Back to Covering Bike Races

This weekend had back-to-back races and I was able to get out to them both and shoot my first events of 2014.

I'll start by saying it feels great to be back. Got to see lots of people I haven't seen in a while, get caught up a little, and practice my "art". And it was tiring... each event was about 5 hours long plus travel time. And then the post-processing.

Saturday's race was an cross-country marathon that's part of the series hosted by Dan Marshall of Substance Projects. With an 11AM start for the full marathon (and 11:30 for the 1/2), pre-race time and travel it meant being on the road around 8. Andrea was racing this one so we needed time for her to get registered and go through her customary pre-race jitters but we ended up getting to the Ganaraska Forest area well ahead of schedule. We drove around the area a little hoping to find some fresh local asparagus (struck out) and then headed to the start. Bad planning on my part... we were in the camper and had everything we needed to be able to make coffee except: yes, coffee. So we socialized :)

I put up a few photos on Facebook and published around two hundred photos to my website. Here's a sample:

And here's the link to my full gallery: http://kraikerphoto.com/2014_Long_Sock_Classic_g338.html

Then on Sunday it was the SCCC's Niagara Classic road race which features the Effingham climb as it's main feature. I've raced this course and know how hard that climb is from personal experience, although it used to be at the end of each lap and was the place the race was decided when I did it. Not that I was anywhere near that end of the pack! The past two editions have had the climb at the start of the lap with the finish line on a smaller road that is easier for the organizers to control for the finish. It still has a bit of a kicker up to the line and after all the laps up "F-ing-Ham" even that would put a bite in everyone's legs.

This event was my first official assignment of the year, and my gallery went online earlier today at PedalMag.com, here's the link...
http://pedalmag.com/niagara-classic-2014-race-report-and-photos/

One of the teaser photos I put on FB is of the RealDeal women scoring a big win, it was a great race for them and they had some tough competition.

And to wrap it up, here's the link to my gallery:
http://kraikerphoto.com/2014_Niagara_Classic_RR_g339.html

Next up will be the Mansfield MTB O-Cup this coming Sunday, I plan on riding the course in advance so I can see what it's like (and just have a little fun on the bike).

When I uploaded the photos to my website I realized how few events I'd been to in 2013. It feels great to be back.