Mountain bike racing: The Original Growler

Our big event on my local trails, Hartman Rocks is the Original Growler which is put on by my friend and mountain bike OG Dave Wiens. It's offered as a 32 Mile Half Growler which is one lap of the technical singletrack course. Full Growler riders do two for 64 Miles. I have done the full a couple of times myself and can verify it's pretty hard!
I spent both Saturday and Sunday out on the trails shooting photos, averaging 1000 per day. I primarily used my Tamron 28-75 with a flash on one camera and my new (to me) Pentax DA* 60-250 f/4 on another camera with a monopod for stability. I really like that new DA* lens!

Here are a few highlights:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7365/8...837df55f_c.jpg
IMGP2871 by MattB.net, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7450/8...83df5a33_c.jpg
IMGP2357 by MattB.net, on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3713/8...562f99d7_c.jpg
IMGP3187 by MattB.net, on Flickr

Brian Smith who just became a dad a few days ago in the lead:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3826/8...8c13d3c8_c.jpg
IMGP2379 by MattB.net, on Flickr

Colorado Trail Race winner and Ride the Divide contender Jefe Branham
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2847/8...8cedc57d_c.jpg
IMGP2407 by MattB.net, on Flickr

Every finisher of two laps gets a Growler (64 Oz beer jar). Looks like this guy sure earned his!
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7298/8...b987c6a4_c.jpg
IMGP2652 by MattB.net, on Flickr

Very nice set Matt. I like all the shots but think for me it is a toss up between 1 and 2.

Excellent! Great set of photos. I'd love to see more. My favorites are the first, third and the last one of the filthy finisher. I think photos of wasted, dusty racers at the end of a big race are great and you got a good one here.

The more I look, the more I think I like the third one the most. It kind of gets lost in these other in-your-face images. But it's got a subtlety and depth that will make it last. It's one to print and hang :)

Thanks guys! I have hundreds more that I'm offering to racers on Zenfolio but they have an annoying watermark (required for this kind of sales IMO).

Full Growler: Matt Burt | 2013 Growler - Full
Half Growler: Matt Burt | 2013 Growler - Half

I've been super busy but if I have a few minutes to put a couple more up on Flickr I'll share them here too.

Quite an enjoyable series !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Photo-John

I'd love to see more.

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I have a few more up over at Mountain Flyer. Some repeats from this post but also some different ones.

Super group of pics. You guy out west sure have some great places to ride with fabulous scenery.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Old Timer

Super group of pics. You guy out west sure have some great places to ride with fabulous scenery.

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Thanks and yes, it's true about the great places. This particular area is only about two Miles from my house so it's my after work ride area. It's photogenic and it's really fun to ride!