Kona Recap

Ok - back from vacation and I have managed to put some photos of the "big" race together. It was a fantastic day out there with plenty of fun and excitement to keep things going. As promised - tons of race photos here

It was great to see Jeremy Sartain dig deep and make it through the race despite his condition - totally amazing...


This place is magic for sure with crowds going strong until midnight cheering in the last of the racers making the cut.


The strong prevailed on the day...





CY had some fun after the race - all I could do was point and click...

Kona "K"overage

Levels of excitement are of course very high. The Cameras are charged up and ready to go.


The "Navy" is one of the sponsors out here this year and they are here in force :) It's going to be a fun fun day tomorrow. I'll try and make a few updates during the day on facebook so check there for iPhone Photos and comments.

Nick (TriJuice.com) is here covering the race so be sure to checkout his site as well.


The big guns are ready to give it their best and I'm rooting for Mr Potts. Lots of Pro Spectators here to watch - we saw Greg and Laura B plus Matty R and others today.

Lava Java has been jammed all week - it has achieved icon status and seems to be the place to hang...


The Germans (Mr S) were camped out here all morning.

Last minutes warm ups in the scenic venue...


Kiersten (16) & Karin (14) are here and excited to cheer on CY number 1614 - must be some kind of good Karma!


Pre-race slideshow here and I'll put up a ton of photos after the race.

USAT Nationals

It was a bit of a gloomy overcast day at Hagg Lake near Portland but with light winds and cooler temps the athletes were pretty happy about the conditions. As for the photogs some better light would have been great but like the athletes we make due with what the day brings.

I had a chance to run the 10K course and swim the 1500m loop the day before the race. The run which is on the 2 loop bike course had 4 meaningful hills in each direction of the out and back route. The water temp was low 70s and they used the mega sized buoys which was awesome for sighting. The water level was significantly lower this year so there was a pretty steep and long run up from the lake to T1.

With everyone racing in their respective age group waves it was hard to track all the athletes I knew but I managed to grab a few shots of some of them and have a 100+ image slide show posted here.

Local athletes Curt, Cathy and Brian had excellent performances, Curt with a 2nd AG finish and capturing the fastest bike split for a second year in a row. Brian was 2nd Master and in the top 10 overall. CY won her AG and posted the 2nd fastest women's time! Also Madison's Mark H and Cindy B had a podium AG finishes plus Cindy had this really huge bag of chocolate trail mix that kept us fueled during the pro races.

I captured a few of the sights and sounds on video below for your viewing pleasure. Off to Dallas this weekend for the Toyota US Open then Kona next weekend to watch the "Big One".

Train safe.

Black Dog TT - it's a wrap

Well another season at the "Dog" has come to an end. Consider this a quick tribute post to all those who have toiled out there this year on this 7+ mile "speed workout" every other Wednesday. The race is named for the Black Dog coal and gas fired power station that looms in the background on the Minnesota river. The name Black Dog came originally from the Black Dog band of Souix Indians and their Chief Black Dog who settled the area around 1750.
The event is put on by Silver Cycling and the title sponsor is Hollywood Cycles (Details at the link).

Each event attracts around 100 riders and they are sent out in Time Trial format with 30 second intervals. I've enjoyed watching the action and snapping a few photos - once in a while I even give it a whirl myself :). This event has been around for quite a while and is very well run. There's a good mix of participants including both roadies and triathletes. There are even some fun categories like Tandem and Recumbent.
Click the play button and get a feel for what the action is like.
We'll see you out there next year right???
(For a hi-res version of the video click here)

Run'in Down A Dream

I recently had a chance to spend a little time with Scott Penticoff and Patrick O'Shaughnessy who are training to compete in the upcoming Himalayan 100 stage race.

This will be more than a race for these guys as they have an honorable goal of raising money to help underprivileged kids get into College.

Their 5 day run through some of the most beautiful vistas in the world will be grueling yet rewarding for both the athletes and the charities they're supporting.

For a full description of the race and to donate to their effort just give this Admission Possible link a click.

A brief video interview with the athletes gives you an idea of how things are going and the passion these guys have to do something special. (click the play button and enjoy the video)

Let's Race!

HOTL Triathlon

My three motto's for the day were:

1) I've got great gear so use it!
2) Everyone is in the post race raffle
3) Today I must go hard

Things started out pretty interesting - there was so much fog that you couldn't see the swim course turn buoys from shore. There were lots of swimmers that didn't navigate well and even crossed the course and ended up swimming into the returning field. Other than the fog conditions were calm and water temp was 72 (which prevented the elites from wearing wet suits - they have their own rules at this race and it is not a USAT race but lays claim to the MN State Championship Triathlon) My swim was pretty typical despite a couple brief vectors off the most direct line.

Transition was setup to heavily favor the elites on T2 (see the times) but relative advantage was equal within each age group. I was excited to try the new toy that they guys down at the shop set me up with this week (Zipp Sub9 with powertap) They told me I had to go fast if I bought this wheel. Fast it was - I had a PR bike split - averaging 240 watts hitting a peak of 544 watts on one of the bigger hills. My bike split was 24.1 mph a real breakthrough split for me - and the best part of the bike result was that I outsplit CY on the bike (and she was having a good day winning the race for women and finishing within 20secs of Becky Lavelle's course record).
My recommendation on the Sub9 is "find one, form line, order one".

I came off the bike feeling pretty good and slipped on my new kicks (Asic Hyperspeed2 - very light and fast) I knew I had been flying on the bike so I was worried about how much I had left for the run. Turnover with the light shoes was good and I was feeling pretty strong - at about mile 2.0 I passed JR (super biker in my AG) so I knew I had a shot at a podium spot which fueled me to keep the pace going - around mile 3.5 I caught up to Elite F - JL and she powered up and ran with me to the finish line - nice rally JL! I ended up running 6:33 pace over the 5.23 mi course and capturing a second place Age Group spot.

Besides the wheel on CY's recommendation I worked hard on hydration all week leading up to the race - I think it paid off as I didn't get the classic dehydration symptoms that usually hit me during the race. I also used a profile "between the areo bars" drink system instead of just a bottle and finished it all plus took a gel on the bike. It was awesome to actually feel good throughout the race.

Good day overall - despite a strong women's field I only got "chicked" by CY.

(Vic - thanks for the great Pics!)

My Wife Rocks

It has been an action packed year moving along at a pace that even I'm having trouble keeping up with ;) There has been no shortage of fun and adventure with plenty more on the calendar for the rest of 2008. I've been taking photos like a mad man with Karin's Soccer team "Armada" making the State Tourney, Kiersten doing her first Triathlon (Minneman) and tons of sporting events like Black Dog, TNT, GW Duathlon, and plenty of Triathlons (check out YndeCam for highlights of the top events).

I've managed to stay in reasonable shape and have quite a few races under the belt already this year as well.

Cathy continues to race well this season. She has won every Triathlon she has started in this year and even had a win at the Gear West Duathlon which was a race she was doing just to help make her tough - she didn't expect to win. The last two major races (Hy-vee in Desmoine and Lifetime Fitness in Minneapolis) were against deep fields of women from around the country giving Cathy a chance to test herself against some of the best.

I didn't race LTF since it's such a fun race to shoot so I was able to get plenty of great shots of the Pros and Cathy as well. I even experimented with HD video taped to the end of my 300mm lens which worked very well except for when I flipped the camera between horizontal and vertical shots - oops... I also periodically failed to remember to adjust the zoom level on some of my clips like the one below where Cathy is finishing the race - I got great still footage but didn't get the zoom level right until about half way through the clip. Then near the end of the clip I rotated for a vertical shot but thanks to final cut express I could at least salvage it with a cross fade and a rotation of the video. I shot this in HD Video but of course it is compressed way down for the web and the one downside of uploading to this blog is that it gets compressed even more - if I find the energy I'll post a higher def version on YndeCam. The voice of Jerry MacNeil in the background says it all in this clip.

I'll be back more often for blog updates now that many of my races and photo shoots are behind me but with all this great photo material there are plenty of post processing projects to keep me busy.

MIT WInd Tunnel Experience...

Ok, pretty much a geek and gadget junkies dream - spending a day in the wind tunnel at MIT easily lived up to the hype. The gang - Kevin, Kris, David, Hanna, Cathy, Kerry and Mark were in good hands with the MIT Engineers (Zach and "Chewy" both darn good bikers and MIT cycling team members)

There was a ton of gear to test along with rider positions and outfits etc... To make the most of every second all these protocols were predetermined, optimized and rehearsed. Kevin and Kris did most of the equipment change outs with David pitching in when Kevin was on the bike. I was of course snapping away with both SLR and Video trying to capture the action. Hanna was conducting the protocols and Mark, Cathy, Kevin and David were trading off on the bikes in the tunnel.

The tunnel has a fan that is capable of pushing wind around 200mph - fortunately we didn't need nearly that much to simulate typical biking speed and conditions. The bikes were mounted one at a time on the special rig that measures the load (drag) of the various configurations. Lots of post processing left to do on the data but getting aero does seem to have some measurable benefit ;)

There was no shortage of food to keep us going and it was a non-stop flurry for over 6 hours. The activities for the weekend were pretty much Workouts, Wind Tunnel, and eating - hard to beat that itinerary. We swam in the aquatic center, and our running was basically sightseeing tours of MIT, Harvard, and the classic spots in the city like Beacon Hill and Fenway Park. Oh and "Yes" we ran past Cheers bar and crossed over the Yellow Boston Marathon finish line that's a permanent fixture on the street downtown. Sunday featured a 4+ hour ride outside the city on some fun roads that routed us past Walden Pond, the mega "Wheel Works" bike shop and even a loop on the MIT TT course.

Ok - lots of photos and a little video from the bike ride (HelmetCam) here MIT Photos and Video

SCS Camp

The weather pushed the SCS camp mostly indoors this year but the campers made the best of the weekend and got in some quality training. Highlights included the mega meal at Buca on Saturday night followed by the smores on the portable fire pit behind the Edge. Shortly after that all those interesting musical instruments were handed out and there was er ah some pleasant "noise" echoing into the night... ;)

Plenty of photos here

YndeCamp

Well YndeCamp came to a close a couple weekends ago but it was a great way to pound out some quick training.

From the 800s on the track, the repeats up Usery Mt Pass, the long runs on the Red Mt trails in the desert, the 5000m swims and the monster climb up Mt Lemmon - it was a gonzo training weekend.

There wasn't a lot left for cheering on the IMAZ athletes but we did our best.

Slideshow captures some of the fun...

Check'in Out Beijing

With hopes of making it to Beijing to shoot Triathlon for the Olympics still alive - I recently had a chance to scope things out over there.  The city has changed a lot in the past few years from the Monster new terminal 3 at PEK airport to "The Nest" in the Olympic village - there is an interesting mix of the Old and the New.

The ride from the Airport to my hotel near the Forbidden City was about 90 yuan (RMB) including the 10y toll. Fortunately at about 7:1 that translated into less than $14 USD for the nearly 40 min ride.  In general prices were pretty good (bartering mandatory in most places) as long as you avoided the Major hotel chains.  For diet coke lovers I can report that I paid as little as 2y for a can in local markets and convenience stores but was hammered 55y once at a hotel bar!  The cans are a displaying a cool Olympic logo right now and about half the time they still donned the old pull tab style.

Despite the huge crowds at the tourist locations - highlights of the trip included a visit to the Great Wall (around an hour from the city), the Forbidden City, Olympic village, checking out the great food, shopping at the Silk Street Market (talking barter fest here with all the great brands you know and love at bargin prices - are they real?  Who knows but lots of stuff definitely passed the "sniff" test.

The air quality rumors are largely true but the effect is more subtle than you would think - kind of feels like you're at altitude so when you try and exert yourself it kicks in (or maybe that was the jet lag :)   The one place where there really was bad air was on the subway.  In general the subways were very clean and efficient.  They are in the middle of installing tons of ticket machines (currently you need to go to a counter and hold up as many fingers as you need tickets (2y each so it's a great way to get around for cheap)  There are humans that take your ticket and tear it off as you enter - looked like they were installing electronic ticket gates to go with the ticket machines too. 

As for crowds - avoid the subways during rush hour - something I didn't do and there were several stops where it was so crowded that when the already packed trains arrived and a few people managed to squeeze off - there was a mad rush followed by guys in uniforms pushing us into the car so the doors would shut.

Still tons of bikes on the streets (nothing you'd see during a triathlon - we are talking bikes you're mom would ride here)  And I didn't see one helmet the entire time.  Granted most of these folks were going pretty slow but right turning cars didn't yield to bikes (or people for that matter) so you really have to be heads up when riding.  You see people carrying everything on bikes (especially the three wheelers with some cargo space in the back)

I could go on with stories but I'll let the photos tell the rest - if anyone is headed over for the Olympics or otherwise I'd be happy to give you my 2 cents on any travel questions. (Wikitravel has some good background on the City as well)

Enjoy