I’ve stored this idea ever since the iPad came out. The word tablet played around my head like a dried pea in a ref’s whistle.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do and I also knew the man who would fit the part perfectly. For a couple of years the idea festered – mostly in the back burner –  until, during a meeting with Trek on a different matter entirely, I blurted out my plan. Strangely, Chris at Trek liked it. She worked it into her plans for this; Trek-Cyclimas PCT, the world’s first pro bike-riding commuter team. Ed Oxley, or Great Rock as he is known about Twitter parts and in his business, is part of the team and Ed has the best beard in biking. He also owns an iPad and so do I. The long drive to Hebden Bridge was most definitely on! But not before I visited my local fancy dress emporium and hired a biblical outfit. Not the exact colours of Charlton’s robes in the Ten Commandments, but near enough that you can tell the vintage..    Keeping it cycling, I picked up some Bontrager shoes and socks en route. We hit the Great Rock (Yes, there really is one above the town) and it was absolutely perfect for the shots. Couldn’t have looked more Heston-esque if it tried. The weather was amazing too, but bloody freezing. Ed was shivering like an chimp on comedown and I was leaking dew drops onto my LCD screen. But we both thought of what Charlton would do and soldiered on, lantern jaws jutting into the cold eastern wind.

I ran up the Q-Flash lights and fitted an ND filter to darken down the sky as much as possible, knowing that would help any post production work. For the top image, my good samaritan Neil Cain came to the rescue in that regard and performed wonders (getting into the spirit now) to send back this fantastic finished article. I asked for more lightning bolts, because, well, you can never have enough of ‘em can you?

Alex McKenzie turned up from Facebook and worked on this image of Ed in contemplation mode on the Rock. Cheers Alex!

Ed and I are working on the next session which will be the parting of the seas. We are looking at the Mersey or maybe Morecombe to Ulverston, but you’ll be the first to know. Bring your blankets, bedsheets and donkies and be a part of it!  For more info and to see another shot from this session,along with others I shot for the project, visit www.procommuter.cc and follow @procommuteteam  And remember Ed’s Commandments of Commuting are Carved in Stone….