Dusty and Dirty @ Mansfield

The event is called Epic, it's 8 hours long, and this one was dry and dusty!

I didn't have a chance to go through these photos - which were taken this past Saturday - until last night because I was a little distracted with a Canadian in pink. When I did get the chance to go through them I found the lighting and tones very interesting however the colours didn't work for me. So I opted to look for an Aperture preset that suited this gallery and came up with an appropriately one called "dust storm".

The spring edition of the Epic 8 Hour took place at Mansfield Outdoor Center which is a sandy, loamy location that generally drains well when it rains. Without any rain for a while, it turned into a very dry course that became loose and sandy in many sections. It made for some good photos though.

Last year this was a great event for VW buses too, there weren't many this year though. Here's the link to my blog entry from that event.

I've put up a gallery of this dust storm on my website
http://kraikerphoto.com/Mansfield_Spring_Epic_8_Hour_g304.html

Here are a few samples to give you an idea of how epic it was:

Hesjedal!

Wow, it really did happen! A Canadian wins a grand tour for the first time ever. Mark Sunday May 27, 2012 down on your calendar and celebrate it every year as the Giro d'Italia comes around. There is now a Canadian name on that beautiful and historic trophy the winner receives at the end of three epic weeks of racing.

I've been enjoying the stages leading up to this; seeing the Garmin-Barracuda team doing well in the TTT, seeing Ryder get the first Maglia Rosa ever worn by a Canadian, seeing him attack on the mountain-top finishes, and then DOING IT in Milan! Thanks to social media there are lots of links, photos, tweets, and more to see how significant this victory is. Here are a couple I've come across on Twitter that I like:

Garmin-Barracuda ‏@Ride_Argyle

Yep @ryder_hesjedal, that just happened. #Giro

axelmerckx ‏@axelmerckx

Hey Canada I hope you realize how big of a deal it is in Cycling what @ryder_hesjedal accomplish over the last 3 weeks! #canadianlegend

Graham Watson ‏@grahamwatson10

Ryder Hesjedal has won the 2012 Giro d'Italia - even if he cannot believe it..! http://twitpic.com/9pz290

Lance Armstrong ‏@lancearmstrong

Congratulations to @ryder_hesjedal on his incredible victory in the #giro. Gotta love it when the best man wins.

And this piece by CBC has a great hint on how to pronounce his name:

Ryder Hesjedal is a man whose last name is among the most often mispronounced in sports history. On television, they’ve given up and now say Hesh-DALL.
That’s wrong. Asked by the CBC a couple of years back, he gave us Hesh-JAH-dall, with an emphasis on the second syllable.
It’s not his style, apparently, to correct anyone.
Hesh-JAH-dall (keep practising) began his competitive career as a mountain biker, taking second in the 2003 under-23 world championships.


As I couldn't be there I did the next best thing. A cool café in Dundas, ON called Domestique-Café Cyclo Sportif was hosting a party to watch the final time trial and the major media outlets found out that Steve Bauer would be there so the big cameras showed up along with the little guys like me. The event took on a life of its own and proprietor Krys Hines postponed some down time to recover from surgery in order to make sure it ran smoothly. By the time Ryder was going to start the place was packed and overflowing out the front and back doors. The cheers and cowbells could probably be heard from blocks away and everyone was glued to the TV.

I wrote a piece on the event for Velonews so I won't repeat myself. You can read it yourself ("Canada’s cycling greats react to Hesjedal’s historic Giro win"). And if you want to experience a little of it yourself or have a reminder if you were there, PedalMag.com has put up the video I stitched together. It was one party of many that happened across this nation... if you were at any of them be sure to share and spread the word.

The photos that go with the video are here... http://pedalmag.com/?p=160018&c

Grand Prix Cycliste de Gatineau

With the 2012 Olympics just around the corner the ITT and road races held this past weekend in Gatineau QC were both important and well attended by the elite women's field. Greenedge, Tibco, Specialized-lululemon and many other teams sent their best talent with an eye on gaining important qualification points. While the World Championships are hard to get into, the Olympics are even harder as the teams are very small. Canada has more riders than we can send who could do very well in the road events, in fact I don't think there has ever been so deep a pool of exceptional cycling talent in Canada.

I hopped in my camper on Thursday to make the trip to Bourget where my friend Jackie has made her driveway available for me to camp whenever I'm out that way. We didn't get to spend much time together as she was headed back to TO for much of the weekend but it was still great to see her. My Friday plans included spending the morning with Dr. Vanagon (Frank Condelli) for Babe's annual check-up and then spend the afternoon covering the team presentation.

I'm happy to report that Babe's in good health although her parking brake cables are tired and old and needed replacing. There wasn't time to fit that in on Friday though, Frank gave the undercarriage a good once-over and tightened up the front hubs. The rest was all small tweaks and away we went. The team presentation was good and it was nice to catch up with some friends there as well as getting photos and video interviews. Here's the shot of all of the cyclists present (not all who raced, just all who made it to the event).

The elite women's field at the team presentation

Friday evening was quite, the usual post-event photo and video processing and then early to bed. the Chrono Gatineau started early the next day and I wanted to be sure to get there with time to spare. The morning was bright and clear, no wind... a perfect day for a time trial. On the road a little after 6, parked well before 8 and lots of time to get ready. Trying to organize moto support is always a challenge and I think the organizers have so many things they need to take care of that it's not near the top of their list. As the moto has to stay behind in a time trial I wasn't too concerned about it not working out. I did have my helmet handy though and left in the moto area. Unfortunately I left it there at the end of the day too... a long hot day with things still to do after the race had me distracted and I assumed it was gone.

The racing action during the day was intense. And impressive. From the Taiwanese team who race on their road bikes to the exceptional talent of top riders like Stevens, Hughes, Cooke and others it was an exceptional race. The post race interview with Clara Hughes was fun, she had some great comments to share including her thoughts on the corner she crashed in last year. This is what I put together and published to youtube (spoiler alert: it also includes comments after the road race):

Some of the galleries:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/chrono-gatineau-2012/photos
http://pedalmag.com/?p=158814&c

It took a while to process all the photos and put together galleries for the different outlets I was supplying images to. When I was finally done and settled in, the next thing I recall is the sound of birds waking me in the morning. I took my time, made coffee, and then went back out to Frank and Rita's place... Frank sent me an email to say he was available Sun. AM so he could work on the parking brakes. As there was no racing action I needed to cover this was a great opportunity and I jumped at the chance.

Frank was a little stiff that morning (ask him if you want details) but it was great to get together and spend a little time making the bus even more road worthy. Of course any job on a 30 year old vehicle is bound to throw a curve... in this case it was a nut on the rear passenger side hub that was "a little uncooperative". Nothing a saw, blow torch, drill and hammer couldn't take care of (plus close to an hour and lots of "physio"). It did come off though, and it was worth the effort as the amount of grease that went in that hub was more than expected. Way more!

The other surprise was in the brake springs on the other side... it was hard to adjust the shoes and then it became a challenge to see how to pop out the springs that were installed backwards without taking the whole assemble apart. Yes, of course Frank found a way. When all was said and done, we sat down to enjoy a cold beer.

So now my camper is that much closer to being ready, the only thing left is getting the injectors cleaned and that should happen early next week.

So much for Sunday! The evening was relaxing, the afternoon was just driving around the countryside, and the sleep was great. Next up was the road race on Monday.

Rather than write about it, here are a few photos. It was an awesome day of racing and I very much enjoyed covering it.

Here are the galleries that went up online:
http://pedalmag.com/?p=159291&c
http://www.podiuminsight.com/2012/05/22/photos-gatineau/
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/grand-prix-cycliste-de-gatineau-2012/photos
http://www.miroirducyclisme.ca/2012/05/teutenberg-wins-gatineau-womens-road.html

When the race was done, I hoped into my camper and headed home. Lots of traffic and the dreaded "Road Work" so it took a while. I did have a fun moment though... stuck in a slowdown, a CRV pulled up beside me and the passenger leaned out to ask "do you by any chance have rolling papers?". I laughed at the delightful stereotype and sadly had to tell her the bus was out of stock at the moment.

Back to my (new) usual

What a treat it was thinking in the context of photography as fine art rather than story telling. Although I hope my images tell a story regardless of my intent or the context of presentation I am aware of the difference I feel about the expression and so I assume it reflects what others see as well. Preparing for, and attending, a gallery opening was exciting. Definitely a highlight in my already brightly lit 2012 calendar. And I thought 2011 was amazing...

After a few days digesting the opening I'm now getting back into my "normal" state of affairs. And of course that includes a bike race. The second local MTB race was this past weekend and for a change the weather gods smiled... 2011 was a wet event for the early races at Woodnewton while 2012 was a beautiful day. Then again, so did the VW gods... last year I had to get CAA to tow the camper after the clutch failed.

So my mind is turning back to bike races, happily. I love the creative side of photography and strive to bring it to all the shots I take. As stunning as the ones on display at Leonardo Galleries are, there is just as much passion injected into the race photos and they too are unique. Definitely less time to compose the image, sometimes things go wrong in the heat of the moment, certainly no second chance to do it again. Getting a great or unique shot that isn't on 20 other cameras because we were all in the same spot matters to me. As does expressing a place the way I experience it when I have the time to look around and capture the location. So I'll close this little rambling post with a couple of photos and a link to the galleries from this past week end. It was fun to shoot this bike race, the next one will be in Gatineau over the long weekend. I know that one will be exciting too as it's the premiere women's UCI event in Canada and has valuable Olympic points available.

at leonardogalleries.com

and from the Woodnewton race:

5 Photographers, opening reception

Well!

What an evening that was! I don't know how many people came to the reception at Leonardo Galleries, I do know that the two hours flew by chatting with folks. There wasn't enough time to be able to talk to everyone and I do apologize if I didn't have a chance to chat with you.

Zoya (the gallery owner) put together a great exhibition, the space looked fabulous. I was impressed with how many people that little space can hold, clearly it's not that small after all.The feedback I got was very positive, people liked the images I selected to display and everyone had their own favourite. And the collected work of 5 different artistic styles was great to see... lots of different images to enjoy.

Here's one image I'll share, thanks to my son Zef for passing it along. If you didn't make it to the opening, don't worry as the exhibition is on until May 26. If you want to drop by let me know and I'll see I can join you.

With a few of my photographs, at Leonardo Galleries

 Fellow photographer Rick Bender sent me a couple of photos as well so I've updated this post to include them. Thanks Rick, I very much appreciate them.

My first: gallery exhibit

I'll wrap up this trilogy with a post about something I've thought about for a while and am thrilled to see actually come together.

On May the 10th, 2012 an exhibition entitled "5 Photographers" opens at Leonardo Galleries in Toronto. With a 2 week run during the CONTACT photography festival, an opening reception from 6PM to 8PM on the 10th will mark my first participation in a select exhibition. The last time I had any of my work on display this way was in a judged contest in Guelph Ontario. That would be in the mid to late 70s (and the photo submitted won).

I said I'd look to the positive... this has me smiling. And in case you're wondering, there are no bicycles in any of my photographs. Care to guess which of the five images below is mine?

A year ago

I didn't get to go down to Arkansas to cover the Joe Martin Stage Race this year, that's what took me south-west at this time a year ago. It's too bad too, the race action was great and there was very little coverage. I just didn't get anyone interested in paying for coverage, these are lean times I guess. It also meant I didn't get to visit friends down that way, something I hoped would come together.

It was a challenging time; ending some things and restarting some things. Looking back from the perspective of a year later I see things I messed up and things I got right. I'll try to keep my focus on the things I got right and I apologize for the ones I didn't. Life is a never ending learning experience.

So here are a few of photos from a year ago, the end of March to the beginning of May will always be a time of reflection when I will look to see how (if?) I'm progressing.

March 23rd... the beginning of the end of an era

May 2nd

Devils Den CG provided some solitude between busy days

Race Day... always a rush

The westy gives me great views wherever I go

North Carolina 2.0

Wow, it's been over a month since my last blog entry... guess I have some catching up to do! I'll start with the trip Andrea and I took the weekend after Homage to Ice.

As I mentioned in that entry we were headed down to North Carolina on Easter weekend for a week of cycling. The plan was based on an invite from Jennifer & Jamie, volks we met down there last year and had a great time with. This year we opted to bring our mountain bikes as we got the impression the trails around Brevard were "good". Boy were we surprised!

To be fair, Andrea did bring her road bike along so she would have the option to get some extra rides in. As it turned out she never used it, preferring to ride some of the trails a second time instead.

I loaded up the camper and picked Andrea up at the end of her work day. Plans to leave early didn't materialize so we were caught in rush hour traffic on our way out of town. After a long, slow drive to Hamilton traffic finally opened up and we made it to the border as darkness was setting in. Normally I prefer to be looking for a place to spend the night around that time but we still had a long way to go so we pressed on for a few more hours.

Based on a recommendation from Greg Potts we tried a route that took us near Cleveland and then south. It's a little longer but avoids some of the hilly part of the Pittsburgh route. Once we crossed into Ohio we pulled into the first rest stop and spent the night there (it was around 11PM when we parked). It was cold enough that I put on the SunLite catalytic heater... it was enough to keep the inside at around 15C overnight while it got down to 0C outside. The morning was bright and sunny and frost-covered. A quick coffee and on the road...

I-90 Ohio Welcome Center

A few stops along the way, including getting some credit to use on the Virgin Mobile MiFi I have for broadband in the States (more on that later!), and again it was getting dark with a ways to go. Andrea called ahead to see about a late arrival at the Davidson River Campground only to find out that it was full up that night (turned out to be the first day of trout fishing season). Some looking around on the 'net led us to Lake Powhatan Recreation Area Campground just south of Asheville. We got there about 10 minutes before the gates closed, were able to get a campsite and some firewood and so we settled in for the night. It was still cold enough that I put the SunLite on.

In the morning we headed to DRCG hoping to be able to find a campsite. There were a few empty ones when we got there so we picked one in the first loop. Turned out to be just a few sites away from Jamie, Jennifer & Jeff...perfect! After we got settled in it was time to get ready for a ride. When we got to The Hub (a great bike shop, I highly recommend it) we found out that it was a Scott demo day. They had dual suspension Spark Elite 29ers available sporting Rocket Ron tires. Andrea was interested in checking out the tires, I was happy to give a 29er a try so we signed up and off we went. Jeff and a friend were our guides... and what an introduction to the Pisgah trails! Steep! Even Steeper! After about 1/2 hour of climbing we finally got to enjoy the trip down... it was a perfect trail to try out the Scott and I can see why people like the big wheels. The "Twinloc" really impressed me too.

Back to the shop in a about an hour really feeling the effort, it had me wondering what I was in store for! As if that wasn't enough... we went for another two ride in the DuPont forest in the afternoon. Ouch! When we got back from that ride I saw a team kit I recognize; the Scott 3Rox women's race team. I say hi to Amanda and give her a minute to connect the dots, no way she was expecting to see a Canadian photog down there. A good chat with Amanda and her husband Kaesy, then a pint of Fat Tire Amber ale in the Pisgah Tavern (part of The Hub).

The Pisgah Tavern full of Canadians

Perfect

A few more days of riding after that... the trails just kept getting better and better. There's a lot (A LOT) of tough climbs, with the reward of flowing descents. And I know we only scratched the surface, although our "3 Js" made sure to get us to some of the best ones. I have a few of the rides up on Garmin Connect, feel free to take a look (and see just how slow I go!)

The Sunday morning was one of the main reasons I got some internet connectivity... it was Paris-Roubaix race day and we wanted to watch the live coverage. I got the laptop set up, we got coffee made and settled in to watch this awesome race. What a great race for Boonen!

I think I got my P-R route sign pointed the right way

All too soon the week was coming to an end. One last ride, then into the camper for a night at EveryBus in Greensboro. It just happened to be the same weekend so it worked out great!

EveryBus

The only not-great part was that I noticed the tailpipe was coming loose from the muffler. I gave it a temporary fix in the morning and it held up ok (had to re-do it once along the way but it made it). After we got back I had a friend try to weld it back together but it wasn't to be. I got an extra week out of it and then did the right thing... so Babe has a new look in the back.

Before...

After

I have a few more photos from the trip online, here's a link to them.