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| Photos by Ken Conley | |
The rest of the Boggs III photos are up: the set is now a whopping 300+ photos. These are more sedate compared to my crimes against zoom. If you're Internet connection can handle the load, check 'em out. I would pare down the set, but I wanted to give people a fair shot at seeing a personal photo.
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| Lauren, not at Santa Cruz |
Cat 3 ripping up the pro crit:
Winning a pro race, in a solo break no less. Dang.
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| Photo by Ken Conley |
Boggs III is an 8-hour MTB endurance affair up on Cobb Mountain, north of Calistoga. It takes place in a pine-needly forest that reminds me a lot of being back on the east coast.
It was my first time mountain biking in probably five years and my first time riding a full suspension, so needless to say I had a blast -- even with 20 pounds of camera gear on my back. Boggs III is a fun ideal of a MTB event: a bunch of people camping in the middle of a forest with live music, dogs running around, and kegs of New Belgium.
I took hundreds of photos of standard portraits, but as I and the riders got more tired, I started throwing in some ridonkulous slow-shutter-zoom shots that you see featured above. Fun, though you waste about half your reel. I'll have about another hundred photos to upload tonight from my wide-angle lens. Nothing as fun as you see above; mostly a bunch of panning shots.
Unfortunately I just found out that my friend Carl who lent me the bike was seriously injured, so I hope that his recovery goes well. He's the nicest person I met at the Tour of California and the type who has no trouble or hesitation stepping into whatever role is needed, so it sucks to see him injured while taking photos and video to help promote the race.
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| Photo by Ken Conley |
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yes, I blew the finish shot and tried to hide it with bad creative photoshopping...
Ronde van Brisbeen 2008 Circuit Race Photos
Stage 2 of Ronde van Brisbeen is a 1.7-mile circuit race in the Brisbane Highlands. This year's event was brutal with its smack-you-in-the-face headwind on the climb to the finish. Gusts were strong enough to knock over the hay bales used in the turns.
BMC led an attack on nearly every lap up this climb with Cal Giant covering, which quickly shelled most of the pack. Surprise entry Freddie Rodriguez looked fairly comfortable in the lead group, having just finished off a burrito 15 minutes before race time. BMC sprung a two-man break with Nathan Miller and Brent Bookwalter that quickly gained a minute lead. A Cal Giant rider tried to bridge but the windy conditions were too much. Fast Freddie tried to pull it back, but he eventually found himself accompanied by only two riders: one of them from BMC.
I used this race to practice for the Tour de Georgia. You can probably tell from the gallery what shots I was practicing. I don't like going for the special effects shots too much, but they're fun in small doses.
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| Photo by Ken Conley |
Scene: sitting on a hill overlooking the finish, a bike is laying still in the grass. "Popssssssssssshhhhhhhhhh..." One of its tires gives up -- it bore its rider to the finish, but Copperopolis took its toll.
I went out to Copperopolis this year, billed as the Paris-Roubaix of California. Intead of pave, there are roads that were never properly paved, cattle grates, and water bottles dislodged by the bumpy descent. The course itself features beautiful climbs up canyons, a lake, farm lands, vineyards, and rolling green hills. As a photographer, I couldn't be more thrilled that I wasn't riding, especially after I saw so many riders carrying their broken bikes.
Several winners were disqualified for crossing the yellow line at the finish, making it the most decisive part of the course. The yellow line started in the final 100m to the finish and was a bit like putting a driving test at the end of a brutally difficult day.
The Pro Men's race was a BMC vs. Cal Giant slugfest. BMC brought Taylor Tolleson, Mike Sayers, Jackson Stewart, Jonathan Garcia, and Scott Nydam among others. Cal Giant brought their armada of 14 riders. Tolleson and Sayers were among the four BMC riders and four Cal Giant riders in the lead break of eleven that started the final lap. I left before the actual finish, but I hear that Tolleson won.
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| Photo by Ken Conley |
On a day that was both beautiful and sad, thousands of riders showed up to pay their respects to Matt Peterson and Kristy Gough. Riders moved in a slow procession down Foothill to Stevens Canyon, with the Sheriff's department pitching in road closures and a rolling barricade.
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| Photo by Ken Conley |
Photos from today's Beat the Clock TT are going up. A little bit of rain on the roads didn't keep riders from coming to test themselves against the clock.
It looks like there's no end to cycling celebrity fundraisers you can make the rounds on to gear up for the Tour of California. In addition to the Prologue Challenge and Breakaway From Cancer w/ Hincapie, you can also see Phil Liggett speak at Testarossa Vineyards in Los Gatos.
Phil Liggett – "The Voice of Cycling" will be live and on stage at Testarossa Vineyards in Los Gatos, California, Wednesday night, February 13th at 6pm. Phil has been broadcasting top professional cycling races including the Tour de France and the Olympic games since the late 1970s. He has become a household fixture on televisions in at least five continents. His voice, passion and enthusiasm for cycling is unmistakable.
Come meet Phil and enjoy many interesting stories from his years covering the professional peloton. Hosting Phil will be the Bay Area's own Bruce Hildenbrand. Bruce has been a cycling journalist in print, video and radio for nearly 25 years. Come and learn the true inside stories from professional cycling that you won't hear on TV or in print.
100% of the proceeds of this event will go to the Junior Track Cycling Development Program at San Jose's Hellyer Park Velodrome. To learn more about Junior Track Cycling in Northern California go to: http://www.ridethetrack.com/juniors2.html
Doors open at Testarossa Vineyards 19th Century winery at 6pm. Light appetizers, wine, beer, and soft drinks will be served before Phil and Bruce come on stage at 7pm. A silent auction benefiting Junior Track Cycling of rare and priceless cycling memorabilia, many donated by Cupertino Bike Shop, as well as limited edition autographed bottles of rare wines will also be available to bid on before the show starts at 7pm.
The first 50 event tickets purchased will get front section VIP priority seating, so get your tickets today.
Breakaway From Cancer is hosting a 25-mile charity ride with George Hincapie on February 10th. The ride starts at the Stanford Blood Center in Palo Alto and will continue along the Portola Loop. They've amassed some nice fundraising Incentives for those who participate:
You may have noticed some Beat the Clock time trial photo sets make there way through here. Here is the 2008 announcement -- please note the auctions, which support the Lance Armstrong Foundation (along with the events themselves):
Beat the Clock 2008 kicks off with a blast on February 10th, and an auction NOW: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=190192671602
We regret to inform you that Beat the Clock and Help Beat Cancer 2008 has also been affected by the writers' strike. PR manager CFB's brain went on strike, resulting in belated announcements. However, Patty van Baenen came back from retirement to fill in for our striking Beat the Clock PR writer, answering all pertinent questions. Read on...
Dear Patty,
I have recently been invited by a very good friend to attend a charity event. This event is hosted by Beat the Clock and Help Beat Cancer, all proceeds go to the Lance Armstrong Foundation benefitting cancer patients. The problem is that this event is a Mini-Marathon, involving all sorts of grueling workouts like spinning, core and strength training and stretching. The most athletic activity I'm involved in right now is bending down to pick up my knitting needle when I drop it. If I don't attend, my friend will never talk to me again and I will not hear any of the interesting gossip she always knows about. If I do attend everybody will see that my body looks like an oversized Tootsie Roll in Nike pajamas. Please help, the event is very soon, on February 10th.
Desparate in the Bay Area
Dear Knitting Cupcake,
You better shape up now, before it's too late. But you don't have to break a sweat, you can donate online. Just tell your friend you gave charitably but can't make it on February 10th because your Albino Chihuahua already has an appointment for Aleaslim Cellulite Treatment.
Dear Patty,
I have been looking forward to the Tour of California all 22 days of the year, and have trained thousands of miles indoors in anticipation during the frozen icy winters of Massachusetts. However, as a category 0 racer I have not been able to secure a contract by a Tour team. I am devastated. Is there any way I can still participate?
Overtrained in Boston
Dear NorthEastern Cycling Hamster,
it may not be too late for this year's Tour of California, there is still time with some performance enhancing help. I suggest a regimen of EPI infusions (editor's note: Extra Pints of Ice-cream) along with a concurrent prescription of Versus, which should however be administered by a professional in order to avoid detection by Weight Watchers. Alternatively, Beat the Clock just put a ThresholdPower training camp up for auction, in Solvang during the time of the Tour. Train like a pro, watch the pros live, and maybe next year you'll be able to race in a pro team. Bid NOW!
Thanks for reading, the Beat the Clock team
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| Photo by Ken Conley |
Jana Ireton, who launched the Specialized Angel as the symbol of the Tour of California and beyond, has written to say she will not be wearing the wings in 2008. She endured many a cold KOM to spread the Specialized brand and represent a heavenly California counterpoint to the Tour de France Devil. But unlike the Devil, the Angel has corporate overlords.
Specialized wanted to take the Angel icon beyond the US and has decided to go with a multilingual Spanish model. Fret not, Original Angel Fans: Jana says, "I will be along the sidelines cheering on the riders at various stages of TOC and enjoying every moment as I have always done. And yes, "I am Specialized"!" To see more of her message, read the full entry.
See also: People dig the Specialized Angel
Continue reading "Kisses from the original Specialized Angel" »
I've posted the bulk of my photos from the 24 Hours of Adrenalin World Solo/Team Championships at Laguna Seca, which was won by Tinker Juarez in a battle with Kelly Magelky. I was inspired to go shoot the race after watching 24 Solo -- cycling is about pain, and these riders are definitely at the extreme of that. They raced for 24 hours through 90+ degree sun, uphill sand sections, pitch-black night, and poison-oak-lined single track. You have to race perfectly because a broken chain can flush all your efforts down the drain.
As a photographer, it's a great event because you get to shoot under every type of lighting: noon, sunset, darkness, and sunrise. You also have plenty of time to explore different parts of the course and find your shot. I had to limit myself to an eight-hour effort -- I'll have to train harder if I want to do a full 24-hour event as a photographer ;).
I was a bit disappointed to not see an Eatough/Gordon rematch -- Eatough was busy closing up his NUE crown (DNF with a broken axle), but Juarez and Magelky delivered great action as they were constantly on each other's wheel.
46-year-old Tinker Juarez out dueled Kelly Magelky to take the title of World 24 Solo Champion in Laguna Seca, California. Tinker was constantly nipping at the heels of Magelky for the first nine hours of the race that I was present -- the long hours of the night tipped things in favor of the now five-time champion. Both Juarez and Magelky finished with 19 laps completed, an amazing feat in hot weather and sand-ridden tracks.
As it turns out, I took close to 800 photos at the World 24 Solo and Team championships. While I figure out how I'm going to slog through that, there were two photos in particular I wanted to share.
There is a short uphill climb on the course that is pretty much all sand and darn near impossible to do on a bike. I watched rider after rider from the non-elite category come through. Some would get halfway up before getting off the bike. Others would jump off immediately and push their bikes, pleading with their eyes for me not to take a photo of this. I was surprised to hear excuses and expressions of shame, as if you need to justify your actions to someone who's sitting on their butt while you're racing a 24-hour race. I would console them with the fact that I had yet to see anyone make it all the way to the top.
These riders might be interested, "how do the pros handle this?" Continue if you would like the answer.
Today was cycling photography day. I woke up early to go to the Beat the Clock charity time trial and then drove down to Laguna Seca to shoot the 24 Hours of Adrenalin World 24 Hour Championships.
I put myself through the grinder mainly because I wanted to test my new camera equipment before I head out to Missouri. Overall I'm pleased, but I do need some more practice with the new lens. The 70-200 f/2.8 is much heavier than the f/4, so my reflexes are lagging. The autofocus also reacts a little bit different, which will take some getting used to. The image stabilization is having a greater affect than I thought it would -- my images seem to have a higher average sharpness while tracking, even when shooting at fast shutter speeds.
Pictured above is Olympian/former National TT champion Christine Thorburn. I didn't get a good shot at her in the first pass because she was passing someone, so I drove like crazy to get in front of her -- again she was passing someone. She was pretty much always passing someone, but third time was the charm -- even at 50mph it was hard to get far enough ahead.
Another bikerbert race report, in which the life of a little girl is spared and bikerbert learns that the bodies of other riders are cushions
Continue reading "Bikerbert race report: Burlingame crit, Time to Pay the Piper" »
Pescadero Road Race is a fun race to shoot as (1) it's not an office park crit (2) there be lots of scenic country and (3) there are multiple laps. My assignment for myself this time around was to break in my new equipment: my 580EXII flash, and 16-35mm II haven't justified themselves yet, and my Photoshop CS3 prize was still waiting to be unwrapped.
Former USPS rider Dylan Casey rode the M35+ race and won the final sprint, except he got relegated for crossing the yellow line into oncoming traffic. Crossing the yellow line in front of the judges table wasn't a problem in the Pro 1/2 Men's race: second place Chris Lieto flatted and MTB Pro Barry Wicks was able to coast across the finish line with arms raised in victory.
Sarah Bamberger of Cheerwine took the victory in the Elite 1/2 Women's race.
For your entertainment: my friend Al/bikerbert describes his most recent crit experience. You might enjoy reading if:
Continue reading "bikerbert race report: Crits and Oatmeal" »
Damian Gonzalez has posted his Cat's Hill video on the Delta Velo site. I talked with him at the race about the logistics of shooting from a motorcycle and, frankly, I'm a bit terrified :).
I had to cancel my South Bay Invitational MTB plans but I got plenty of photos at Cat's Hill. It's a fun little course that throws rider repeatedly up a steep climb, so there's plenty of dropped chains and riders running uphill on foot. It also turned out to be an ideal place to practice my zoom panning technique.
Many of us (photographers) got fooled by the Mike Sayers effect. After watching Sayers crank it up Cat's Hill again and again, we all immediately thought the victory was his as he jumped for the sprint. So it is that at least three of us had our cameras trained on him as Safeway rider Dan Martin came up the inside through the shade of the tree in his stealth-black uniform for victory (sorry).
My camera has been picking up dust since Sea Otter so I plan on shooting at Cat's Hill as well as the NorCal High School South Bay Invitational -- the latter to practice my MTB shots and poison oak identification.
Levi made another appearance at Copperopolis (aka Cali's Paris-Roubaix) this year and took the win. Greg Drake of Alto Velo has a race report. My hopes are up that this means Levi will make another appearance at Sea Otter as he's been a good photo subject for me this year.
Apparently, Levi had attacked on the final climb and popped Kevin Klein and Andy Jaques Maynes with Kevin continuing alone and Andy being absorbed by the chasing group containing his teammate, Jesse Moore... Needless to say, Levi took the win. Kevin Klein was nipped by the chasers from behind right at the finish after being out there all day long.
The Tri-Flow Menlo Park Grand Prix was a bigger event this year with more sponsors, etc... I went to go watch Dan race the 45+ and 35+ events as its much more interesting to take photographs when there are particular riders that you are targeting -- it's easy enough to point your camera at a peloton and get a photo of some rider in focus; it's much harder and more important to pick out a particular rider. Of course, Dan made it easy by driving a breakaway for almost the entire race.
I also used the criterium as a chance to practice shooting sprint finishes as well as 'trick shots'. Pans are easy enough, but I really wanted to start getting the hang of the zoom pan as I'm planning on trying it out on the corkscrew at Sea Otter. I've included my results below.
Zoom pan, aka Dolly Zoom, aka "Hitchcock zoom": I don't know what the right name for this is, but I've been enamored of the technique ever since watching Hitchcock's Spellbound. With a Dolly Zoom, you move the camera backwards as you zoom in to keep your subject the same size while weird things happen with the background DOF. With cycling photography there is no dolly but the rider is coming towards you. All you have to do is zoom out while keeping the oncoming cyclist the same size. If you pull it off, you're subject will look fairly normal but you'll get interesting streaks around. If you go to fast, you'll get weird sorts of distortion, which I guess can be fun once or twice.
I shot these at 1/30th - 1/50th of a second on my 70-200:
Pans: this is a simple technique, not hard to execute. It's the bread-and-butter of cycling photography techniques. I'm snobby enough that I don't like taking these sorts of shots. I took a couple for fun, but most of my time was spent on the zoom pans. I shoot pans at around 1/160-1/200, which keeps it fairly easy.
See also: Menlo Park GP 2006
Floyd Landis will be at Jillians in SF on Sunday, coinciding with the start of the Tour of California. He's there to raise money/awareness for the Floyd Fairness Fund, and tickets prices are $35. I would like to go, hear his defense in his own words, and have the chance to take some photos of the event, but I have qualms about ponying up $35.
My opinion of the Landis case thus far has been that Floyd is right in that athletes deserve a better testing process and that Dick Pound has made a mockery of fairness in testing. However, believing that the testing process is substandard does not mean that I believe Floyd is clean, it just means that I have doubts.
LATS in Los Altos/Loyola Corners is hosting fund raiser for the Lance Armstrong foundation tomorrow and Sunday. There are classes (pilates, cycling, core, etc...) from Saturday noon all the way through Sunday noon ("24 hours of fitness") that you can participate in ($20/class, 4th class is free).
This was my first time out shooting with my new Canon 30D. It was also my first time shooting a race under tree-shaded conditions. Although many of the photos didn't expose properly, these are some of my favorite photos that I've ever taken at a cycling race. The lighting created such interesting contrasts in the photos, the trees are a much better backdrop than business parks, and there is so much more detail with the ambient lighting. It's much more... dramatic.
These photos got buried under a pile: the next day was the Burlingame Criterium, then next week Al and I did a time trial, and then I had to shoot two weddings in the following weeks. Rather than bury them any longer, I've decided to go ahead to post them without processing.
It only took me six months, but I've finally processed a set of Burlingame Criterium photos (30 photos). This was the first race that I shot with a Canon 30D, so it took some getting used to. The improved focusing of the 30D also allowed me to attempt some new shots, including some cornering close-ups.
I'm also testing out some new processing styles for my photos. I've gone high contrast + warming filter on most of these. I also tried a couple of soft-focus filters for grins, which are meant to hide the fact that many of the highlights are blown out I'll see what style I prefer come Tour of California time.
Crashes:
Soft-focus tests (post-production):
Cornering close-ups:
NOTE: lots of video in the extended entry
update: forgot to thank erik the first time around for the heads up about the event. Thanks!
d and I went up to SF to watch Levi speak at Lombardi Sports. It was primarily an event held for Colorado Altitude Training's Shaun Wallace to promote his products, with Levi chiming in on how he uses altitude tents in his training and how they've improved his metabolism and recovery.
But I was there primarily to hear from Levi, so I was happy when Q&A came around and talk of altitude training died down a bit. There were of course plenty of questions and rephrased questions as to Basso vs. his role on the team. Levi admitted he was surprised that Discovery signed Basso, but he hasn't given up his hopes for the Tour de France. Noting that many teams run with two leaders, Levi seems to be taking a two-phased wait-and-see approach: wait and see if Basso/Discovery survive the current uproar, and wait and see who is the strongest come Tour time.
I couldn't resist my own take on the question: "much has been said about the tension with Basso, but I'm more concerned about the Tour of California. If I recall correctly, George hunted you down on Sierra Road. Is there going to be a little West Coast vs. East Coast this Tour of California? Are you going to uphold California's honor?" Levi answered my joking question with an interesting fact about the route: he tried to get the organizers to have the route go up Sierra Road twice and finish at the top, instead of the long, open boulevard run into the finish. As for the rivalry, "George owes me one."
Levi was surprised by one questioner who had inside information on Levi's wind tunnel session. Apparently, Levi's new time trial position has the lowest drag they have ever seen in that particular wind tunnel. After getting over the surprise at this 'top secret' information getting out, Levi noted that he can only use the new position on straights and he hasn't quite figured out if he can really ride it outside the wind tunnel.
(continue reading for video)
update: oops, forgot to include link to more details
Lombardi Sports in SF is hosting a "special evening" with Levi Leipheimer. Event is limited to 50 people, and I don't know if they have already run out of spots. It should be a good chance for those who attend to figure out who is going to be passing water bottles to whom on Team Disco.
Event Details (thanks erik )
Al told me the sad news that Alto Velo elite team rider John Peckham was killed by a drunk driver on Old Page Mill Road. It's sad to recognize a rider in a photo, know how skilled they were, know that the road is one of the safer in the area because of its lack of cars, and know that skill and low-traffic road weren't enough to prevent a random, reckless, and tragic incident.
Al, Jill, and I went to the Menlo Park Grand Prix to get our pre-Tour-de-Georgia fix. It was fun watching a bunch of local cyclists -- some of whom I had recognized from the Alto Velo club meeting I attended -- racing for club and personal glory. I was tempted to hop on my bike and attempt to finish a Cat 5 race, except I didn't bring my bike because I'm terribly afraid of crashing.
I was surprised by the number of crashes for such a flat circuit (1km around an office park). There was at least one crash in all three of the races I watched and if you look closely in the photo above, you'll see a rider going down on the straightaway. One Cat 3 rider I talked to said she had her very first crash, which was caused by someone running into her in a turn. The worst I saw was at the end of the Men's Elite 2 race when an Alto Velo rider went down hard crossing the finish line. Another rider was sent flipping over him and managed to leave his cleat attached to his pedal. Both riders were fine, though the Alto Velo rider had some nice road rash.
We chatted with one of Al's former clients that raced in the Men's 5 35+. This was his ninth event and his wife told him that he could shave his legs when he made some money off of his racing. After all the crashes I saw, that seems like some really good motivation to start winning (or to quit).
I need some more pratice with the cycling photography so I'm going to try to make as many of these California cycling events as I can (Sea Otter, Menlo Park, Garrett Lemire). There are a lot of Velopromo events in the Fresno vicinity, bu