Lincoln Cyclocross

I just realized that I buried all the climbing I shot in CO earlier this month... I will get back to that. (Grumble)


I Had another chance to get out and shoot cyclocross two weekends ago in Lincoln. There was no muddy, but the course was awesome. It offered plenty of opportunities to play around with this camera thing, but I was still having mixed luck with my PocketWizards - much better than last time though. I had gone to a camera store to see if I could get some help, but of course, they worked perfectly while in the store.

I have been getting a good feeling of what it takes and what I need to shoot racing - this helps me stay focused and not waste any time or energy. The one thing I wish I had was a higher powered ring flash or perhaps one more flash to fill from the front of the compositions I set up. It'd definitely be another wrench in the engine, but it's tough to get more than 1 or 2 frames in of a subject before they move out of the lighting zone. A soft, frontal light would aid in providing better coverage. The F STOP Satori is still the best choice for carrying it all and I find using tripods as light stands to be much more beneficial. The problem with standard lighting stands is they only work on flat surfaces. Cross racing is anything but flat and not being able to adjust leg lengths makes attempting to use them mad wack.

*** Here's a gallery with my favorites from the Lincoln Cyclocross race.

I narrowed it down substancially and I will post the rest if people are interested. There'd be some fun images for print since it's basically like I am setting up an action photo booth on the course.

It seems that every 'Cross race I shoot I decide to not bring my bike to get around. My buddy Chris and I kick ourselves every time for not bringing out our two wheeled friends to mobile around on. It's kinda ironic because if I am not shooting bike racing, I specifically pack my bag to be completely functional and secure while riding.

The blue bag is a soft box and shoot-through umbrella. I was doing a bit of product photography for my friend James, the brains behind Spokiz sunglasses. He is a huge cycling fan so it only makes sense to go to his studio to take pictures via bike!

Been some time

I had my first weekend at home this month. I've been busy, been out of town. Many days (read not enough) in Colorado. More to come.

I've been shopping. I hope this thing works on cats.

Went to Cali to see mother.

Drinking coffee and diving into some fine art.

Wasted time or time well spent

Practice looking soooo good.

Go Motion Via the Rocky Mountains

Galleries::

Go Motion: Breckenridge

Go Motion: Boulder

The Thursday before Halloween found me up super early getting ready for a turbo trip with Go Motion (GoMo to the hip and trendy) to Colorado for some photography and general good times with the fried chicken loving band (no really, they love that stuff). It ends up, the good times came with buckets of snow, ice and road closures. Getting trapped in a blizzard wasn't exactly part of the fun, but it definitely was hard to avoid.

The trip was supposed to be simple. Drive to Breckenridge, sleep, head to Boulder and play another concert that night. The shows were premiers for a snowboard movie that GoMo had music in. Even better, they were sponsored by Pabst Beer. -- Add some icy snow, and a van pulling a trailer and you get a 15+ hour trip to Breck. Mapquest puts it at just over 9 hours. Even the mountains, which were supposed be clear, had plenty of snow and ice on the roads.

With the interstate closed, we could either sit in the van and wait or take small roads into Denver. We chose the latter because, hey, forward progress is still progress. Right?

Visibility was around 100 yards at some times and I cannot count the amount of times we almost got stuck.

Fast forward, We get there, Go Motion plays, It's cold as shit. Neal, Go Motion's sound man, a la W.E.R.D (his DJ pseudonym) rocks a solid set and we eat chicken strips at the bar until 3 or later. We tail it to Frisco where Sarah's (a good friend of Luke and I) cabin and I think I eventually get to bed at 5.

Back up sometime after 8 or so like a dufus (dang internal clock) I packed into Sarah's car and we headed back to the Front Range. She dropped me off at Man Camp, aka Adam's place, aka Pimpin and Crimpin headquarters where I just caught Andrew before he jumped into the shower. Chill.

Andrew and I made it to Boulder and cruised Pearl Street for the afternoon. We topped the afternoon off at Centro before heading to Movement. Movement is Boulder's newest climbing gym and it's a lead climber's dream with a healthy dose of bouldering for good measure. It also sports a dedicated training area, spin classes, yoga classes and weight room. They did this up right on the green level too with 80% of their energy coming from solar power. Word has it that the large facility had a 18$ power bill last month. That's Boss.

Go Motion played another good show on Friday then to my surprise, decided it'd be best to drive back to Omaha that night. We ended up leaving about 4 in the morning. I slept like a princess in a van on the way home.

Too Kinky for My Liking

If I could compare my first ride on the new Felt FC frame to a sexual experience, I'd definitely shudder at the thought of it, or need to seek counseling.

So started out, I snapped my chain about 5 blocks from home. The first time I stood on the pedals I peeled what must have had to been the link that was used to put the chain on the new frame. (Upon later inspection, that was it, sure enough) Luckily I had a spare quick-link and I popped the bad one and put on the link and was back on my way only with only minor frustration.

About the time I missed my first turn off my cue sheet, I noticed mad-whack... wait, I hadn't even got to my cue sheet yet. That's right! I got lost when I still thought I knew my way. Anyway -- Whenever I would turn over my pedals with much force, my chain would pop violently. I popped off my bike and threw it in a makeshift tree (bike) stand. Staring quizzically for some time, I figured out that the quick-link was ramping up on to the teeth above the current gear, i.e. the link was too wide for the 10 speed cassette. Great.

So yeah, now I have made the wrong turn and I am on a gravel road on 23c tires on a brand new carbon road frame. Sweet. Reluctant (read stubborn) to turn around I just went faster. Paralleling I-29 I could see a road going up into the hills across the way. Shit, why not. I jumped a fence and ran across the interstate. After a few more miles, I found pavement -- right at the top of Louis and Clark (I know some of you know where this is. And it'd be a good way to get to L&C via Omaha. As long as you don't mind playing chicken with 18 wheelers on the interstate.

Finding myself on track and knowing where I was on my cue sheet I followed it. At least I followed it for a turn or two before I spaced out long enough to miss another turn. Awesome. No sweat. I knew all roads there basically end on Highway 6. And after some good hills, I ended up there. I was able to find the right ratios where the chain wouldn't skip, but I still wanted to take care of it, so I whipped out the trusty Palm Pre and found Xtreme Wheels on the map. Go.

Blaine at Xtreme Wheels hooked me up with a fresh 10 speed link no charge and had no problem letting me do it myself - he said he could tell that I knew what I was doing before I told him I was a half-assed mechanic at the Trek Store. It's always good to find good people in the biz.

New pin in place, I was back on the road but contemplating whether to go down to the Bellevue bridge or swing back up on the BOB down town. I opted for the BOB going on time and had made it to Manawa when for some reason I decided to check my phone. Of course it wasn't there. So back to Xtreme Wheels I went. Sure enough, there it was on the work bench. If I had gone down to Bellevue, I probably wouldn't have checked for my phone and that would have sucked more due to the now driving North wind.

Back on the road, with all my crap, I rode back into Omaha. I was cold, tired, frustrated, embarrassed, but still grinning inside. And just like doing the horizontal polka with a poor dancing partner; I still enjoyed it, had a good time, beat myself up good, and wanted more when I was done. The first time is never perfect, but this one got way too kinky for my liking. It's gonna be an interesting relationship for sure.