To an outsider like me, cowboy gear always seemed a little like a costume. Not quite real, you know?
But after a week of riding and camping in all sorts of conditions, I now have a deep appreciation for my boots. Plain old Justin Ropers – the most unadorned, non-pointy, street-looking boots I could find, so I could wear them when I got home too.
The heel helps keep you in the stirrups, the slick (leather) sole makes getting in (and out in an emergency) very easy, and the high shaft helps with the chafing. And being pull-on, if things go very wrong and the boots somehow contrive to stay attached to the stirrups while you have to make a sudden dismount, there’s a good chance you’ll come right out of them.
And what else would you wear tramping through a muddy field, or sitting round a campfire after a long ride on a damp day?
I shouldn’t be surprised, really – the cowboy gear is as much a set of tools as anything else. Stuff that helps you do your job.
It’s the same with cycling equipment – an arena I’m much more comfortable with of course. It might all look funny to the outside world, but there’s a reason behind all of it. Except the faux-denim look (complete with fakey pockets on the back) for the shorts worn by the Carrera team in the late 80s, early 90s.
A couple of weeks ago I was hired to shoot young Tessa – the cute two-year-old daughter of some friends of ours. The shoot was great fun, and we got some good photos.
Last week I went to 
