Colombia's finest

One of the scenes I was really looking forward to shooting was in Bogotá's velodrome with a kid named Edwin. Seeing is believing and inspirational. Edwin lost his left hand when an old land mine he had seen on the ground exploded. Although he has some unique challenges now, Edwin is poised to make the 2012 Paralympic games in London racing on the velodrome. I was able to get a smile out of Edwin when I gave him one of my Trek team jerseys, but his gift of inspiration in return pretty much made my gift to him pale in comparison.

Day 2

This phot was taken by Jacob, our host, in a roll-reversal inside downtown Bogotá just after shooting with some very cool musicians and a great crew. (and yes, that is Colombian coffee!)



It's only been 24 hours, but we've managed to shoot several, solid scenes. The local ground team here is unblelievably sharp. Felipe, Laura and Maria - thank you for keeping us on track.

Up in the air

I'm not big on ripping off film titles for my blog, but I couldn't resist as I'm literally on a flight to Bogota, Colombia right now. This is right on the heels of a trip to Belgium and France that took me to some of the world famous cycling staples such as Ghent, Wevelgem, and the famed cobble stone stretch in Paris - Roubaix ... The Arenberg Forest. I'm sitting next to Dave G as we prepare to shoot some new episodes of music voyager over the next two and a half weeks. We're meeting the whole crew on the ground and it looks like cameras start rolling immediately. I'll do my best to keep this updated as the journey unfolds. I've got some training to incorporate while I'm down there as well so I'm pretty sure I'll stay busy.

Photos to come. I hope.

Adding up the miles

I'm currently in a hotel room in Kortrijk, Belgium getting ready for a couple full days of shooting. I'm getting a little disoriented as I just went to NY and saw Libby absolutely shine in her show, The Libertine, just before crossing the pond into the beautiful country loaded with historic structures, mussels, beer, waffles, chocolate and much more. I'll post some photos when I get a chance, but for now I should get some sleep. (I think it's been 28 hours or so since I got any real sleep!) I'll need to rest as a 2 and a half week trip to Colombia is on the schedule just two days after I get home... I feel very fortunate to do these things and it's certainly exciting. Exhausting, but exciting.

A Red Carpet of sorts

Tonight is the first semi-public screening of our film, Red Rocks Territory. Chris, who works at Filament, and I are excited to show the finished product to the several talented individuals involved in the production. (and the few 'outsiders' that we were able to sneak in...) Although there are targeted outlets for this film, I believe the final home(s) where this project will live is yet to be determined. As they say in television, stay tuned.

The Balance

What can I do to improve? It's something I ask often when it comes to different aspects of my life, such as cycling and work. And beleive me, there's ALWAYS a list...

As a gift, my roommate got me into a training program at the Athletic Improvement Center, a program which will help train my big weaknesses. An example would be core strength. I've always worked on my core, but even after the assessment test a few days ago, I'm still struggling to walk! This is going to be very good. The people involved are really positive and it's one of the most important qualities for me - and these guys exemplify just that.

This program is happening at the perfect time as well. I leave for nearly a month when I go to Europe and Colombia. I'll have some good workouts to focus on at the end of the day.

I'm really looking forward to these trips as we're striving to make Music Voyager (and the other non-disclosed projects on tap) the best they can be - and better than before.

Looks to be a good, and busy, Winter.