ABCD Competition Entries and Winner

The ABCD has been and gone, with pictures taken and submitted.

There were a total of 39 submissions, which I thought was a good number. I would like to thank everyone that took part in the competition and submitted a picture.

What especially pleased me was the obvious effort that a lot of people put into this. Some of the pictures were very creative requiring a lot of thought and planning, and some people travelled a long way to get their shots. Others simply went and stood in the road and that was great as well – taking part was what mattered. Blogging is about communicating and we nearly all use pictures to help us do that, so holding a photo competition seemed like an obvious extension of what we do for our blogs.
                   
One of the people that submitted a picture, WooleyBugger, summed it all up for me when he said that through taking part he has found “a whole bunch of fantastic other blogs to catch up with now”.  I absolutely agree with this. By spreading the word about the competition and getting quite a few entries, I think we have all found something new to interest us in other peoples blogs that we didn't know about before, and I am grateful for that.

Of course, it was also a chance to see what some of our blogging friends look like.

I thought it would be a good idea to include all of the pictures that were submitted. They are all below, in no particular order and I have included links back to the persons blog with each picture.

I have chosen my favourite pictures and they are at the bottom of this post. My criteria for choosing my favourites was simple and was no more complicated than which did I like the best! As they say, the judge’s decision is final.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Here are all of the entries.

This picture is of Geoff James from Coromandel, New Zealand, taken just before a deluge....

This is the entry from Roger Fleming, near Auckland in New Zealand, taken in very high winds....

Richard in Pembrokeshire took a picture of himself on what he calls "my bend"......

Ian Solley reckons there is a tiny part of him reflected in the gauges of his bike.....

This is my own effort, which of course cannot win.....

Despite being affected by the recent storms in Alabama, Eve from Sunny Side Up  managed to get out and take a picture including her green centerline....

Chris Luhman who also goes by the name of "The Stig" put in a picture of himself with his bikes which he uses for Everyday Riding....

Rob Campbell put in a picture of himself and his two sons.....

Doris who will be visiting the Grand Canyon tomorrow sent in this picture of herself ...

Lizzie 'Pepper' Lane submitted a very clever and creative picture....

Steve Williams who rides A Scooter In The Sticks sent a picture of himself prone on the road.  Note the scooter on the side....

This is Linda Lavin standing in front of a tremendous view on  County Route 11 in Bolton Landing, New York....

Taken on Larwood Bridge, this is bluekat who rode over the bridge by bicycle and on horseback as a child....

This is Allen Madding working as a car park attendant at his local church on ABCD....

This is The Kitchen Witch, aka Rhonda in front of the Big Belt Mountains in Montana....

He only learned of the competition on ABCD itself, so D. Brent Miller needs to be congratulated for getting out there and getting his photo done and what a great bend in the road he found....

VStarLady posted a montage of pictures on her blog as part of the ABCD competition....

From Alabama, this is the picture submitted by Lady R....



mq01 went on a ride near Yosemite on Old Priest Grade, which is quite a road!....

D. Ford took this shot  on the road from Laughlin, NV (Bike Week) on the way back to Phoenix, AZ....

PatHenderson went for a May Day ride and stopped outside the Molly Stark House in Dunbarton for her ABCD photo....

The picture Axel submitted was taken on a HOG chapter ride near Camberley in Surrey, UK....

In her quest for the perfect line, Sonja not only found it, but she also found a perfect sky as well....

Linda Sand took this picture of her foot on Interstate 80 as she headed east through Nevada....

The Queen of Zoom took this picture in Pennsylvania on a four day road trip....

helmetorheels chose this location for her ABCD picture because it was the first street she rode her motorcycle solo about one year ago after passing her endorsement test....

What a spectacular background Tucson Bonnie found for this picture....

ToadMama had this picture taken of her when on a visit to New York City - what a terrific pose....

WooleyBugger said he chose this location "because like my Sportster it had been left aside for many years until someone decided to breathe new life into it; it's a work in progress"....

In the ABCD post on his blog, Bobskoot posted a few pictures which were all very good.  I liked the fact that he needed a human shutter release (Mrs Bobskoot) to take the one picture he chose for the competition....

Troubadour sent in both an excellent picture and a very funny comment that went with it, when he said "Cagers just don't understand motorcyclists, let alone motorcyclists parked in the middle of the road taking pictures of their bikes"....

This is charlie6 on the Cache La Poudre Scenic Byway.  Some say he looks like a motorcycle cop in this picture, but I am not so sure....

A very creative picture submitted by 4T8Harley taken just off the Pacific Coast Highway....

Brooke Foster posted a picture from beautiful Sedona, which is where she is currently at on her 140 day road trip....

I had to both laugh at and feel sorry for George F.  He rode 60 miles to the George Washington Bridge in New York to take a particular photo, but when he arrived there, the required centerline was missing, so he added one himself....

One of the very few night shots was posted by Rex Covington and it was very clever to find a light source to illuminate himself and his bike while keeping the dark sky....

682202 has a picture that captures riding a bike on a wet night.  A great picture GAW....

Submitted by Pat, this shot is simple but very clever at the same time....

The picture by motoroz shows him standing at a crossroadsand the posting on his blog explains why....

That concludes the submitted entries.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As for the winning entries, I found that really hard to judge as there were so many great pictures. My wife Jackie help with selecting the top pictures but it took a long time to eliminate others. For example, LadyR’s picture was a hoot and Tucson Bonnie’s was in a fantastic location. Sonja’s was really sharp with great colours but sadly, none of these made the final shortlist.

I have selected four pictures that shared 4th place and these are......

In equal 4th place, 4T8Harley’s picture of riding around a bend near the Pacific Coast Highway in California. The composition is terrific, as is the way the bike blurs and fades behind the rider. The fact that he is obviously giving it gas going around the bend helps also....



In equal 4th place, Bobskoot’s picture is both great fun and in a great setting. He chose the location well and his size and position in the picture is just right....



In equal 4th place, Raftnn’s black and white picture looking over the raging water is very moody....



In equal 4th place, Steve William’s picture of him laying on the road is brilliantly simple and the yellow of his jacket goes very well with the yellow of the centreline....










In 3rd place, I have selected Rex Covington’s night picture. The way the light from the side highlights the road, Rex himself and his bike while keeping the fading blue sky dark is tremendous....










In 2nd place is G. Wheeler’s night time picture of riding in the rain. It is full of action and speed. The picture just jumps out at you and is deserving of it’s second place....










My favourite picture and the winner of this competition is that by Lizzie ‘Pepper’ Lane. It is one of the most creative pictures submitted and I love the way the bike rider looking back is just out-of-focus, adding to the feeling of distance and remoteness. Pepper and her friend obviously put a lot of thought into this and chose the location well. The final outcome is a great picture that is also funny. Well done Pepper and good luck with your soon to be taken motorbike test....



Pepper, I will contact you about getting the $100 prize to you.


Now a question, do we run this ABCD competition again next year.....?