Tuesday 3 May 2011

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.

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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.

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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.....?

41 comments:

Roger said...

Awesome Gary..and good choice. My son is rapt with our 4th equal. Looking forward to the next one, and it has been great to discover a whole lot of new blogs that interest me. Good stuff!! And yes we run it again next year..

Bluekat said...

This was a fantastic idea Gary! So much fun to participate, and to see all the posts! I'm glad you compiled everything, because there are a number of them I somehow missed. I vote for another go next year!

Congrats to Pepper! I saw that post and laughed my head off. It was my favorite :)

Thanks Gary!!

Geoff James said...

Warmest congrats to all the placers - all wonderful photos.

Hey Gary.... that was a real stroke of genius mate and as a number of people have said, a fantastic way of drawing bloggers together. Maybe we should have a different "theme" every 6 months or so to keep the fun alive.

Thanks again for the enjoyment!

Axel said...

fantastic pics, yes please, run it again, I promise I will put more effort into it next time.
Your choice of winner is what I hoped/selected while browsing, great work by Pepper, fully deserved.
Suggestion for next round: do not limit to just one day of taking the picture, but a month or so

Richard said...

Answer to your question - yes, we must do this again. It's been brilliant seeing the work of bloggers from all over the world and making new friends. Congrats to all the worthy winners. In fact, congrats to everyone who got out there and made the effort.

And congrats to you for a marvellous idea in the first place.

Richard said...

One further thought - it's very generous of you to offer a prize, but it could get expensive for you if this thing happens again. Could you come up with a prize that wasn't cash? I'd rather have another competition than loadsa money!

Lady R (Di) said...

This has been fun! I think another competition is definitely in order! I enjoyed finding new blogs as well and you are the perfect host! Thanks Gary!

Eve said...

OH YES! I'm in for next year! I have to say you and Jackie did a fantastic job of picking the winners AND getting the job done so quickly! Hats off to you both! I still havent even seen all the entry blogs yet! A super great idea Gary and I'm happy to have joined in with the other first time entrants! Way to go guys and girls!
I even agree on the no cash prize...maybe an official widget designed by Gary France himself...a Badge for our blog would make it a worthy prize to achieve!

Steve Williams said...

Bravo for a great job with the contest. I think you've found an idea that will take off. Thank you so much for bringing so many bloggers together.

And Pepper's picture was great! Congratulations to her!!

Steve Williams
Scooter in the Sticks
Follow me on Twitter

mq01 said...

i love Pepper's pic! and wooley was sooooo right on! this has been fabulous fun, and i agree with those that say "no cash award". the new places and faces, new pics, new blogs, new friends are ALL more than enough to keep this alive for me. i would do this again next year :) thank you gary!

682202 said...

Gary,

The contest was a great idea and it must continue... I'm honored that my last minute entry did so well, thank you for the compliment. I couldn't agree more with you on the winner, Pepper's photo is great, and deserving of First place. GAW

Chris said...

Great fun Gary. I think we should do it again.

Congrats Pepper! Your photo was also my favorite.

GF said...

This challenge was a great idea and pointed me to many new blogs. Congratulations to all who sent in photos. The winner really captures the center line, the rider and Lizzie's creativity in a very clever photograph.
Congratulations to Pepper :-)

Queen of Zoom said...

Thanks for initiating the challenge and putting together this post of all the entries. I very much enjoyed seeing everyone's photos! And yes, I'd do the challenge again!

Unknown said...

Gary:

excellent choice for Pepper's photo. As you said, it is great to find other great blogs that we might not have found on our own. Thank you for taking the time to compile them all in one place. I agree that you would go broke handing out all this cash. A non monetory award would be just as good. It's amazing how clever some of us can be

bob
Riding the Wet Coast

Mike said...

This was a great event Gary! I'm sorry now that I didn't post an entry. I'm looking forward to this again next year. It's really great to see everyone's creative input - thank you!

Lizzie 'Pepper' Lane said...

Oh wow!! Thank you so much!

This was such a fantastic contest, I can't wait for next year's one.

I just love everyone's entries although my favourite photograph has to be that by Troubadour - what a great idea!

The cash prize was very very generous of you Gary - thank you again!

FLHX_Dave said...

This was great! I see this as an annual event to kick off each riding season. I agree with your pick here and I thought Troubadour had a mind warping idea.

I'm bummed I didn't get mine out there. pfffttt...I'm going to do it anyway just so you can see what I had in mind. Thanks for the bright spot here today.

Trobairitz said...

39 entries.... Great job everyone!!

Can't wait to see what your next challenge will be. Maybe I'll participate on the next one instead of being just a human shutter release. Too tired from a long day of riding to do this one. Good excuse, yeah?

Again - great pictures everyone.

Troubadour said...

Great challenge and I agree with other comments here, way to bring the motoblogging community together. I simply enjoy the challenge and creativity, a monetary compensation is not necessary, just waiting for the next one.

It's going to take me a few days to go through everyone's blogs and check out all the other photos.

Thanks for such fantastic photos everyone, I had fun!

ToadMama said...

Absolutely! It was lots of fun. Perhaps next year it'll be a day when I have my bike with me. :-)

Now I'll have to go read all of the other blogs I've never read before. And I have two new followers thanks to you. My motorcycle blog (where in my delirium and exhaustion from traipsing all over the Big Apple I posted the picture second) is at http://appalachiantours.blogspot.com.

Jack Riepe said...

Dear Gary:

Congratulations on the success of your First Annual ABCD. I regret I was not organized enough to participate this year, as I was still getting acclimated to the anonymity of the Federal Witness Protection Program. (I will never get used to answering to the name of "Ezra Saunders," and Echo Flats, Montana is one tiny place. There isn't a white line for 4500 square miles.)

For highly sentimental reasons, I got a real kick out of George F.'s picture, and told him so. I agree that Lizzie Pepper's shot was the clearcut winner, but I thought Steve Williams was pretty original too. Once again, congratulations on a great idea.

As I stated, your blog has been added to the "Destinations" list on Twisted Roads.

Sincerely,
Jack • reep • Toad
Twisted Roads
"The Motorcycle Adventure Blog Where Life and Second Marriages Are Dirt Cheap"

redlegsrides said...

Cool contributions from everyone! Congrats to Pepper!

dom


Redleg's Rides

Colorado Motorcycle Travel Examiner

WooleyBugger said...

Congratulations to Pepper. I thought that was a funny well done shot. This was fun so yes! I thinks we should do it again next year.
Thanks for coming up with this Gary and a big plus was seeing all the other blogger pictures.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to Pepper! This was a great contest and fun to see all the submissions. Thanks Gary!

FabGrandma said...

I missed the deadline by three days, but I still wanted to play! So today when I was out, I took my own centerline photo. Although I don't ride a motorcycle, I love the concept of this!

Pat said...

nice choice. I agree. I wish she was looking at the camera.

Jerry said...

Bummer shoot shoot ah man,,,,I was setting around with family Sunday night and was reminded about the ABCD photo shoot. I had it all planned out too. Setting on the line, on my new Harley Classic with 3 of my grandkids trailing behind. Sorry I missed it but really enjoyed looking at everyone elses. Gary, in my book, I think your shot was number 1. Although I can see how hard it was to choose. Looking forward to next year. Maybe I'll have time to take one this time around.

Tucson Bonnie said...

GRATS Lizzie! You need to print that one out and frame it.

Thanks for putting it together Gary. Can't wait until the next contest.

Dawnita Rose said...

Love the contest and have found so many new blogs I want to follow. Please do it again next year, I am sorry I missed it this time around. Thanks

Webster World said...

All great pictures. We all know the one KT would have picked. A lot of fun it looks like. Very creative.

Unknown said...

Great pictures everyone and congrats to the winner as that was a very creative shot. Thanks Gary for holding this. It was lots of fun :)

Conchscooter said...

There were 40 submissions actually.Gary France wrote:

"Conchscooter – I can do nothing except apologize!

I was worried that I might miss someone’s contribution. I just saw your comment on Bobskoot’s blog about me not acknowledging your ABCD picture and I wondered what you meant, so I looked back at your blog and sure enough, there are your pictures. I feel really bad, especially as you took them at 6.30 in the morning. Believe me, I didn’t choose to ignore them, I somehow just missed them."

You could have added a correction actually. So I add the correction myself. Next year? Probably not worth it for me.

Richard said...

Conchscooter - it's called human error. Gary's done a fantastic job with this competition, but he makes one mistake and you're beating him up about it? Next year? He probably won't bother if this is how people react to a genuine mistake.

Come on, he's apologised. Forget it.

SonjaM said...

Thanks to Gary and to all participants following his call. It was great fun to virtually travel around the world and discover a lot of new fellow bloggers. Pepper has earned it, great shot, typical brit humor, a good choice. Let's do that again.

VStar Lady said...

Agreed - Pepper was the definitive and most creative. What fun for all. Thanks again ...

Rhonda said...

Gary, well done. I agree with your winner, what a fab set-up/shot! I'm already looking forward to it next year!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Gary for this competition. I say YES do it again next year. I've found several new blogs because of this like others have. This was a great idea you had.

Gary France said...

Thanks everyone for your comments about the ABCD competition. It was a fun thing to do and it seems that a lot of people found a lot of other interesting blogs as a result. I will run something similar again, but probably not until next year, although I will need to think of another theme as the basis of the competition. As suggested, I think I will extend it so that the picture doesn’t need to be taken on just one day.

Thanks to everyone that took part and sent in comments!

wheel balancing said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Double Glazing said...

I am very much excited to try out my new bike. I am waiting for it to be delivered. I surely hope I won't clash on first try.