Montezuma's Revenge

[Photo-John]

It's not what you think.

On Thursday I flew to Denver to shoot a bike race in Summit County, Colorado. The race starts and finishes in a teeny little town called Montezuma. It's a 24 hour endurance mountain bike race that has 13 separate, unmarked loops, crosses the Continental Divide 7 times, and includes two 14,000 foot peaks along with totally unpredictable weather. Montezuma itself is at an elevation of 10,400 feet. The event is truly sadistic. And some of the world's best athletes show up to get punished. It's absolutely the greatest race I've ever witnessed. There were 41 starters and about 30 people finished.

This photo is of Montezuma. It was taken with the EOS 10D and 15mm fisheye.

[Photo-John]

I was at Montezuma due to much harassment by my friend Chris Cosentino, who raced it on a singlespeed. The first photo is of Chris in the first couple hours of the race, heading out into the rain. The second is Chris getting photographed by Colorado photographer, Paige Miller.

[Photo-John]

Montezuma's Revenge isn't about bumping elbows and sprinting. It's about planning, pacing, and survival. In the first photo a rider is coming through the main checkpoint early in the race, as the skies get ready to dump.

In the second photo a rider heads out at 5:30 in the morning for the mountains you can see in the background.

[Charles Hess]

Pro quality shots as usual, John. Looks like a great area not only to bike, but to hang out with the camera. The fisheye shot is nice but a little dark on my moniter.

[natatbeach]

the stories and setting the mood with explanation really make for the feel and mood of the event...pretty cool.

[coloradoamigo]

Knowing Colorado all too well, this race sounds brutal, really brutal. What two 14er's did the race include?

[villenadecorte]

Great great shots. Intro definitely sets the mood.
Keep em coming!

VD

Montezuma's Revenge isn't about bumping elbows and sprinting. It's about planning, pacing, and survival. In the first photo a rider is coming through the main checkpoint early in the race, as the skies get ready to dump.

In the second photo a rider heads out at 5:30 in the morning for the mountains you can see in the background.

[Photo-John]

Pro quality shots as usual, John. Looks like a great area not only to bike, but to hang out with the camera. The fisheye shot is nice but a little dark on my moniter.

Charles-
Thanks for your comments. The fisheye photo is supposed to be sort of dark. But if you think it's dark, then maybe I'm interpreting it wrong. Because of the clouds, the valley was dark. And I wanted it that way. Plus, I was trying to hold detal in the sky so I shot dark and then lightened the foreground in PS. I'm really not sure what to do with that kind of photo. I know what I want, but I'm not sure if people see itthe way I want them to and I could definitely use some feedback. Any ideas about how I might have done it differently?

Thanks!

[Charles Hess]

Hi P-J ... I'm not sure how you would have exposed this differently ... with vistas like this, if you brightened up the wooded area, you would have lost the blue sky. So, it's really fine as is, as that big sky is the dominating feature, I think. You do get the feeling of the vastness of the area, with its deep, shadowed woods area ... see, I'm talking myself out of thinking it was too dark, lol. Pro stuff, P-J.

[Photo-John]

I can't remember both of the names. One was Gray's and the other is the peak right next to it. The course went to the top of Gray's, then across the saddle, and back again. Next year I want to be up on Gray's when the guys are reaching the peak. Times for that loop were anywhere from 2-3 hours to over 11 hours.

Here's a link to the race Web site: www.montezumasrevenge.com

[coloradoamigo]

I can't remember both of the names. One was Gray's and the other is the peak right next to it. The course went to the top of Gray's, then across the saddle, and back again. Next year I want to be up on Gray's when the guys are reaching the peak. Times for that loop were anywhere from 2-3 hours to over 11 hours.

Here's a link to the race Web site: www.montezumasrevenge.com

It's Torrey's Peak, correct? They are right next to each other and, this does make sense, as they would be two that would be accessible by bike. Not many you can say that about.

[Photo-John]

The fourth loop went from Montezuma to the top of Grey's, across the saddle to Torrey's, back to the top of Grey's, and then back to Montezuma. A lot of it is hike-a-bike and most of the riders have a pack frame rigged to carry their bikes on that section. There was a special prize for the male and female riders who went from Grey's to Torrey's and back to the top of Grey's again. It was a $3500 titanium full-suspension Moots bike frame. The fastest male was a kid from Montezuma who ran it in 48 minutes. I can't even comprehend that. The fastest woman did it in 68 minutes. Remeber, that's carrying their bikes.

SICK, SICK, SICK!

[coloradoamigo]

The fourth loop went from Montezuma to the top of Grey's, across the saddle to Torrey's, back to the top of Grey's, and then back to Montezuma. A lot of it is hike-a-bike and most of the riders have a pack frame rigged to carry their bikes on that section. There was a special prize for the male and female riders who went from Grey's to Torrey's and back to the top of Grey's again. It was a $3500 titanium full-suspension Moots bike frame. The fastest male was a kid from Montezuma who ran it in 48 minutes. I can't even comprehend that. The fastest woman did it in 68 minutes. Remeber, that's carrying their bikes.

SICK, SICK, SICK!

But those mountains will do it to ya. People do alot of insane climbing, hiking, and biking in this state. Little trivia here...out of the 68 14,000ft. peaks in the contiguous United States, 54 are in Colorado. Yep, this is one "high" state.