MLKimages

Granogue Cross, Belgium Style....with a little mud.

2009-10-21T16:49:00.003-04:00

I'll keep this post pretty simple. I was sick all week with the flu - still not feeling 100% today. So even though I registered to race at Granogue, I didn't feel well enough to do so. Soent the entire day photographing what I'll call the EPIC race of the year. This is cross at it's best.

All Granogue race photos can be found here!

I also wanted to try something a bit different on the slide show I usually run of my favorite race images of the day. Muddy cross looks just so great in B&W, so I did all my favorites in B&W fading into the color verson. Hope you enjoy!

...and the crossing continues.....Hillbilly Hustle V.4

2009-10-05T20:33:00.002-04:00

Looking at my schedule for the past weekend I hadn't planned on racing any cross - had a soccer game to coach Sunday afternoon and just didn't see any races closeby that worked for me. Then early last week I came across the Hillbilly Hustle about an hour away in NJ. Must of missed this posting earlier in the season. Looking at BikeReg and saw the prereg was pretty low so I passed on prereg.

Woke up on Sunday to a beautiful sunny day - great day for a cross race. Get to the venue and see Teammate Dennis Smith as well as the FSVS Trio. Get out to ride one lap of the course. Pancake flat, some nice technical sections and a few too many (for me) longer flat sections. Get to the line up with 31 racers in the Masters 44-54 group. The nice thing about smaller races is there are really no bad spots lining up. I started out in the 2nd row which has been my best starting position yet this year!..yea, there were only 3 rows :)

Get a decent start so I thought...looking at some race photos, over the 1st set of barriers which were about 1/4 way thru the lap I was in around 17-19th place - not as good as I thought. Over the course of the race as usual I was good thru the technical sections and only lost positions in a few of the longer flat section where the ground/grass was a bit loomy - just couldn't keep my speed up thru these sections - mental note to work harder in these section at my next race. Around Lap #3 I make my pass by Dennis Smith - I can't tell if this is where Dennis cracks a bit or I get my 2nd wind. All three races this year I swear I make my pass by Dennis on about the 3rd lap. Almost immediately after passing over the 2nd set of barriers I remount, head into a small wooded section at the end of the lap and take a large stick into my front wheel - Damn! Had to stop and after a few frantic pulls was able to get it out, but in doing so I lost all the postions I just gained. Back on and thru the Start/Finish - made a mental note not to panic and shortly get myself back up to the back of the group I was riding with. We actually had a nice race going on with our group. Myself, Dennis Smith, Dave Troop & Mike Czupryna from FSVS as well as a few other riders riding off of the main front group. By now I have all my lines dialed in and am feeling pretty comfortable - back is a bit sore, but ok. Finishing off th 2nd to last lap I'm riding on FSVS Dave's wheel over the sand pile of doom and thru the turns into the set of barriers. I call an inside line around a 180 left on FSVS Dave and decided to bail on it as I was afraid I was going to force him outside and to probably stall a bit. Then there was an immediate 180 right Dave went out way wide left almost into the tape so I did take the inside line - Not sure the race ediquite on these situations (maybe I should ask), but if it was any other team I would have forced myself on that first inside line and taken the corner - no second guessing ..... is it all fair in love an war or play nice with your DCCoD friends?

Over the barriers and I'm sitting right on Daves wheel - throw him a comment to get going. I think at that point he may have waive me on, not sure, but I went. Did something I usually don't do and made an actual attack off the front of our group. Yea, those are two things that usually don't go together all that often, me racing and the word attack - I'm more of a one speed type racer and get to the finish thru attrition and steady work. So thru the start/finish on my last lap and I'm laying down a quasi attack. I actually get a decent gap on the group looking back and not seeing anyone closing. Tough thing was I was riding in the middle of no mans land - off the front of a grop behind me and not seeing anyone to chase in front. I made it about 1/2 way thru the lap before I see FSVS Dave and a guy from Liberty Cycle slowly cosing in. Not sure if I was fading faster or they were riding just stronger - probably a combination of both. Both catch me and pass with about a 1/4 of the lp remaining and leave me for dead. Just didn't have it to try and catch back up. I finished off the lap just keeping FVSV Mike off my wheel.

Ended up finising 11th/31. Looking at the resuls after the race I could have kicked myself. I guess when I was in my quasi attack and not seeing anyone to chase, they were there...just must have been hiding out of site as 7th place was just 19 seconds ahead.

Fun day racing cross in New Jersey
Michael

WhirlyBird Cross......

2009-09-28T11:11:00.005-04:00

So into my 2nd cross race of the season I headed out to Bryn Athyn College for Guy's Bicycle Racing WhirlyBird Cross race. I also want to thank Guys for putting on this race to raise some money for The Manning Children's Education Trust – this is a college fund setup for the daughters of Joe Manning – a friend of mine – who lost his life during a mountain biking trip in Utah this summer.

Now at this point in my life I'm a "B" racer at best...and getting older that makes me a Masters B racer at best. WhirlyBird had one Masters Category so that means I was going to be racing with some of the A Masters. No big deal as I'm still just out there doing my own thing and pretty much just racing against myself trying to put my best effort forward, but mixed racing with A level riders is always a bit intimidating. Even with that in mind I had set my goal for this race to be in the top 25.

This was my first time racing at this venue so I had no idea what to expect. Didn't bring a trainer to warm up which wasn't the best for this venue as there were no really good places to get a decent warm-up....I ended up finding an obscure field hockey field away from the race that I spun some laps around. This course had a mixed bag of trix's up its sleeves. A lot of wide open field sections which would be a demise for me as well as a decent amount of switchback "S" turn type sections which since they were a bit more technical better suited my riding abilities. Translation: I'm slow out in the open and often get blown away while I ride better in the technical sections and can hold my own here. I ended up getting one lap in as a preride so I had somewhat of a clue what to expect.

Line-up: God I suck at getting lined up. Once again I was at the back of the field. I messed up listening to the rumor that they were going to start the 45+ group a minute off of the 35+ group. This being the case it was not a big deal to press getting lined up anywhere near the front of the "35+ group". Not so, the 35+/45+ all started together - DAMN! So, for 2 weeks in a row I'm fighting the opening 1/2 lap just trying to work my thru a stand still race crowd. I actually at one point on the very first bottom to a left "S-turn" on the first short climb end up doing a short track stand on the hill to avoid the stand still clutter. Quick pump left and right and I'm around the mess, but these slow cluster F#&% starts really are killing me. Not that I really should be complaining as one of the major things I like about cross racing is finding these weird places to make a difficult pass - working from the back up gives me the opportunity to do a lot of this :)

Over the next several laps (we ended up doing 6 laps) I found my groove and lines and slowly made my way thru the group. Making up ground in the technical section and loosing a bit in the open fields as expected. One thing I was working at getting better at is increasing my short efforts coming out of corners getting back up to speed. I "think" I did a better job at this...at least I was consensually making the effort to stand and hammer out of the corners.

Last 2 laps I felt like I was Henry's bologna between some Guys Racing bread. I had Guys Racing in front of me, behind me and every corner I could see around, I saw more and more Guys Racers closing in.

A few section of the course that did something that stick in my mind:
1. Approaching the 1st set of barriers on the back side was a 180 degree switchback that had a small/steep off camber uphill to it. Every single time I hit that corner I felt (and it sounded) like I was going to roll my rear tubular. Never did, but that one turn made me nervous ever lap.

2. Right after that set of barriers was the only "Mountain Bike" like section that dropped thru some single track thru a short section of trees. This is the section for some reason that killed my back every single lap. This section had a lot of woops that required me to stay off the saddle and this really torques my back up.

3. I'm slow thru flat out open field sections. This was pretty much the only area I would get passed. I grabbed each passing wheel the best I could, but the efforts in these sections hurt.

4. WhirlyyBird section. This was a part of the course that had you riding a large to smaller circle pattern from the outside in a few time round.....once inside the center you would hit a quick 180 degree turn reversing you one circle round to exit back out. I killed this section catching all directly infront of me and on the 180 degree turn to exit I was able to stand and hammer the last circle out passing a lot of riders.

5. 2nd set of barriers was set up after a straight field section so you could go into these as fast as you wanted. I prefer barriers that you go forced into a bit slower. I feel a bit more in control. These barriers I always hit them right on the border of being too fast (for me) as my dismount run would be right on the edge of my running speed not being able to keep up with my rolling speed. Always felt like I was "just" about to run a face plant into thee 2nd barrier

6. Right after the barriers was a quick down and 180 degree switchback up hill. This was a toss-up between running or riding being faster and more efficient. During my pre-ride of the course I had decided that I would run as it would lead to no mistakes vs. riding could lead to mistakes. During the race I ran the section on the 1st lap only just due to the crowd. Laps 2-6 I decided that since it was rideable, I was just going to ride it. Nothing gained or lost here.

At the end of the day I could stay around so I left right away. Oh, and I want to thank the DUMB ASS that triple parked behind me in the parking lot next to the WhirlyBird section - How the Hell do you THINK I was going to get out. DUMB ASS!!
I didn't hand around to take any photos so no photos this race from www.MLKimages.com.

Results were posted today; I ended up 33rd out of 65. Not spectacular, but I'm fine with it. Just need to get my head in place lining up a bit better.

Charm City Cross - Racing and Photos

2009-09-21T16:59:00.010-04:00

1. Last year I was going to sell my cross bike, but held onto it.....for that...."Just in Case".

2. Haven't raced a bike (let alone a cross race) in two years due to back pain.

3. Been seeing a Chiropracter for a few month, back feels like its getting better.

4. Decided to start swimmming and running as well as some cycling just to keep in shape...or better stated, not get fat and grossly out of shape.

5. Thought I'd try racing a few cross races this year....just to see how it goes.

6. Been to a few cross practices with the DCCOC. Seem to be riding fairly well although nothing special.

7. Did my 1st group ride of the year last week...meaning all my riding this year has been solo with no intensity.

8. Coaching my daughters travel soccer team so getting races to fit my schedule is limited. This past Sundays game was late afternoon......so

9. Charm City Cross in Baltimpre Maryland seemed like a good idea and fit my schedule. Go to register this week - Masters 35+ B race was full, but C3 pulled thru and added one spot just for me - which of course means I'm lining up LAST, Back of the field, in the rear!

10. With a last line start, "MY" realistic goal was to finish in the top 50%.
Fatmarc put the pressure on me stating I was top 25 material. Although in the back of my mind that is what I was shooting for, but I knew with no intensity in my riding and a last line start, this would be very difficult.

11. My race went like this:
As noted I started in the last row - around 100 racers in front of me. I road technically solid, no slips or crashes, made some nice passes in the tight corners. Never got boxed in or out, made my lines and forced myself where I needed to be. Technically a solid race.....although I did "almost" have one misshap. Running over the 2nd set of large barriers I clipped my front wheel on the top of the barrier spinning my bike around causing the crowd to take a big step back from getting hit in the head with my bike. Off balance and spinning I make a quick 360 spin to gain composure and I'm still up and off around the tree and over the 2nd barrier. Nice save! Fitness wise is always another story, but was expected. I road my own race. I needed to be steady with no potential for any super strong efforts. Made most of my gains in the technical sections and barriers, most of my losses on the straights.

Laps 2-4 were my hardest and my back was pretty sore during this time unfortunately causing me to back off a bit on my tempo. Fortunately the last 2 laps it seemed as if my back pain subsided for the most part and I was able to pick up my speed a bit more and make some moves forward. In the end I finished in 30th. I should be satisfied, but......just....not....quite.....satisfied. Someone puts top 25 in your head.....

Hoping to try the Guys Whirlybird race this weekend.

After my race I hung around and took some photos from the next two races which can be found here:

Charm City Cross Photos

New Carbon Clinchers - Token C58's

2009-08-11T09:53:00.016-04:00

I currently own two sets of Token Wheels!

Token T50's which are 50mm carbon tubulars that I have on my cyclocross bike

Token C50's which are 50mm carbon clinchers I use as my everyday wheels on my road bike

I've owned and used these wheels for two years now. The T50's have seen limited use, but the C50's I've used as my everyday wheels on my road bike. The only problem I've ever had is I've broken 2 spokes on the clincher wheels - no biggie, it's gonna happen to every wheelset eventually. There was one thing that did annoy me a bit, it was that mounting and removing tires on the clincher set was a bit difficult at times - enough so that I contacted Token to discuss it with them and they were nice enough to send me out a brand new wheelset that they are still just testing and not yet released for sale - Token C58's.

The Token C58's are 58mm carbon clinchers with a redesigned rim. The old C50's had a lowered braking surface that required the use of a special brake pad holder - not a big deal at all, unless you are changing wheelsets quite often.

The new C58 rim design has the brake surface in the standard position so standard pad holders can be used and wheel swaps no longer are an issue.

Right now I have around 1000 miles on the new C58's and gotta tell you I'm really enjoying the C58's. I've tried flexing the wheels to see if I can get any brake rub when riding - none. I have no "scientific" proof (no power meters here, sorry), but I think the C58's are overall faster than the C50's, even on a hilly ride and even with the weight disadvantage over my 50mm wheels (+250 grams). I even used these wheels during the 2nd Annual Mike Clark Memorial Conquer the Hills Ride. Granted on a few hills toward the end I was really wishing I had a compact crankset, but I think that was more the motor than the extra weight in the wheels I was rolling with.

Pennsylvania pot holes, daily tar and chip roads, general road disintegration conditions - wheels are still perfect.

So if your looking for a set of carbon wheels (frame, components, etc) that won't break the bank - you may want to consider some Token - send me a note and I can put you in touch with my Token Contact.

Tour of Lancaster Intercourse Time Trial

2009-08-10T17:27:00.005-04:00

another slow update.....early August I stopped buy the Tour of Lancaster Intercourse Time Trial that turned out to be a day of turrential down pouring rain. I just love shooting time trials, seeing cyclist in all their beauty and pain! Add to that rain and a photographer couldn't ask for a more dramatic day of shooting. Bad thing was the rain ened up being so terrible that it was blowling sideways and bouncing hard enough off the ground to blow into my Nikon 300 f/2.8 lens. These are the days I'm glad I keep full rain gear in the car and a Think Tank Hydro cover for my camera equipment. The Nikon D700 performed excellent even in these trying conditions. I started out the day with a 1.4x converter on the lens, but due to the conditions being so dark, I needed to shoot pretty much wide open - most of these images are at or close to ISO 6400.

Intercourse Time Trial Photos can be viewed here!

The severe rain caused all of the roads and fields to flood making the course late in the game pretty difficult to navigate - in fact when I decided to call it a day, I drove by the last racer I saw for the day picking out corn stalks from his rear wheel - apparently no brakes and a ride thru the corn field.

June already!

2009-06-17T09:32:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I done a blog update - I really should try to keep on top of it a bit more. So what's new? I'll start with the most recent - Oxford Road Race. Photographed this race Saturday 6/13. It was nice since the race was held only 20 minutes from my house and I knew the course layout since I actually grew up in Oxford. Rich from www.AllThatIsGood.org always puts on a great race and I really enjoy shooting his events. Weather for the day started out pretty nice, sunny with some clouds and calling for a chance of storms. I've waited all year to shoot a bad weather race (bad weather makes photos looks just so dramatic). Around 1/2 way into the Pro 1/2/3 the skies opened up dropping a serious downpour of rain. I loved it!! Sadly it only lasted for around 20 minutes of serious rain and another 10-15 minutes of light rain.

Oxford Road Race Galleries can be viewed here!

Maeve who just turned 11 in April and Ella who turned 9 in April are both done Travel soccer for the spring. Maeve has decided that she is finished with soccer and will try and find something else to do. Ella is still involved and will be playing for the Hockessin Girls U10 A travel team this fall (I'm Asst Coaching again). William who turned 5 in April (yea, April is a busy month) just started T-Ball this week.....so far so good, but he is just so easy to please. Ask him if he would like to try something and his usual answer is "sure".

I am finally 95% finished painting pretty much ever single room in the house, new faucets, light fixtures, and all the other 1/2 finished jobs I had going on in the house as we have put our house up for sale.....19 showings in almost 4 weeks is a royal pain in the a$*. This means the house has to be spotless clean every time someone wants to take a look. Finding a new house in the same school district as been nothing but frustrating as well. There is nothing available in our price range. Lots of houses above and below our price range, but nothing in our range - Murphy’s Law I guess.

Taking some time to myself lately and started riding again. I have a few road rides in of 55 miles - nothing earth shattering, but I've haven't done a road ride in over 1 1/2 hours in almost a year so baby steps. I'm thinking of doing a metric century this Saturday leaving out of Chesapeake City. I've also done a few Mountain Bike Rides. It's been so long that I actually got a little lost in Middle Run last week as well as Fair Hill....was lost for around 1/2 hour.

I have my first scheduled appointment with a Chiro Thursday this week. This guy is to suppose to have trained under the Chiro from the Discovery Chanel cycling team so I am hoping to get some back relief from this.

Michael

Canon G10

2009-01-10T20:03:00.008-05:00

I picked up the new Canon G10 for my wife this Christmas.....

she decided she hated the quality of the images our of her current P&S and wanted something a little better....without moving up to something the size of even a small DSLR. I wanted to try this camera out since I've heard a lot of good things about it...especially that I can shoot RAW with it. So today I decided to take it with me on another Solo bike ride. I still need to figure a few things out with the camera settings, but overall it looks like it will be a fun little camera - build quality is excellent and image quality looks very decent as well. I guess my biggest complaint will be file size when shooting RAW. RAW (converted to DNG) file sizes are 15-17MB and converted to jpeg at 100% are 23MB...that's just crazy BIG for a P&S camera. This is a big difference from my Nikon D700 10MB RAW files. Yea, I can export jpegs at lower quality, but still having such large RAW files is not worth it for a P&S. So just do to the RAW file sizes I'll just shoot jpegs with this camera. What was Canon thinking??? This camera and all P&S should be no more than 8MP....14.7 = stupid!

So here are some images from today's ride - unfortunately my hands started getting way too cold to shoot toward the end.

Full size images can be Viewed Here!

...a Sunday Ride

2008-12-15T09:57:00.003-05:00

trying to get back into a bit of riding before I give Ole' Saint Nick a run for his money in the weight department. Yea, I'm getting, or should I just fess up and say I'm out of shape! Haven't been to the gym all that much....same with riding my bikes - Nada! Longest ride has been maybe just over an hour in the last several months. I've set up the trainier with my Cross bike on it - yup! not a single cross race this year - probably should have justr sold the bike, but I'm hanging onto it for that slim chance I'll race cross next year.
Sunday was the day I was plannning my first "real" group ride. The Deep Blue Cycling team has a ride going out of Wilmington DE that will go 40 or 70 miles - I wanted to try and see if I could even finish the 40 mile ride. Woke up (it was my birthday) and feeling lazy as usual I bagged the ride and slept in (shocker!!).
Decided later in the morning that I would just head out on my own for a short ride. Shortly into my ride I came across some of the
Iron Hill Club and they did not seem to mind that I hang with them for a portion of their ride......I was riding pretty much the exact same route as they were anyway. It was nice to actually get out a ride with a few people instead of riding all by myself. In the end I actually road for just over 2 hour and 40 miles - nothing earth shattering, but it's a start.

Hopeing NEXT WEEK to make a group ride with someone somewhere just to try and start getting some miles on my legs and fit back into some of my pants.

Photography related - I had sent in pretty much all my main equipment into Nikon for service or repair (always comes in 3's). D300 body was having some issues with the preview button, D700 had a grain of sand stuck in the playback button that caused the entore back panel to not work....and my main concern was my 300vr f/2.8 was still not tracking focus correctly. This is a $4500 lens that was heading back to Nikon for the 3rd time for the same problem. Nikon is a GREAT company and after a very easy discussion with the Service Department, they agreed to replace the lens with a BRAND NEW 300vr f/2.8! Just got the new lens last week so will have to get it out for a test run.

Michael

Beacon Cyclocross and New D700

2008-11-09T16:09:00.007-05:00

Saturday was the Beacon Cyclocross race being held in Bridgeton NJ. Even though I was not racing, Beacon is one of my favorite courses and was where I got my start into cyclocross racing a few years ago. The weather was mixed for the day - overcast with on and off rain showers causing difficult shooting conditions especially since a lot of the course is covered in trees. I just picked up a Nikon D700 body which is a Full Frame camera. I thought this would be an excellent day to put it to its "High ISO" test not using any flash. All I can say is I was greatly impressed with the camera. I ended up shooting quite a bit at ISO levels up to 6400 and was amazed at the low noise levels. The slide show I am running below is showing examples of some high ISO images (3400-6400) with the D700. Since the Slide Show only shows small, low resolution captures of the larger image - if your interested you can view larger versions of the images here:
High ISO Images

Unfortunately one of the buttons on the back of the D700 body ended up getting stuck causing none of the buttons on the camera to work :( so I only got to shoot with the body for about 1/2 of the race, the rest I had to shoot with my D300 and needed to use flash.

Complete gallerys of the Beacon Race can be found here:
Beacon Cyclocross Race

My Kids Soccer

2008-10-15T16:31:00.007-04:00

With all my involvement in my daughters soccer, I thought I would show some images I've taken from a few recent games.

Both my daughters have been playing on travel soccer teams this year. Ella with the Hockessin U9 Girls A team (which I have been an Asst Coach) and Maeve with the SCCSC U12 Girls B team. Both really love playing the game and are developing into solid players. I really hope they stick with it as I really think each has some solid potential to become top players. My son, William started playing as well this.....so it ends up we have soccer practice/games going on every day of the week now except Fridays.

On a side note, check out the new Voler Custom Cycling Clothing, they picked up some of my images for their web site catalog.

Michael

Vacation

2008-09-06T16:25:00.002-04:00

So what the heck have I been doing?
Been busing with a lot of nothing!

Haven't been photographing a lot of races.....seems like most of the races have been falling on days where I am unable to make them.

All three of my kids a full into soccer right now, we have a practice going on every day of the week except Fridays....games on Saturdays and Sundays (sometimes both girls have game the same day).

Today was supposed to be the opening games for both my girls Travel Teams; Maeve is playing on the SCCSA U12 B team and Ella is on the HSC U9 A team (which I have been assistant coaching). Tropical storm cancelled Saturdays games, but both play tomorrow so I'm excited to see how each plays and how their team perform.

We did a family vacation to the Outer Banks in NC and a weekend trip to Washington DC so I thought I would show some images from these vacations.

....oh and about Cross - anyone looking for an almost Brand New 57cm Orbea cyclocross bike? I might have one for sale :)

Spinners Cycling Cargas Criterium

2008-06-18T20:06:00.002-04:00

Sunday - Fathers Day, I spent photographing the Spinners Cycling Cargas Criterium held in Lancaster PA. Excellent race, thought it's always difficult to get decent background in a commercial business park.

Here is a Slide show of some sample images from the day of racing.

Priceless

2008-06-02T10:07:00.002-04:00

Cost to enter a race
$30 entry fee
$4 Gatorade
$20 new bottle of Hammer Gel
$20 Gas
$8 lunch
Feeling just to finish - Priceless!

I have never gone into a race with a goal just to finish, but this week was different. I have all but given up on racing due to some serious back issues, plus time commitments with my kids activities has pretty much kept me off the bike doing any real type of riding. My 1st mountain bike ride in 10 months was last Monday with Green Niner John (formerly know as Green Trek John) and I struggled...a lot! Decided right then and there I was not going to come out of retirement and attempt to race Saturdays No Cents Mountain Bike Race in Sewell NJ......but later in the week I think I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and was kind of grossed out by what I saw and thought it might be a good idea to race just for the exercise. So I decided to race Sewell this past weekend.

I had 2 goals:
#1 was simple - just to finish. Even up to racing last year I was always within distance of possible podium finished - just "to finish" was new to me, but giving what I had to work with, it was a sound goal to have.

#2 - don't finish last!

I always race with a plan of attack so I didn't want to make this race any different. I took a look at the MASS race results from earlier this year and decided I needed to try and say with a few racers that I have raced with over the years and felt I had a decent chance if I could just hang with their wheels.
Gary Grim (Pure Energy), John Miller (Guys Racing) and Robert Dudas (Guys Racing - Rob did not race). My plan was just to find any of these wheels and stay with them as long as possible - simple!

On to my race:
4 laps 22 miles, no hills, but no places to recover.
Start of the 1st lap and I'm sitting just meters off the main group - much better start than I expected. 1/2 way into the first lap I'm still just sitting off the main group and was feeling great that I was able to hang so close to the leaders - but common sense set in and I knew it was stupid to be anywhere up near the front so I backed off and settled into my own steady pace. At this point I was ahead of Gary and behind John (decent place to be in my "Plan")

2nd lap was more of the same - I held off being passed by anyone and actually was making some passes. I felt pretty decent although I did notice that I was super hot, I can't remember sweating so much in a race...I mean soaken wet head to toe in sweat - I guess fat makes you sweat more?

Start of the 3rd lap I passed John Miller and was still feeling pretty good although my back was now getting pretty sore. I was riding technically sound, steady pace although my results time would show I was around 1:30 slower each lap. Random thoughts started running thru my mind that I could end up having a decent race - stupid again I know!

CRACKED!
Yup, that's what happened - very end of the 3rd lap I Cracked. Back started really hurting and I just lost all my energy, just pedaling was a struggle. Both Gary and John passed be by so now my focus changed to goal #1 - Just to Finish! Which I did.

Normally I would have be extremely disappointed in my results - heck, this race results wise is probably my worst ever, but finishing Sewell I was actually very satisfied - almost could say proud of myself! I hung with and ahead of some very good Expert racers (who have been racing all year), I've had very limited riding time (and all that has been on a road bike) with Zero, Zip, Nada intensity - not even a fast group ride!

I put the mountain bike back in the closet...maybe I'll pull the MASS race # by next year?

Kind of dropped off the face of the earth......

2008-05-06T16:30:00.003-04:00

so to speak.....
It's been 9 months since I've been on my mountain bike - that's a record!
Last "Group" ride I did was back in the winter.....
Last race was Cross in the fall.....
So in a nutshell, my cycling time is pretty much dwindled to nothing....I still get out to ride a few days a week (sometimes), but the rides are low intensity. I know my 1st group ride which I'm still trying to get to one...I'll be right off the back the first climb.

But I've been extremely busy.
Both my daughters are playing soccer right which has taken on a whole new life of its own. Practice is 4 nights out of the week between the 2 girls and I'm coaching 2of those days, the other two Im watching (or sometimes I'll sneak in a quick bike ride :)
Maeve has been practicing and playing with the Girls U11 travel team which has been a great experience for her....until she fractured her arm in a practice, so she has been sidelined for the last 2 1/2 weeks.

We have Games on Saturday and Sunday.
Hockessin Travel team tryouts are the next two weeks. Maeve (older daughter) due to her fracture is still hoping to be able to make the tryouts for next week.

Photography: I've been shooting my older daughters soccer games, MASS Team Relay race in Marysville, Some of the Red Rose Races Series Races: Kirkwood and the Tour de Ephrata (2 days with 3 races - Road race, time trial and criterium), Tri for Kids sake Triathlon.

Slide show of some sample images from all of these events.

REVIEW - Solmeta GPS tagging unit DP-GPS N1

2008-03-20T09:41:00.018-04:00

I don't normally do product reviews......especially since I'm not the best writer nor have a lot of extra time, but I am doing this review since I purchased a product from a little know company and promised them I would I would review their product and post my honest review.

What is the gear a photographer may want for 2008?

I own and have been using the Nikon D200 and just recently received the New Nikon D300. I looked into my list of “Want” items and decided to look into a GPS tagging unit for my Nikon bodies – Neither of these camera bodies have a GPS unit built-in, buy they do feature direct support for one and there is even a GPS menu on the camera itself.

After doing some research on the internet, I found there were many ways to go…..but many of the GPS Tagging units did not have the features I wanted, nor would they satisfy my needs. I was looking for a simple way to GEOTag photos without having to worry about any special software and syncing reqirements after the images were taken. Being able record GPS data directly into the EXIF data of a image SAVES TONS OF TIME as opposed to taking notes (which I never did anyway) and is a whole lot more accurate. There were two products that made my final list and after further research I decided to try a new GPS GEOTagging device, the DP-GPS N1 made by Solmeta Technologies

One main reason that I chose the DP-GPS N1 was that the N1 comes with it’s own internal rechargable battery – so it won’t suck up my cameras power!

I ordered two units and they arrived in a matter of days. My first impression is the materials and construction appear to be of high quality – I fitted the units to my D200 and D300 by the 10 pin connector – which the connection mated up perfectly (as it should). The size and weight are certainly not an issue as the units are small, very lightweight and easy to travel with. Reviewing the operation instructions via the user’s manual was straightforward. Mounting the N1’s: they are designed to sit on the hot-shoe or attach to your cameras strap. I use the hot shoe a lot for a flash remote with off camera flash so I attached the units to my cameras strap.

From the companies website:
Unique Features
●SiRF star III chipset 20 channels
●Short initial time, no setup required
●Best hotshoe and ten pin connector solution
●Easy to operate
●Small, lightweight and easy to travel with
●Compact & fashionable design
●Real time GPS information
●Build-in rechargeable battery, more than 9 hrs operating time
●Unique camera battery backup support
●Mounted on flash accessory shoe or attached to camera strap
●Support Nikon D3, D300, D2XS, D2X, D2HS & D200, Fujifilm S5 Pro

Main Specifications
Electrical Characteristics
GPS Chipset: SiRF Star III
Frequency: L1, 1575.42 MHz
C/A Code: 1.023 MHz chip rate
Channels: 20 channel
Tracking sensitivity: -159dBm
ACQUISITION RATE
Hot start: 1 sec., average
Warm start: 38 sec., average
Cold start: 42 sec., average
Reacquisition: 0.1 sec., average
ACCURACY
Position Horizontal:10meters,2D RMS
1-5 meters 2D RMS, WAAS corrected
Velocity: 0.1m/sec.
Device Size and Weight
Size: 56 (L)mmX36(W)mm X 17(H) mm
Weight: 50g

The first thing you will want to do is charge the units battery (rechargable). From my repeated test on both units, it takes approximately 2 ½ hours to fully charge the unit and you will get approximately 10 hours of continiuos usage time. Once your battery on the unit is drained you can then flip a switch to “camera” and now the unit will run off your camera battery if necessary.

Now for the excitement: First time out using a unit on my D300, cold start – WOW!, very quickly (not more than 40 seconds) a signal was locked. After that, turning the camera on and off the capture time was anywhere from 1-10 seconds. Accuracy is dead on, just as I would expect.

The beauty of this unit is that the GPS information (longitude, latitude and altitude) are inserted right into the metadata of each shot as you take them. There is no need for ANY post processing when you return to your computer. Since I use Adobe Lightroom I can take advantage of this data instantly by clicking the little GPS button in the metadata panel which will automatically take me to the location that I was shooting on Google Maps. I also use Smug Mug as my photography website (www.MLKimages.com) which is also linked to Google Maps. So after I upload new images to my Smug Mug website, Customers are able to click on a “Map This” button which will open up the gallery in Google Maps and show all the gallery images laid out on the map. Flickr users....same thing, upload you GPS embedded images to your Flickr account – Pretty Cool!

The unit has two switches. The first is the CONTROL switch which allows you to control how the unit is sync’d to work with the camera.
AUTO – In the Auto position the GPS unit will turn on and off with the camera – simple. This will probably yield the best battery life. However, each time the unit is turned on with the camera in this mode it will have to potentially acquire the satellite signal again.
ON - it stays on and connected to the GPS satellites regardless if the camera is on or not.
OFF is just that, the unit is off regardless of the camera being on or off.
Since the unit has it’s own internal battery I personally recommend the ON position if you are shooting, then moving then shooting again. If you’re going to use it off and on throughout the day, then Auto is probably best. There is a clear indicator right on top that quickly flashes red in a sequence of 3 when it is searching and blinks a slow and steady red when it has locked on. There is one additional green lamp that will light steady when the unit is being charged and will turn off when fully charged. Also when in use, the green lamp will illuminate when the battery is running low.

The second switch is POWER, which controls where the unit gets it’s….you guessed it –where it gets its power. INSIDE uses the GPS internal battery. CAMERA is using the cameras battery.

Solmeta customer service has been nothing but excellent! One item I did not like on the initial units I received was the inability to know when the battery of the unit was drained. I also was not fond of the connection of the chargers to the GPS unit. I sent an email Solmeta and offered them a few suggestions to improve the units. They sent me a reply of thanks and they would look into it. One week later I received a follow-up email saying that the changes I recommended were implemented into new units and replacments were on the way. Now I am using the renewed units and the green light will flash when the battery is low and the connection is excellent between the charger and receiver. Solmeta has also advised me that they are intorducing a new unit shortly that will have a location locking anility so when shooting indoors you will be able to lock the GPS location and embed the data into the exif info when shooting indoors - another requested and cool feature!

Enjoy and if anyone reading my review is planning on purchasing a GPS tagging unit from Solmeta, make sure you mention that you read my review.....that may offer you a small discount ;)

MLKimages

Strasburg Road race....RedRoseRaces Series

2008-03-17T14:31:00.004-04:00

Saturday was the opening race of the Red Rose Races Road Racing Series. 1st race was held in Strasburg PA - lancaster County. This year with some re-occuring back issues I decided not to race at all and photograph the entire day of racing.

What looked to be earlier in the week a day of wet racing....started out cloudy with some damp roads to dry and full of sun! This was my 1st photography event of the year so I was off my game a bit as far as having my rythmn together with my equipment and just feeling comfortable getting set up and moving around quickly. The season is just starting and it will all quickly come back to me.

Decided to try out some new things this year, lighting, equipment, new styles, etc. It will take a bit of time to get everything dialed in exactly how I want it, but so far I really like some of my captures and hopefully everyone else will as well.

Here are some sampel images from the weekend......not your "typical" racing photos...I'll save those for another blog entry.

Strasburg Photo Galleries

Also, be sure to check out my expanded "TEAMS" photo galleries I have added several additional local and Pro teams and will continue to add more......

Weekend at the Chesapeak Bay

2008-01-28T13:59:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we decided to take the family down to the house on the Chesapeake Bay for the extended weekend for some R&R. The kids had afternoon soccer games on Saturday - this was the start of their indoor soccer season - their first. Off the topic, but I have a bone to pick with the Hockessin Soccer Club. We signed the girls up to play GIRLS INDOOR SOCCER and NOT Co-Ed Soccer Played Indoors!!! Big difference. One of the main reasons we joined the Hockessing Soccer Club was that they offered girls soccer and not Co-ed. My two daughters had a great time playing fall soccer and wanted to try their hand at indoor soccer to get some additional ball control experience. Signed them up and the sign up specifically stated Girls Indoor. A few days prior to the first game we get the team list and it's co-ed. Not a big deal for my younger daughter - she doesn't care, but my older daughter hates playing with boys and absolutely refused to play. We talked it over and came to an agreement that she would play one game and if she wanted to quit - she could...and then I would contact the club and request a refund. Well after the first game she decided to try a few more games (it helped that she scored the first 2goals for her team)...and Ella scored the first goal for her team as well. My second complain is that INDOOR soccer is played agains walls, backboards, etc - there are no out of bounds - these games are not indoor soccer at all - no boards to play off of - behind the goal is out of bounds and becomes a goal kick - just soccer being played indoors - quite a difference. I think next year we may look into another club for indoor soccer.

Get down to the Bay Saturday evening - kids play in the hot tub most of the evening, watched a few movies - all in all a relaxing weekend. Took the time to play around with the camera, try out some colored Gels on my flash. Sunday the temperatures took a plumit and the Bay started to freeze over, wind was howling....pretty much you were unable to venture outside for longer than 15 minutes. I spent a short amount of time outside trying to just grap a few photos, but my hands ended up freezing...so I kept inside. Sunday was also my wifes 39th birthday so we had a nice dinner and apple cake.

Back home on Monday and Tuesday all forms of sickness broke out - everyone in the family ended up sick in bed ALL week - high temperature winner goes to Mave at 104.7. I was fortunate enough to have it the least and no feaver, but most of the time I was completely drained of any energy....but I was looking forward to finally getting on the mountain bike on Saturday - ended up that I was still feeling pretty sick and decided the smarter thing would be to skip the ride. Sunday I thought I could try to get in a nice and easy 1 hour road ride. My friend John called just as I was heading out the door and I decided to ride down to his house for a ride.....stupid move as no rides with John are ever considered easy....show back up home almost 3 hours later and felt like crap. Man I need to get back into shape!

A few photos from the past weekends trip:

Photos of a Solo ride...

2008-01-14T20:20:00.000-05:00

Most of my riding ends up being Solo - with three kids it just ends up being more time efficient to leave from my house for a road ride...and a lot of them just at the spur of the moment. Sunday, I was lucky enough to get out for such a ride and suprisingly I was able to ride two days in a row!

Just wanted to post a quick slide show of some of the scenes I often see on these solo rides. Today I was lucky enough to bump into an old friend that I have not seen in many years. It was nice to have a old friend tag along for a portion of the ride.

Some Weekend Group Riding - finally!

2008-01-12T13:27:00.000-05:00

Haven't been writing much, busy with odds and ends and just haven't been updating the Blog much.

Well finally after being off the bike completely for 2 months (longest off a bike pretty much my entire life) I have been able to get back and start some riding again. Last week was the Donut ride - a few guys on fixed gears and a few of us on geared bikes.....headed out to NorthBrook Orchards for some famous bakery treats only to find out they are closed for the season????? Especially since their main sign says they are OPEN ALL YEAR!! Kind of a let down, but I lived.

Trying to get back into the swing of doing some routine excersizing a few days a week this week we had two beautiful days of close to 60 degree weather so I did a lunch time road ride on both days - Wednesday was my 1st ever Spinning class at the YMCA - going to try this one day a week for a while just to keep it mixed up a bit.

Today we had a nice group ride out of Marc V's house for a 2 1/2 hour road ride. Perfect weather and as always good and safe company!

As far a photography....had a lot of "upgrades" the past month or so and justbeen trying to learn some new software and get in place a new workflow for 2008 with the goal to speed up some large number pricessing. Switch to using Lightroom (which I love) and CS3, added a few plugins for sharpening (Photokit Sharpener) and Noise Reduction(Noise Ninja) - still learning my way around the new software with the hopes of getting the basics dialed in soon.
Picked up a new camera as well - D300 and lens 105 f/2.8vr Micro. My D200 with be my 2nd body now.

Crank Brothers US Gran Prix Weekend

2007-11-20T09:43:00.000-05:00

SmugMug has set it up that we can now embed some prety cool slideshows into our Blogs. Here is a few sample images from this past weekends Crank Brothers USGP Cyclocross race.

I photographes both days. Would have been nice to spend the night over instead of driving home and back the next morning.
Saturday was partly sunny which mad for some excellent lighting, Sunday was a deep and dark overcast with a light rain pretty much the entire day. Funny thing is last week a was looking as some camera rain gear - should have bought it.

On a side note, since I threw my back out at the Fair Hill Cyclocross race almost three weeks ago I have not been able to ride a bike or do any sort of exercising! Three weeks - That is a record for me!! I am hoping to try and get back on the bike by the weekend and see how I make out.

Beacon UCI Cyclocross

2007-11-13T09:01:00.000-05:00

Saturday was my first time to photographing a race that I would not be racing myself. Since I threw out my back last weekend at the Fair Hill Cyclocross race I am still in a lot of pain but decided I would head out to Bridgton NJ to photograph the race. The day was pretty crappy, dark and cloudy with a bit of early rain. A lot of the course was covered in trees making it even darker. A lot of photographers complain about full sun and having to deal with back lighting and shadows, etc.....I prefer full sun to dark days like this and to top it off it was one of those days where you just feel like you are shooting like

crap. I had to use flash pretty much 90% which I do not like. Now don't get me wrong as I enjoy using flash for certain type of photos as you can see in my galleries, but not for a whole day.

Getting to the race I decided to leave my 300 2.8vr at home as I did not want to carry it around all day with a bad back, plus I though the course was a bit tight for a 300mm lens. So today I just shot with the 70-200 2.8vr, 17.5 2.8 and a few with the 10.5x fisheye. Another bonus for the day is since I race in the B Masters and my photog buddy Dennis S also races in the B Masters - this class never gets any real photos taken for them - so at least at Beacon I could get that class photographed once this year.

I posted a few sample images from the day - complete race galleries can be viewed here: Beacon Cyclocross
Next up will be this weekends Crank Brothers US Grand Prix Race in NJ. I am still not 100% sure I am am just going to shoot only the Pro races or a few other classes as well. Have to wait and see what the schedule looks like first.

Fair Hill "I'm dead now" Cross Race

2007-11-06T12:08:00.001-05:00

This past Saturday I headed out to the Fair Hill "not dead yet" cyclocross race. This is a race I could not pass up since it is so close to my house. I have not been riding much - around 2-3 hours a week so I really do not expect much as far as results. I just like race cross - so well call it just racing for FUN! I showed up early to get the chance to pre-ride the course since I have never raced cross here. Did a two partial laps with team mate and photographer Dennis S. The course layout was very fun, but the laps were pretty long - rumour had it they were 2 mile laps.

Set out and photographed the earlier Womens B race and then the Mens C race. Today I decided to leave the 300 2.8vr lens in the trunk (even though I just love that lens) and wanted to focus a bit more on shooting with the 70-200 2.8vr as well as attempt some panning. I did a lot of panning earlier in the year with mountain biking, but none so far with cross. Thought today would be a good day to get some panning experience in.

So on to my race - B Masters.

Once again I pretty much only had time for a 10 minute warm up before heading to the start to get lined up. I get lined up in the 2nd row which was nice for a change (usually in the back). Start goes off and for some reason it did not seem all that fast. I was sitting nicely in aroud 6th position heading into the first switch back technical section. My race would go pretty much like this.....Slowly but surely I was loosing ground and heading back from my good starting position. Nothing dramatic, but I WAS heading in the wrong direction. The groups I were riding with I would make some attacks and move ahead, loose ground and move , back, attack and move up, etc. The course was not suited well for me since it required a lot of flat out accelerations which I have none this time of year (or any time for that matter). There were two portions of this course that hurt me - 1st was the running section thru the horse arena - I am not a runner and spend no time running so although I did not loose any positions in the running section, it did put a hurting on my lungs and any chance to recover and attack once back on the bike. 2nd was my crash heading into the barriers. Barriers were set after a 180 degree left turn. No biggie other than when I was doing my step thru to dismount my foot did not unclip from the pedal and I took a header. I was up fast and recovered well - the rider right behind me did not even have time to pass, but this is where I think I threw out my back. The remaining 2 lap my back started getting very sore and stiff. I was luckly able to hold off anyone else from passing me, but I paid for this mistake. After my race - which I finished 14th .

I photographed the remaining races of the day. and slowly but surely my back completely went out and I had a very difficlt time getting around. I should have played it smart and just went home right away.

Saturday evening I am completely out of action unable to stand or move around....Sunday is the same. Today I am still not a whle lot better, but at least able to stand straight after a few minutes.

So now my cross race season is over, but I'll continue to photograph a few additional cross races.

Some updates on photographs I have had in some national magazines: This months edition of Road Bike Action I have a photo in the rear of the magazine (2 page spread) as well they did an article on the Rock and Republic Racing Team and used several of my photos for this article. The next issue of Road Bike Action, I will have the cover photo from the US Grand Prix race earlier this fall (my 1st cover) which is pretty cool. I have also had several photos (although small) printed in VeloNews - VeloNews contacted me this week about shooting the Crank Brothers GP cyclocross race in NJ in two weeks for them - possible cover photo opportunity here - crossing my fingers.

Granogue Cyclocross and First Place!

2007-10-24T11:28:00.000-04:00

Actually the title is misleading....don't expect a 1st place from me in cross!

Starting with the latter - My daughters had a 3v3 soccer tournament on Sunday with the Hockessin Soccer Club. I was asked to coach my older daughters team and then try to watch my younger daughters games in between - so I though this would be a excellent day to leave the camera at home and just focus on watching my kids play.

Maeve (older daughter) had an unfortunate day and went 0-4 in U12. The kids played great - better than I think they had all year, the unfortunate part was they were short a player at the start (up to 6 players on a team) and a week prior to the tournament - lost another player to injury - so they would have to play with 4 players (only 1 sub) vs other teams with 2-3 subs. Big difference especially since they had back to back games twice. The one sub we did have I tried to rotate in every minute so at most they would play 3 minutes with a 1 minute rest - still they were very tied but played their hearts out! I'll take some of the blame as well as I have no experience with 3v3 play and did not really know how to coach this game - I played soccer in high school, college and many years after that, but 3v3 play is very different. We also did not have any practices prior to help the kids with 3v3. I now kind of understand the principles and keys of a 3v3 game so if I get roped into coacing again, I'll have a better understanding.

My younger daughter had an opposite day and went undefeted in the U8 age group - I think it was 5-0. Coach was realistic advising most parents prior to the tournament that there was a team of older girls that would be near impossible to beat - they were that good. We beat then twice!! The kids played great and in the semi final game it actually ended in a shoot-out (after overtime) with Ella's team winning the shootout - off to the finals. There was an A and B group in the division which was supposed to be A=your stronger team B=...your "B" team. Rumor had it that "One" coach switch his teams putting his A team in the B division so he will make it to the finals. Ella's team put the underdog hurting on this team with a pretty decisive win - I think the final score was around 6-3.

Both kids (and us parents) were proud of how well they played. Maeve has come along way and improves each week. Smart player who understands the play of soccer and will improve each season. Ella is fearless and will play against anyone, anysize. Once she learns a bot more control will develop into a strong player as well.

Both are already talking about playing indoor this winter.

GRANOGUE CYCLOCROSS

Raced on Saturday at Granogue - MAC Series race - UCI-C1 which is the best of the best in sanction cross races. Arived at the Granogue Estate at 6am to help with parking and decided to get kited up around 8:30 to get a pre ride in before the start of my 10am Master B race. Looking through the trunk I noticed I left my shoes at home, Damn! Raced home to get my shoes and was back in enough time to check out a bit of the C race and a very minimal warm-up. Got a great position in the line up - 2nd row - which is unusual for me..I tend to fnd myself lined up in the back. Course was in excellent shape and this was the first race for me with my new wheels and tubie. I picked up a set of Token C50 carbon tubluars. Wheels and Grifo tires where excellent and the traction was better than my prior setup.

Race startd with a short prolog and my strategy was to just maintain a decent position on the long road stretch and try and save something for the climb where hopefully some would be instantly blow up. Did just the same - Probably held a position during the prollog around 15th and going into the climb. Start of the 1st real lap I was struggling with dead legs - just did not have anything there and was getting passed my a number of racers. My legs would never really come around - just seemd to be sore and offering now power.

I road the course technically sound without any incidents - no crashes, bobbles, miss turns, etc. 3rd lap heading down the last hill section to Fatmarcs section I had a rider try to pas me on the inside at a left hand corner - where there was no rome for him to fit. I held my position and was not going to give any ground. he still tried to squeeze thru and we ended up locking bars heading straight thru the tape. I was not backing off - so a quick and strong elbow knocked him off! Gotta LOVE Cross!

Last 2 laps I was right behind the top 10 group - I could hear Rick yelling it out thru my dazzed thoughts, but I still just did not have the legs to accelerate. just held my ground and ended up 13th out of probably 60 racers. Not that bad considering how I felt, plus I know my riding time is getting less and less (I'm at about 3 maybe 4 hours a week including race time now). Fitness is dwlindling, but the fun level is still p there.

Complete race photos for Granogue can be found here:

http://mlkimages.smugmug.com/2007%20Sports/398004/

Ed Sander Memorial Cyclocross - Wasted Call-up

2007-10-02T09:44:00.000-04:00

Sunday I ventured out to Buckeystown Md for the Ed Sander Memorial Cyclocross race, the second MABRA series race. Normally this is further than I would travel for a cyclocross race (2+ hours), but this is the race that got me started in cross a few years ago so there is just something that I really like about it - I just keep coming back. I have been showing up very early at races this season trying to get in a few warm up laps prior to the "C" race and to be able to check out the course. I photograph about 1/2 of the "C" race and then get kitted up and ready for the Masters 3/4 race. Due to shooting the prior race, my warm ups have been very short.

The race is held at LilyPon which is a landscapers/retail area full of ponds next to more ponds..all full of lilys. A portion of the race zig zags thru, in and around a section of the network of ponds. This is a course that is not really all that well suited for me as it has a lot of flat gravel road section which are great for power type riders (which I am not) - I am better suited on technical and hilly courses.

Today's race waiting in the line for call ups and the scrum I am chatting with a few racers about how I prefer starting in the back - at least this way you are passing people, when you start in the front you get passed which is discouraging - all in god humor, but I end up getting my wish so to speak. Announcers are making the call ups and then I hear my name??? Me, a call up?

So now I am lined up in the second row - must be a photographers call up as shortly Dennis Smith (another photographer) gets a call up. WOW, pretty excited to be so close to the front row.

And the race is off..........into the short pre lap and over the barriers and out into the pond area. I am hanging with the lead group in around 10th or so - feeling excited and good about my current situation. Into the first sharp right the pace immediately drops and everyone is getting congested - then 1/2 way into my turn I get T-boned and end up going down, quick up and looking down I have dropped my chain - no problem (so I think) I quickly remount and shift my front derailleur up and start spinning....and the chain should have came back on, it should of really! Must be an issue with the Ultegra compact crank/rings - 34/50. I thing the 50 is too large a ring. So now I am off my bike putting the chain back on by hand....and everyone is flying by me at this point, everyone. Chain on and I remount - look back and there is just one rider left.....I am now 2nd from LAST! in 64th place! DAMN! What a waste of a once a year call-up.

So now I have two choices, sit back and just finish the race or try and make something out of a bad situation - I choose the latter and immediately put my head down and set to work. Immediately thru the ponds I am making some passes, but looking ahead I can see the field is way strung out in front not even able to see the leaders anymore.

Lap after lap I am passing thru the ponds and back side technical sections....but as I knew, in the flats I was just hanging on or getting dropped. Slowly but surely I am making my way up thru the ranks, riding technically sound, fast thru the corners and actually being aggressive out of the corners standing and getting in some short sprints. At this point I have no idea where I am in the field.

Last lap and I am still making some nice passes and no one is gaining or passing me back - I catch up with Mike Connair and a group of 4-5 other riders who are riding very strong. I join the group and try working ahead....now we hit the long gravel road section. I am feeling pretty cooked a this point, Mike looks over like he wants to work together on the road and I tell him to go on - I don't really have anything left. The group moves ahead and gaps me a bit so I think I'm done but still trying to keep a strong pace. Heading into the backside "Party Zone" and up to the short run-up I see the group right in front - hey! I still have a group I can battle with!

Up the run up and into the switchback section I catch the group, take Mike on an inside corner and two other shortly there after. Up the last hill I surge forward and make another pass. So now its just me and one left from the group. Down hill to the "endo gravel pit" and to the finish.

I make a pass right before heading into the endo pit and he would have nothing to do with it and surged to stay even, into a quick right and left we are riding side by sis and not giving up an inch to each other. Now I see the "endo pit" - I had dismounted and run this section throughout the race just as everyone else had done as it was not really ridable, but this lap - the finishing lap I see a potentially rideable section and go for it...make it thru the corner to the finish and looking back - no one in sight.

I ended up crossing the line in 17th place (35/45 combined). Not a great placing result, but I had to pass 47 other racers to get there which in itself I am very proud of. Plus when I thought I was ready to roll over for dead, I managed to dig deep enough and pass a group of 5 strong riders in the last 1/4 lap. This was a race that brought out the pure enjoyment of cyclocross racing and why I love this sport so much.

Cleaned up and finished the day off by photographing the remaining races.

With the MAIN EVENT of the day being the Pro 1/2/3 race. Guest appearance by Trek Factory rider Jeremiah Bishop vs Local hero Weston Schempf. Great race with Wes leading most of the race and Jeremiah right in tow - giving you the feeling that Mr Bishop was just letting Wes do all the work and would make a strong move on the last lap. With 3 laps to go Wes got tripped up on the barriers and Jeremiah made an immediate attack, Wes was able to recover, attack and get back on Jeremiah wheel. Jeremiah then caught a pedal thru a corner and almost crashed, Wes got a small gap but did not notice what had happened so Bishop was right back on.

Then right at the end of the lap into the bell lap, Jeremiah had a flat and did not have a pit bike so he had to change his wheel. Wes would take full advantage of this and go on to wing the race.

Great race for Wes who I am sure will be a soon to be Sponsored Pro.

Can't wait for Granogue Cyclocross when Wes will be racing against Nationally ranked Pro's.

MLK

Charm City Cyclocross - 1st cross race of the year!

2007-09-24T12:28:00.000-04:00

Sunday was the first cross race of the year - Charm City Cross in Baltimore Maryland.

Thought I would put my best foot forward and attempt another year at a handfull of cyclocross racing. Prior to Sundays race I had made it out to two practice sessions with the DCCoD and hoped it would be enought to help lower the ensuing pain I know I was in my future.

For Sundays race I set a realistic goal of a mid pack finish in the Masters Cat 3/4 35/45+ race. Sorry - no top 5's, top 10's or anything link that - I just do not ride enough or for that matter do any sort of interval work that would allow me to have anything resembling a top finish.

Charm City...and my race almost did not happen - I am out riding the starting section heading down to the start line and some idiot in front of me decides he wants to get off the course by cutting across the course right in front of me on an off camber hill. I have to swerve and lock up my brakes to keep from T-boning him and in doing so I rolled my front tire (tubular/clincher). I run back to the car and get the tire remounted....race back to the start and line up almost in the last row. Thank goodness they rearranged the line up by numbers and I end up in the 6th row out of about 10. Super large turnout with around 100 racers line up on the Masters Race.

Race starts and I get held up a bit by some riders who just don't know much about riding a bike. It's really as easy as jumping on and turning the pedals around in circles! I start moving up a bit and my race prodeeds as follows - I handled the bike, technical corners and barriers very well and probably made 95% of my passes in these areas - Flats are where I struggled for the most part, plus I had no real accellerations out of the corners. I'd really have to say my favorite sections where the tight switchbacks - I was pimping everyone in these sections, everyone was swinging wide to cut into the turns while I was taking the inside lines faster and more aggressively. I think there was one corner right before exiting the field section and back across the road where I passed a group of 4 racers in one corner! Pimp-o-mania!

Two laps to go and Henry's teamate Tom M. was gaining ground on me. I did my best to hold him off, but my fitness just is not there and I was starting to struggle.....one lap to go and Tom pulls on my wheel. I try and tell him to grab my wheel and I'll pull him thru on the road section, but it was too late as Tom had already pull along and past me. I was able to keep from loosing ground on Tom on the last lap, but just did not have the energy to close the gap. At the finish I was right behind Tom(with 2 racers inbetween).

I finished in 24th place which was much better than I expected so I guess I am satisfied. I really need to do some work on accelerating out of corners - here I'm slow as a pig.

Michael

1st Place! - Kennett Mushroom Festival Art Show

2007-09-21T10:12:00.001-04:00

Kennett Square has it's annual Mushroom Festival in early September and with it is an Arts Festival which I had no idea about. I had no intention of entering especially since I did not know it was there, but my neighbor (who is an artist) told me about it and after some pushing and encouragement from her I decided to enter 4 photos. Now this was a last minute thing for me as we were heading on vacation the week of the art show, I only had two photos printed (which were in my sons bedroom framed in a inexpensive poster frame from Walmart). So I quickly ordered two additional prints, bought some frames and matting, did my own mat cutting which in itself is a bad experience. I did not want to put too much $$ into this because having someone inexpensively frame a print is easily over $100 x 4 and I seriously did not think much would come of it. I then handed off my framed photos to my neighbor who while I was on vacation dropped them off at the art show.

When we got back from vacation we heading into town on the following Monday to pick up my photos. Low and behold - I took the Blue Ribbon - 1st place - The Grand Pubah - in the photography division...and as a bonus I sold two of the four framed prints I dropped off. I seriously did not think I had a chance especially due to the number of artist entered in the event. Not a bad week for not even being there!

So now I think I may even stop by our towns art shop/gallery and talk to them about how to get some photos placed on display in the gallery.

Here are the prints I entered in the show:
This first one took the Blue Ribbon and top honors:

and these are the two prints that sold:

Proud Dad!

2007-08-28T11:01:00.000-04:00

...so my two daughters have been doing some modeling for a gymnastics catalog.

Actually they have been doing it for quite a while now - Maeve and Ella both started when they were five (Maeve's now 10 and Ella's 7). Looking thru my keepsakes I count seven different catalogs - they have not been in evey single one, but generally they have been doing 1 or 2 a year. Both kids just love doing it and have a ton of fun at the shoot. I guess watching Americas Next Top Model has been paying off as both just seem to have that natural ability to strike poses.

My wife and I have been contemplating about trying to get the kids involved in some more modeling, but there just seem to be so many "money makers" and scams out there that we have not really been pushing to see what the next step would be to get them involved in other "projects". It's one of those things that they seem to have the talent and really love doing it - it's almost a shame to not try and help them get more involved in modeling. Not that anyone really reads my blogs, but if anyone does and is, works for a company that does or knows of anyone that is looking for beautiful child models - drop me a line!

Hey, even dad was pulled into one of the catalogs as a last minute desperation model.

been too long

2007-08-21T08:31:00.000-04:00

since I last posted -getting side tracked so much and busy with photography and family life.

I have photographed only two races since my last post and both have been road races. These are a nice change of pace but very different...almost would say I like shooting these better. But they have their problems.....usually called FULL SUN! Which plays havic on obtaining proper exposures.

First was the Robert Fulton PA State Championship race back in July - great event but the course scenery was not very appealling - just lots of telephone poles, houses and general background crap to deal with. You would think that being in tne country that would not be a problem, it it was. Full gallery can be viewed here:

http://mlkimages.smugmug.com/2007%20Sports/350907

Second race was the Tour de Christiana - Two days of racing. Saturday Road Race and a Sunday morning Time Trial and afternoon Criterium. I decided to drive around the courses as much as possible (I usually ride my bike) since I just threw my back out (again). I like geting around this way - may have to keep moving aeround in this manner. People probably do not realize how hard it is to photography a race (at least the way I do it). After each day my tee shirt was soken wet, food is usually just snacking on some peanuts or something and I can only carry so much water with me. After some events I am more sore the next day then after a race - go figure.

Full gallery can be viewed here:

http://mlkimages.smugmug.com/2007%20Sports/360481

My sister from Florida and her husband were up this past weekend so we had a nice family get together - this does not happen much in my family so it was nice to have everyone together for the weekend. We all met up at my moms house on the Chesapeake Bay. We did not bring our dog down so Karen and myself drove home Friday and Saturday nights. Some drinking, crabs, nice boat ride, etc - all for a nice family weekend.

and me with the cronic back problems - getting all excited for cyclocross season. I was planning on racing and photographing the rest of the day. Even bought a new cross bike with carbon tubulars. But, I threw my back out over two weeks ago - No big deal as it usually only takes a week to get back to nornmal. Unfortunately this time I am going on three weeks and still not better. Plus I have been having some weakness in my left leg - had an ultrasoud done and it came back normal so now I am off to the Christiana Spine Center for a check. My wife working in the medical industry checks on line for some info and had diagnosed me with a pinched nerve in my back - caused by the degenerative problem I have which has been what has been causing my back pain....just now it has worked its way into my leg :( Unfortunately I think this could be the end to my cross season as it is difficult to race with one leg at 40%. Hopfully there is is a fix.

....also almost forgot - although I mostly photograph sports - I had a friend contact me to shoot some family pictures. I set the time to catch the evening sun but when I got to his house it was set in a valley surrounded by all trees. Caught me off guard as it was going to be much darker than I had planned and I was unable to use the sun for lighting. Still I made out ok and I think they parents were satisfied - which is what matters.

Michael

Fair Hill Classic Mountain Bike Race

2007-07-16T09:46:00.000-04:00

The Fair Hill Classic Mountain bike race was on Sunday 7/15/07. After my problems at Nesamniny a few weeks ago, I was not sure I even wanted to attempt this race, plus last Sundays pre-ride really put a hurting on my legs. The course is also one long lap so it was not really worth my time (an entire day) to photograph this race due to the layout. I had a million and one reasons or excuses not to race....but in the end I knew this would be my last (and first) chance to race on a mountain bike this year and would probably regret it if I missed it.

I have been racing the Fair Hill Classic since 1995, back when it was the C&D Canal Classic and moved to Fair Hill in 1996 (dates are from what I recall). I have raced every year except one (last year). Fair Hill is a race that I always see to do fairly well at - my best race was 2 years ago where I came in 3rd (Expert Vet I), 20 seconds behind Rick Mihills (Super Fast Cross racer - 2006 MAC Masters Champion) and 6 minutes behind Blair Saunders (Ex Canadian Olympian) who won our class.

This year I have not done any racing due to an ongoing back problem that locks up when racing making it impossible to breath and I loose all the strength in my legs putting my riding to a slow crawl. Recently my wife has been encouraging me to try some Yoga so 2 weeks ago I started doing Yoga twice a week hoping the excessive stretching and strengthening posses would help with my back. I seriously thing it has been helping - I still have some ongoing soreness, but I really think I am making some progress in reducing the severity of the pain. Hopefully with time Yoga will progressively help my back and be ready for cross season.

Fair Hill this year, learning from my mistake at Neshaminy, I decided to make sure I had a plan since the course was a 29 mile single loop with a lot of climbing...as well as there were no really good areas to drop out if necessary. My main goal was just to make sure I finished the race with a secondary goal of being in the top 10 even though in all reality this was my 1st mountain bike race of the year (2nd if counting my 1.5 laps at Nesamniny). Looking at the previous MASS race results I notice Robert Dudas (Wild Blues) was racing well this year and had a similar racing style as myself - starting off reasonable, pacing and keeping consistent lap times and finishing strong - I decided I would ride Rob's wheel at Fairhill to make sure I did not head out too fast and blow up my legs - kind of keeping me in check.

Expert Vet II's race starts and I found myself at the front 4th position. around the soft corner safely and up a short climb......THERE! right in front of me was Rob.....now normally I would have pass right by him as I was going faster, but I really thought the best thing was for me to stick with my plan - so I dropped right behind Rob and set out to race. Rob kept a nice pace, we got passed by a few riders at the very beginning once we entered the woods....but it was going to be a LONG and hard race so I just sat in and did not chase anyone.

Problems set in descending down the first rocky downhill....water bottle fell out of it's cage - no biggie as I had an extra on me and prior to the race I dropped 2 bottles off at the 273 bridge crossing :). Drop my 2nd bottle in the cage and notice my bottle cage was broken - now that's a problem. I now was going to have to drink the entire race from a bottle in my jersey pocket - ouch! Nothing I could do so just had to make due. Once everyone settled in, Rob and I started to slowly pass a lot of riders. Felling bad about being a wheel sucker I needed to help out Rob as much as I could and fed him all the course info, when we would be climbing, how long the climbs were, when we needed to pass, when not to pass, ect. Knowing the race course as much as I did, it was often tough to sit on his wheel as I know I could flow through many of the section a lot faster and smoother, but I kept telling myself to sit back for a while...it still a long way to go and I wanted to make sure I finished.

Crossing under the 273 bridge I went to grab my 2 extra bottles....Damn, missed the 1st one but was able to grab the 2nd. Now I had one full and one almost empty bottle with still 2/3rds of the race to go and having to drink from my jersey. Gonna be some trouble.

After crossing under the 273 bridge, sharp left and up the 1st major climb - The Punctured Lung, here I was felling pretty good and actually wanted to pass more than we did...getting a bit antsy siting back - to the top, downhill to the next climb. Once we started this 2nd climb I told Rob that some technical sections were coming up and I would take the lead since I know the trails (Drunken Sailor and then over to South Park). Rob said go and I moved around but he did not grab my wheel...I pass one other rider just as we were moving into Drunken Sailor and never saw Rob again. Feeling pretty good I rolled thru the Rollercoaster and Upper Ridge Trail heading into South Park.

Now about 1/2 way thru South Park (I swear it was almost the EXACT same spot at my last race here in 2005) my legs started to cramp - looked down at my computer to see 22 miles - DAMN! 7 mile to go. Time to sit back and spin a bit as it was still a long way to go with legs starting to cramp. Here I was passed for the first time by a guys rider. Water Stop #2 I grabbed a full, ice cold water bottle (Great Job to the Trail Spinners to offer full water bottles) drank as much as I could, put in in my jersey and started up the 5 bridges climb. I was able to contain my cramps by spinning up - thru Crack Head Bob I still had to spin a lot but was able to maintain a decent pace - not getting passed yet and gaining ground on a few racers in front. This is the way I road pretty much to the end of the race. Crossed over the Humpback bridge with a few riders directly in front...able to maintain without loosing much ground, but unable to gain. Now my legs were getting real bad and seriously though I was done - not going to make it to the finish. Every once in a while while pedaling one of my legs would straighten out and completely lock up and almost not be able to bend....sit and spin, sit and spin - Yoga was coming to mind - breath oxygen into the legs, breath to the legs.

Final few roller climbs to the finish some one was riding my wheel.....every rider I came up on I was still able to pass just trying to maintain a steady spinning pace. I knew this rider was just going to spring me at the final 100 yards and there was no way I could possibly sprint. Up the last climb passed another rider and another right after the climb (I was actually really surprised that I was still able to pass so may riders during the last mile to the finish being that my legs were almost completely locking up) - last 50 single track yards to the road up to the finish I just told the rider that was behind me for the last 1/4 mile to go around as I was not going to sprint them to the line.....and around comes......................Greg Ferguson - DAMN! What are the odds it was someone from my class. Fergie comes around and I just roll in the finish right behind him. In the end Fergie takes 5th bumping me to 6th. Kind of suck losing 5th in the last 30 yards of a race. Hind site I should of just kept my mouth shut and let the cards drop where they do instead of just giving my place away...not that it would have changed anything.

In the end 6th place was respectable especially since a lot of the big guns come out to race Fair Hill. Talked to Rob after the race to apologise for being a wheel sucker, but he was cool with it - actually said he liked it?

Last night I did all the post race thinking about what I could have done differently - could I have placed higher if I did not hold back so much at the first 1/3 of the race, what if I was able to drink more instead of having to drink from bottles in my jersey pocket, what if, what it....

Iron Hill is the next race which is local as well. Said immediately after FairHill I was not racing Iron Hill as I hate short lap races that do lots of laps, but I think I'll wait to see the course layout to determine if I'll race or not. Probably not as Iron Hill is a great course to photograph since there are so many access points and Iron Hill could be my last mountain bike to photographs this year.

Photos are from a few different races this year.

Later
MLK

Iron Hill Twilight Criterium and Preriding the Fair Hill race course

2007-07-10T12:08:00.001-04:00

Saturday evening saw the Iron Hill Twilight Criterium which is part of the USA National CRIT Championship Series making a stop in local West Chester PA.

Races Consisted of Mens Cat 3/4, Pro Women's and Pro Men's
All I can say is "Wicked FAST! By the time the Pro Men hit the streets it was getting dark - 60 laps and they were flying right from the start - I really have no idea how they could keep up that tempo for the entire 60 laps, but they did.

Eventual winner Emile Abraham (Priority Health) and 2nd place Evan Fader (Battley Harley Davidson) kept away on a breakaway for 23 laps.

Womens Pro field came down to an at the line sprint where Cherrwine team rider Laura Van Gilder edged out Teresa Cliff-Ryan (Breakway Racing)

.....and a few more photographs from the race:
complete race gallery can be viewed here

http://mlkimages.smugmug.com/2007%20Sports/345674/

Sunday I ventured out to pre-ride the Fairhill race course with Todd Forrest leading the group ride. Parking lot was full with a few different groups heading out as well. Our group probably started out with close to 20 riders....and in the end whittled down to around 8. Course was just as everyone described - no flow and lots of climbing.

In the end the course measures out to just over 28 miles, our riding time was 2 hours and 41 minutes...averaging 10.5mph. For me, toward the end of the ride I was just hanging on buy a thread trying to finish. I was definately hurting and felt the effect in my legs the following day. Still not sure if I am going to race Fairhill of just be content to do some groups rides now and again...Well see come Sunday.

Fathers Day Neshaminy MTB Race - Retiring?

2007-06-20T16:16:00.000-04:00

Guys Neshamniny MTB race was going to be my 1st attempt at racing again this year....to see if my back could handle racing again. I headed out to Christiana Spine Center 2 weeks ago and had a steriod injection (not as good as EPO) - everything was feeling fine, but racing would be the ultimate test. I have been questioning my fitness as my riding time is very limited and contains pretty much zero, nada, zilch, zippo efforts - I try and climb a few hills here and there, but intervals have been non existant this year.

So I head out on Fathers Day to North of Philadelphia - photographed the Beginners and Sport races....was a hot day. I tried drinking to stay hydrated as well.

Experts were starting soon so I geared up and preroad a small section of the start and finish areas. Lined up in the first row (I have no idea why) and realized I was starting this race different than any other racie in the past - I had NO plan! Usually when I race I have a plan of action. I know my physical abilities, I usually know the abilities of most of the other racers - their strengths and weaknesses, ect. But I went into this race so causal, with no fitness....I just had no plan of action. How I was going to ride - pace and attach at the end, fide a wheel and stay with it, ect.

It was a short field start and I went into the woods in a suprising 6th place - no "real" effert to get there, just a quick start and sat in place - kind of suprised where I was given the effert to get there. So into the woods was pretty quick but managable I held onto my placement and found myslef moving up nicely passing a lot of Vet I riders and vener getting passed myself - tried to keep my efforst sensible with no super hard and long sprints, just a nice fast sustained effort.

Now I'm 3/4 into the first lap I found myself suprisingly riding behind Greg Ferguson (Meredeth GPOA) who is a extremely fast rider....knew I had to be moving up in my group and figured at this point I was around 4th. Fergy bobbled on a skinny bridge and I moved around. End of the 1st lap I was in 3rd - Go Figure. At this point my back was holding out - a bit sore, but nothing severe.

Here is where I started getting grand delusions of the Photographer that never rides...1st race of the year and end up on the podium....kind of like the Lottery Fantacies everyone has. Quickly into the 2nd lap I pass the 2nd place Guys rider which now puts me in 2nd. WHAT?........and this is where my down fall begins......almost 1/2 way thru the 2nd lap I start getting severe leg cramps....which a few days later I figure might have been the cause of the additional back strain I was now having. I've been drinking a bottle a lap so it wasn't hydration. I think the lack of any intensity up to this race has caught up with my legs - not able to handle race stress. So I start spinning a bit to try and releive the cramps - no such luck - legs cramps are now borderline of locking up.

Passed by Robert Dudas (who eventually takes 3rd place for the day) and an two other VII racers.

I was able to maintine my distance between the two VII's infront of me but then I get the two pop-up voices on each shoulder - the competive one yelling at me to suck it up and don't be a pansie - finish the race. Last is still better than a DNF!

The other voice which is the voice of reason and reality is telling me I still have two+ laps to go and there is NO WAY I can finish two more laps with severe cramps.

What to do...What to do??

The voice of reason won out and as I was pulling out of the woods to start a 3rd lap I pulled out. Sat down by the water station, had a few drinks in dissapointment, slowly gathered up my water bottles and headed back to the car hanging my head in defeat!

So now what? Quite/Retirement from racing - Feeling my racing days are now officially over I head home - call my wife who gives me a hard time - reminding me that racing is what I've done...what I do. you can't quit. But physically my back was not able to handle the stress. I suck, I suck, I suck!

Sunday night feeling so frustrated I deleate all my ebay favorites related to cycling and auctions I was watching - possible new cyclocross frame and carbon tubular wheels - done, gone, finished. Marysville - NOPE not racing!

Now a few days later and after calming down a bit I am rethinking racing. Was racing with no plan my demise? Did I start too hard based on my lack of riding? Could I sit back and pace myself better? The comptive side in me makes it difficult to just sit back - could I do it.

So now I'm back and forth about if I want to give it one last attempt and race or not race the Marysville race in a week and a half. Just not sure. Still thinking thos one out.

Pictures above are a few from the race.

Full gallery can be viewed here:
http://www.mlkimages.smugmug.com/2007%20Sports/324647

Later
Michael

Back in the saddle....?

2007-05-29T15:54:00.000-04:00

Just like everyone else with family committments, my riding time has become pretty limited this year - less than prior years and that is not saying much. I started out with two road races earlier in the year and since then have not raced. Reason is tri fold - back injury, limited riding time and spending more time with photography.....but in the back of my mind I thought I might give some racing a go come June - where there are four MTB races back to back to back to back.
My riding has been limited to a few short road rides at lunch during the week and usually one longer 1.5-2 hour road ride on the weekend (if I'm lucky)...and no intensity.

So now that we are getting closer to June and the possibility of racing every so closer I made an appointment with my back specialist for a back injection (not EPO but close enough for me) and thought I should really try and get out on my MTB and see if I can ride with the big boys. My "plan" was to attempt the Tuesday fast ride but that plan fell thru...so I hit a Thursday mellow ride with http://www.fatmarc.com/. Although this was an easy temp ride - it was a smart way to head into some riding as this would be only my 2nd mtb ride since there was SNOW on the ground!! Left the ride feeling perfectly fine. Good start!

Sundays ride was planned for a 4 park ride - which I was very nervous about - not sure if I would have the legs for such an event. Attendies were: Les the International Man of Mystery, Fitzy, Genital Ben, Chris H, and Craig. Long story short - 4.15 of ride time and 45 mile later and amazingly...some how I felt fine - not sure how or why, but I have pleantly of riding left in me. Plus this would end up being the longest MTB ride to date for me. Go figure?

So hopefully I can get in one fast Tuesday group ride prior to racing to gague some efforts and I'm ready to get behind the saddle once again to attempt at least one race....and hopefully a few more will follow.

...as far a photographs - here are a few from last Sundays "Escape from Granogue" Complete photo gallery is here: http://mlkimages.smugmug.com/2007%20Sports/320625

Been way.........too busy

2007-05-15T09:21:00.000-04:00

Between photographing the Kennett High School Sports, mountainbiking, kids in soccer, vacation, family and home stuff....time has been at a premium.

Probably the best thing to do right now is just show a few photos from the last several weeks:

Greenbrier UCI Mountain Bike Race:

Great and exciting race - Todd Wells and Katie Compton won the Pro divisions. Velo News contacted me about using one of my photos in their magazine.......but I received the email 10 minutes too late and could not get back in time to meet the deadline. Maybe next time.

Direct link to the Greenbrier Photo Galleries:

http://mlkimages.smugmug.com/2007%20Sports/248077

Vacation in Jamica:

Entire family spent a week in Jamica, our first time there. Stayed at the Beaches Negril Resort (HIGHLY recommended). As always - too short!

Girls Soccer:

My two daughters have been playing in the Hockessin Soccer league. Both are having a great time and doing quite well. Maeve has the mentality that could take her to team Captin one day. Very vocal and smart player. Ella could end up being a lead scorer, agressive and excellent ball handler.

Best games: Maeve 2 goals, Ella 2 goals, 2 just missed goals and a nice assist.

French Creek Mounain Bike Race: Race was held on Mothersday. I did not know the trails real well so I was rushing around trying to catch up with the lead riders at the next intersections. Missed the lead group a few times unfortunately.

Link to French Creek Race Photos: http://mlkimages.smugmug.com/2007%20Sports/248078

Next race will be Escape from Granogue and then I will be photographing the US Pro Tour road races in Lancaster, Reading and Philadelphia. I was able to obtain a full credential press pass thru Road Bike Action Magazine. They want me to photograph the race for them and want some photographs of the new Rock & Republic Racing team.

Later!

MLK

Swim, Bike and Run......yea a Triathlon

2007-04-23T16:38:00.000-04:00

Up at 5:30 am heading to Landisville PA. I was asked to photograph the "Tri for Kids Sake Triathlon" this past Sunday http://www.hempfieldtri.com/ I have never photographed a Tri before and thought this would be a great learning experience for me, and hopefully a step toward doing more such events. It was difficult to say the least for a single photographer. Since this Tri would be run in a Time Trial format there woudl actually be three events running at the same time......how to photograph everyone in each event? Actually it's just not possible. I decided just to shoot pieces of each event and move with the racers as they switch events hopefully getting racers in at least two of the three events.

The day was georgous, but difficult for photography. The Sun was shinning just so bright that shadows were a big distraction to over come, but I am not goin to complain as I was finally able to wear shorts and a tee sirt. I decided to use a flash for fill the entire day.
The event was very well run and organized. Funny thing I noticed during the race was I have never seen so many people in physical pain and smiling and grinning from ear to ear the entire time. There were a lot of spectators cheering athletes, want to be athletes and those just there to try someting new...just cheering everyone on. I do notice that I find myself wishing I was in the race instead of photographing, but I have come to grips with some injuries that I have that I may just not be able to race anymore. Time will tell.

Day over? Nope I had also commited to shooting some of the MASS (Mid Atlantic Super Series) races. The Short Track races was scheduled for the prior week, but due to a Nor'Easter it was rained out and rescheduled for this week...same day......so off to Coatesville Pa for the Short Track MTB race scheduled to start at 12:30. Some great racing from all groups - beginner, sport and expert. Fast, hard, aerobic! A one mile double track grave road that was rund the same way as a cross race. Photos should be up for the Short Track race in the next day or two so I will follow-up with those photos.

Kirkwood Road Race

2007-04-01T10:52:00.000-04:00

Tried my 2nd attempt at a road race this year - Kirkwood PA which is in Lancaster County. Great race location since it's only 20 minutes from my house. I've done this race twice before an it usually rains....but this year we were spared the rain and only had to deal with the cold.

Registering as usual takes longer than it should.
This week I learned from my bunder last week and registered for the Cat 4 race - I had soom time so I did a lap as a warm up - I surely do not remember all the hills from the last time I raced here - going to be a hard race!

Our race goes of at 9am ish right after all the Masters - 4 laps scheduled for ~ 28 miles. First two laps were unevenuful, no real attempted breaks - I was amble to keep with all the moves and surges. Kept my riding position exactly where I needed/wanted to be to keep out of the wind as I really wanted to try and stay with the main group to the finish. Everyone seems to be riding pretty well as there were no fatalaties, no yelling "#^%^" for bad moves. I was feeling very comfortible with my pack riding - but cautious.

Ahhh - the third lap - this appears to be my downfall - dropping in the third lap...and it happened again. An attack about 1/2 into the third lap and I was just off the back with lots of others. I was able to get back to within - believe it of not - 5 yards.....5 stinking yards, but I was toast, just could not close those last 5 yards.....I had to let the break go. Cooked, toast, fried, however you want to say it - those were my legs.

Done for the day!....or so I thought.

I jumped on a wheel of a guy from Kellys (Actually he probably saw me gasping and told me to grab his wheel) and we managed to get with a group of 3 FSVS riders. I started getting some life back in me and managed to work pretty hard on the 4th lap. I seemed to be a bit faster on the down hills and climbing so I usually took the lead here and managed to close a gap to another small group of riders and worked beyound them. In the end I was pretty tired and the FSVS boys finished ahead of me but I really didn't care. At this point it was just about finishing for another day.

I didn't drop out, worked hard, thought I raced pretty smart (beside missing the 5 yards). I have no idea on results, but I may actually look this week for a good laugh!

I Photographed the remainder of the race - missed the Pro/Elite finish. They still had 7 laps to go and I really had to be home. I wanted to try some panning this weeks using two flash units - one on camera on one remote in front of the group - but for some reason I could not getthe remote flash to work - going to have to re-read the instructions again. Murphys Law - Works 100% of the time in my basementwhen foolwing around, but try putting it to real use outin the field and it will never work. I'll get it figured out as I want to use this technique on the next mountain bike race.

Next race I will be photographing is the start of the MASS Mountain Bike Race Series - Relay race.

Strasburg Road Race

2007-03-26T11:58:00.000-04:00

IN OVER MY HEAD!
So I went into this race knowing the above. I just recently moved up from Cat 5 to Cat 4 on the road and for what every reason I still do not know - I decided to race the Masters 40+ for my

1st road race of the season. I guess there is no better way to get into shape than being hammered in March. Snow called off the race last weekend and was rescheduled for this past Saturday. I get to the race which was in Strasburg PA, there was slight rain and the roads were wet - this is a given for the first road race of the season. Registering was SLOW - not sure why since everyone was to have preregistered - had enough time to do a quick out and back and headed to the start line. Recognized a few Cat 2's and 3's.....what was I thinking?
Race is scheduled for 5 laps for 28 mile.

We start off and pace is fine - nothing to demanding.......and 1/2 way into the first lap the attackes start. Come-on! My goal is to make at least one lap with the group! This is not going to help. No one gets away, but I can see the tatics being played by two teams. Sending guys off the front and 2 or 3 members sit in on the front slowing the group down. No one was getting to far away and at times I felt good enough that I would go off the front pulling the group back up to the leads. I figured I would not be there long so why not! The race pace picks up and I am suprisingly hanging with the lead - usually riding in the top 5 most of the time. Roads have dried out nicely by now.....and then 1/2 way into the 3rd lap a surge happens to chase an attacking group and I'm off the back never to find my way back onto the group. Pretty much my race is over - my lower back was sore at this point so I roll into the start/finish and pulled out at the end of the 4th lap. Figured I would now grab my camera gear and Photograph the rest of the day.

All photos of the race can be found here:

http://mlkimages.smugmug.com/2007%20Sports/248104

I tried panning a few shots today and a few came out decent enough - definately a technicue that I need to pracfice on. Photography kind of went as

my race. I just did not seem to have a groove going and seemed to have some focus issues. I have not photographed any sports since the end of cyclocross season last year so my shuter fingers are a bit rusty.

New week I have decided to try and smarten up a bit and signed up for the Cat 4 race at Kirkwood - we will see if I can hang with the main group a bit longer - Photographing the remaining races as well.

Spring is (WAS) in the air!

2007-03-16T16:22:00.000-04:00

Wednesday this week temperatures SOARED into the 70's, these are the type of days that it's impossible to not ride.

Headed out for my routine lunch time type ride - 1st stop was at the local golf course, there were a few players out, but not as many as I would have suspected (see my short sleeves :)

I also had to throw in a few photographs of my legs just to confirm I am wearing shorts - you will also notice that some of my photographs are a bit "odd", that is because I "borrow" my wife's Point and Shoot camera and the photos it produces are really not that crisp - so I often find myself touching these up a bit with some software to try and make them a bit more interesting.

Toward the end of my ride I cross the Red Clay Creek and with a nice sweat, the water looked very tempting - not quite yet, but soon enough.

The bad thing is I had my first road race
scheduled for the Sunday in Lancaster PA and it
has been cancelled to to SNOW - yea, you got that right, it is snowing right now - actually ice
pellets right now - roads are a complete mess.

Races is scheduled for next Saturday so at leas that will give me a chance to delay my immanent implosion.

Asylum 29er

2007-03-09T17:04:00.000-05:00

Well I finally got around to taking some photographs of my Asylum 29er.....my bike for 2007 and hopefully beyond. I have owned a few Titus Racer X's in the past (actually 3) and it is definitely one of the best racing platform bikes every made. I switched to a Turner Flux for a short period looking for a plusher ride, but the 29er bug hit me. This wasn't hard since most of my ridding buddies are on 29ers and I knew eventually peer pressure would set in. Plus I have the reputation of getting a new bike every

time mine gets too dirty???

I found a sweet deal on a Used Asylum in the MTBR classifieds this past fall and jumped on it knowing if I did not like it, I could easily sell it and make a few $$ in the process. I immediately like the 29er ride over a 26". The 29er just seems to have so much better traction thru corners and rolls faster that overall the bike comes out faster. I actually did a back to back test on my Turner Flux which weights around 24lbs and the original Asylum I owned which weighted close to 28lbs. In the end the Asylum was faster. I did this test twice with the same results. My after ride quotes were the Turner Flux "felt lighter" while the Asylum "felt faster".

So within a few weeks I had someone contact me wanting to buy my Asylum.....I didn't like the polished frame color, wheel set was way too heavy for my liking and the Maveric fork was not for me - Sold him those parts. Speedgoat had a deal to buy a Asylum frame and get a fork for free so that is what you see here.

Not a Rock Shox fan, but Fox has yet to release a 29er fork so until there is a Fox terrilogic fork available, I will use the RS.

It's not an Extreme lightweight build - I could pull some of the parts off my Turner Flux and loose another 3/4 of a pound, but am content with how the bike is built now - rides purrrrrrrfect! The Asylum as you see it (minus the spare tube) weight is guesstimated at around 25.5lbs. I stated weighting most of the parts, but never ended up weighing the entire bike. The big weight savings is the wheel set built by Mike Garcia. WTB hubs, Stans Olympic Rims, Supercomp spokes - wheel set weight is 1605 grams, with 620 gram Specialized Fast Trak tires which say 2.0 sized tires, but are closer to a 2.1. Great grip and roll nice and fast.

Photos were taken with my Nikon D200 and 85 1.4 lens. The lens is more of a portrait type lens but since I have not used it a ton, wanted to try it
out a bit more. Not bad for some quick shots with natural lighting in the back yard. Photos are untouched out of the camera.

Spring ride.....not quite yet :(

2007-03-01T14:15:00.000-05:00

Thursday I was down in Annapolis MD for a work lunch meeting, sun was shining, not a flake of snow in site and how WARM it was - drive home I had the windows down....call a co-worker and he had his AC on in the car already. What a great day to get in a quick road ride. As I cross over the Maryland state line into Pennsylvania I notice, complete cloud cover and the ground still covered with snow.

I head out on my new road bike (teaser shot, more details on the bike later) that I picked up from Henry's Bikes in Pike Creek DE. 2 weeks ago. The frame is a replacement frame paid for by the nice insurance company for the girl that was driving the Suburban that hit me over the Christmas holiday.

So heading out on a quick ride - colder than earlier and much more snow than I expected.

Since I am planning on my 1st road race in two weeks I thought I better start riding a few hills so a few miles into my ride I start into my 1st hill behind my house - wasn't all that painful, but again I was not pushing hard up the hill - I will probably have a very rude awakening in 2 weeks. And this year I made my upgrade to Cat 4....but signed up for the Masters race - probably not my smartest move of the year

After going up you are always rewarded by a nice down hill section, Roads were way too wet and my feet and legs were drenched - I know this was going to end up being too cold of a ride because of the water. Did my regular lunch time loop with a short expanded section. Actually felt kind of tired after the ride and the same after my lunch break at the YMCA today. I was planning on riding the trainer during lunch on Friday, but I think I will take the day off and try and rest a bit. Right now I am doing fairly well and above my norm for riding time each week - from the beginning of the year thru now I am averaging ~5-7 hours a week exercise time (including the YMCA), which is pretty good for me.

Another sneek peak at the new road bike - the face was blurred to protect the......Once I get some decent pictures of the bike, I'll post a review.

2007-02-26T19:52:00.000-05:00

The SH_T 2007 Kit! - HOT PINK
Rik just sent out the layout for the Secret Henry's Team 2007 Racing kit. SWEET!
I found a pair of Hot Pink lycra shoe covers on Ebay to add to the ensymble.
Great thing is some of the $$ from purchasing the kit will be donated to Breast Cancer research.

Hopefully most people will only be seeing the kits from the rear :)

Burrrrrrrr........

2007-02-24T16:24:00.000-05:00

Regular group met up at Charlie's work shop today with the plan to do a 3+ hour road ride. Chester County and Lancaster Counties PA.
Now, Ive done some pretty cold road rides in the past, but because today was so windy - I put this on down as my coldest road ride yet. Temp was in the teens to start, but it was WINDY - wind chill was....lets just say - hard!

Charlie as always, picked out a nice route and I was actually suprised there were no hills to start - He is pretty famous for putting together a route that hits most difficults hills in the area and puts the hurting into your legs and lungs.

My goal today was to just sit and spin tempo - no hard efforts, just some steady base riding. All and all I felt fine the entire ride - even at the end when we hit some hills, I was never beyond my limits and felf suprisingly good.

Back to the cold - ride left at 9am with the hope that the icy road sections would melt a bit - no such luck. In general the roads were in pretty decent shape, but we encountered numerous icy sections - funny how at the start of a ride - everyone is so cautious of the ice, and by the end everyone is just riding over it.

Fatmarc showing just how cold it was out there during a stop - Charlie's Speedplay cleats filled with ice after having to hike thru a 100 yard frozen road section.

Finished with a ride time of around 3 hours 15 minutes, 49 miles - longest road ride for me in quite a while.

MLKimages and Joe Demb!

2007-02-15T11:22:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I get a note from Joe Demb - A VERY Famous Boston wedding Photographer and creator of the "Flip-it!" Flash Diffuser.
http://www.joedembphotography.com/flipit/

Apparently Joe was reading a photography forum (Nikonians) where I had posted some recent wedding photographs I had taken using his Flip-it. Apparently he liked my photographs enough to want me to write a short note about using the diffuser and post a few of my images and a link to the gallery on his website. Although I was just shooting the wedding for a family member and as a guest, I was very pleased with the final results and really think the Flip-it is a great product. It does exactly what it is supposed to do and very easy to use (no learning curve). Highly recommended product.

http://www.joedembphotography.com/flipit/kirk/index.html

Michael

Equipment I use.

2007-02-08T09:41:00.000-05:00

I am now adding a Blog to my site, the unfortunate thing is I am pretty bad (actually terrible) with computer coding. I am trying to change the appearance of my blog to match the stype of my Smug Mug site. In the meantime, I thought I would post what photography equipment I use. I have the same affliction as I do with bicycles - Champain taste on a beer budget, but I really like owning the best equipment!

Everything I own is Nikon! I have had a few off brand lenses in the past, but really I was not satisfied with the performance from these lenses - sold everything and now I own nothing but Nikon!

Camera body is the Nikon D200 - here are some of the highlights:

- 10.2 megapixel DX Format CCD image sensor
- Industry-leading image processing for exceptional color performance
- Large viewfinder with 0.94x magnification
- Durable, Magnesium alloy (Mg) body
- 5fps high-speed continuous shooting
- New, 11-area Multi-CAM 1000 AF System with 7 Area Wide AF
- Large 2.5-inch High Resolution LCD monitor with wide angle viewing to 170 degrees

Lenses I am currently using:
- 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor

- 85mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor

- 17-55mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor
- 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor

Flash Nikon SB800