During this year's training season I've added a new element to my rides that harkens back to when I first started riding out in Kansas. Back then I needed a motivation besides just training to get me to ride long distances and as morbid as it might sound I would ride out to cemetaries as a destination. It would give me a thing to research a bit with the DeLorme maps so I could plot a route, a place to go, a place to take a break and something to occupy my mind on the way back after reading the inscriptions on the headstones of plots ranging from family plots to civic cemetaries that were abandoned after the '53 or '71 floods.
My new project is an idea I had a while back but never had the chance to realize. What I wanted to do is take pictures of me and my bike in various places around where I rode. Originally, it was going to be cemetaries but soon the idea was broadened. Unfortunately, digital cameras were bulky and akward and somewhat low resolution and I could never find anyone who wanted to ride with me so the idea was shelved.
Recently, however, I gained the use of a little Kodak digital with a 4 megapixel CCD and a small enough form factor to fit into a jersey pocket. I've been taking it along with me on my training rides (especially the recovery rides) and snapping pics of the bike. The creative idea is to find things from days gone by that have been run down and left to decay and take pictures of them and the bike together. My first idea was old country stores and their gas pumps but I've broaden my horizons to include old houses, factory buildings and municipal centers. What I've been looking for was an old truck to put the bike in the back of as a composition.
Today, on a recovery ride, I passed a big open lot that has old school buses and while looking around spied an old VW bug. I decided to take a few pics of that and when I got there I saw an even older car back under a tree. After getting the VW shots, I posed the bike next to the car (as you see above) and took some photos. I knew the car looked like it was something from the early 50's and I figured that the Corsair nameplate would identify it as something from the Cheverolet line from the time. So I "googled" the name and after a few false starts (one of which, the Phantom Corsair from 1938, was very cool) I found the car. I think what the car is is a 1952 or 53 Henry J Corsair Deluxe manufactured by Henry J. Kaiser. Kaiser acquired his factory in much the same way Tucker did after WW II by purchasing an old bomber plant in Willow Run, MIchigan. If you check out a couple of enthusiast sites you can see that the car had really elegant lines.
What an unexpected find! I go out to take a few photos and stumble across this rare car that even though it's in pretty terrible shape was cool to photograph. I guess it just goes to show you that you never know what you'll find if you keep your eyes open and your wheels rolling. If I have time, maybe I'll figure out how to post a few more of my photos and my wife's excellent Photoshop work with a few of them up here in the future.
Thanks for Reading.
