Some Cyclocross

[jorgemonkey]

I've been lurking a lot lately since I've been busy lately, which is good. I figured I would be around more in the past 2 weeks since I got a concussion in a hockey game, but in the past month I've photographed 3 weddings and 4 bike races among other things.

I shot a wedding Sat night, got home at 1am, and my kid woke up at 4:45am sick, I shot the bike race with running on 3 hours of sleep. It made for a long day. I also bought some new rain pants/jacket since I knew it was gonna rain. The pants ripped along the inseam about 10 mins into the day. It also was supposed to start raining at noon, and it started at about 9 instead. Overall I had fun and decided to try some new angles to try to get something different.

1.


2.


3.


4.


5. My favorite from the day. I shot it with my D2h + 12-24 F4 lens at around F4, manually focused, mounted it on a lightstand, and held it up about 8 feet above & over the course, triggered with my pocket wizards


6.


7.

[Photo-John]

Great photos, Scott! I really like these a lot. I'm a little jealous, too. I went to shoot a CX race on Saturday and I was excited about rain. It poured all the way there while I was on the freeway and when I got to the venue it was drizzling. I was psyched and prepared for muddy carnage. But the mist stopped shortly after the women's A race started and the rain only started again as I left. I felt totally ripped off. Another day of dry cross photos

The good news is it's been pouring here for a couple of days now, it snowed here (at my house) last night, and the storms are supposed to keep going almost all through the week. So next Saturday's double Halloween race - costumes encouraged - should be excellent!

Once again - great photos. Glad you shared them. Let's keep the CX photo stoke going!

[jorgemonkey]

Thanks!

BTW I'm heading to UT again Jan 1-15th, and I noticed there is a cyclocross race on the 8th (I believe) in SLC. Maybe we should finally meet up and shoot some cyclocross for a few hours. I figured I could talk my wife & parents into letting me shoot while they go shopping. Win-win for all

[Photo-John]

Thanks!

BTW I'm heading to UT again Jan 1-15th, and I noticed there is a cyclocross race on the 8th (I believe) in SLC. Maybe we should finally meet up and shoot some cyclocross for a few hours. I figured I could talk my wife & parents into letting me shoot while they go shopping. Win-win for all

Sounds good. That is the post-season no points race, if I remember right. And it happens to be just a couple of miles from my house. I am planning to go. I want those snow photos! However, if the snow is good, I will be skiing. That's just how it goes

We definitely need to get together this time, though. So lame that we haven't made it happen yet.

[Chris350]

Sounds good. That is the post-season no points race, if I remember right. And it happens to be just a couple of miles from my house. I am planning to go. I want those snow photos! However, if the snow is good, I will be skiing. That's just how it goes

We definitely need to get together this time, though. So lame that we haven't made it happen yet.

Yep that's the party race.. turn out can be iffy. If it dumps snow everyone goes skiing... Race had 16" of new on the ground last year, and it got warm as the day progressed.. It rocked. I'll be shooting it again this er next year.

[armando_m]

nice shots!!

I'm just realizing the competitors seem to be using road bikes with somewhat fat tires, but not all the way to mountain bike fatness ... interesting

why not race with a mountain bike ? the road portion is too long ?

some of the obstacles I think can be jumped of by a skilled enough mountain bike rider

[Chris350]

nice shots!!

I'm just realizing the competitors seem to be using road bikes with somewhat fat tires, but not all the way to mountain bike fatness ... interesting

why not race with a mountain bike ? the road portion is too long ?

some of the obstacles I think can be jumped of by a skilled enough mountain bike rider

The traditional cross bike is a road bike frame with 700x33-35c tire and cantilever brakes. Some do ride mtn bikes, but pay a penalty due to low gearing and excessive weight as well as loosing energy to shock compression. It is useful to choose a bike that is light enough to throw over your shoulder and be able run up hill with it. Further the course is set up with sections that require rapid acceleration out of sharp corners. Cross is a discipline that requires endurance, agility, and power as well as superior bike handling skills. It's a sport that one needs to see in person to realluy appreciate, although John and I will attempt supply plenty of images to study
There is no "road" section. The course is laid out on dirt, grass, sand, what ever the venue has to offer. Some riders can hop the obstacles, others find that a dismount hurdle and remount is faster. Other obstacles are set so that hopping is not possible. there is rarely any significant climbing, rather a series of short steep inclines ofter with a barrier to require a dismount and run up.

[jorgemonkey]

Shoot, (pun intended) we could have a little PR get together and shoot the race!