. “How far have we [Photo Pace] come?” “We are lucky to be here riding these route with cameras just for the fun of it.” We hopped countless fences together. Andy grabbed a handful of shit while assisting Emily in getting her bike over one of the aforementioned fences. We never got lost but I questioned numerous times if we were going the right way but it really didn’t matter because I was always in good company. And to think, all of this happened because of a new friend. Emily is no stranger to some of the folks in Photo Pace but we most certainly are still getting to know each other. But what a gem! Emily, Andy, Catherine and I spent three-plus hours traveling 20-something miles and believe it or not, as many photos as we took, we were delayed less by photos and more by the constant grade that kicked up to +20% time after time. All the while, that energy remained.
“What is Photo Pace?” “What do we do?” Those are questions that I can answer on a different day in a different blog. But the foundation of what we do includes not only the eight members within but the people we enjoy creating memories with underneath the sun. I really try to avoid inflating my ego but I feel honored to be included on someone’s guest because at this point I do feel that I represent something that supersedes me. I want and I hope that what PP does brings circles closer together. That was my dream months ago in San Francisco. That will always be my dream.
