I shot this on a Panasonic G1 somewhere in England's Lake District last summer. We were cycling from Whitehaven to South Shields.
I think that this captures the magic of cycletouring. Mind you it's not all magic!
The nearest cyclist is my wife, Mary.
Your post about the camera shop is very interesting. Many of these chaps are far too "important" for their own good. They don't seem to realise that they get paid by "us". A really good camera shop man knows that if he's really nice to a customer, he may not buy now, but he'll buy in the future.
I can remember about 30 years ago when I lived in London being in one of the camera shops in the City and a shy Englishman was mulling over buying a secondhand Makina camera for about 750 quid, a lot of money back then. Next thing the shop assistant lit into him about not making up his mind etc. Well if he did, I lit into him explaining the fact that the customer paid his wages etc., and that if he didn't like it he should be elsewhere. Anyway I left and shortly afterwards I bumped into the shy customer who thanked me profusely for standing up for him. I can't remember if he bought the camera or not!
The ideal camera shop assistant does not jump on you, when you're poking around with "can I help you?". He can read body language and knows when he's wanted. He does not patronise you. He knows that some customers know a lot more than he does. He also does not sell you a pig in a poke.
