You've Got to See This Ride Journal
When he's not creating art for bike companies such as Blackburn, Ibis Cycles, and Vanilla, Chris McNally can be found pedaling the roads and trails of San Francisco. The 39-year-old illustrator often stops along the way to capture his rides in drawings and watercolors. He makes a compelling case for stashing a sketchbook in your jersey pocket. "When I take my watercolors on a ride, it's a completely different experience than a training ride—it's more of a meditation," McNally says. "Painting outdoors inspires me to develop a new color palette in a way that I never would inside."
In his own words, here's how McNally combines his two passions, and his advice for unleashing your inner artist on the fly.
I came into the cycling world as a mountain biker because I grew up on the top of a mountain.
My first bike was a hand-me-down Rockhopper from my dad. In 1998, when I moved to San Francisco from Colorado, I got my first road bike, a 1984 Merckx.
Since college, I've always had a sketchbook on me.
I try to capture the look, feel, and mood of a ride. San Francisco has so much shifting light and moisture in the air, which makes the lighting really dramatic.
Picking a line and flowing through natural landscapes is a spiritual experience for me.
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Stop during your ride. Pay attention to your surroundings. Don't do anything but look at the world around you.
Desert landscapes inspire me—the cacti and rock formations are amazing.
I just got new prescription glasses, so all of a sudden I can see much better detail, which is why I'm so obsessed with patterns in nature.
Compact watercolors and a small palette will fit into a fanny pack. You can use a camping cutting board as a backboard for your sketchbook.
My favorite piece is my most recent work until the next thing I make, and after a week or two I never want to look at it again.
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