4th Annual Fat Tire Festival Photos

I know it's a miracle, but I've processed all my FTF photos already. :D Go me!

Here is the slideshow from flickr. Flickr was having major issues tonight and the photos are out of order. Grrr flickr.

Sports Photography

Ok...I'm not a sports photographer by any stretch. Today's race, the Huck-a-Buck at Lake Crabtree, was by FAR the most difficult race to shoot of the 3 I've done. The other 2 were up at Carolina North Forest, near Chapel Hill, NC.

Why was this race so difficult for me to shoot? A couple reasons, I think. Firstly, it is VERY shaded there. As in so shaded that what sunlight gets through is dappled and not consistent. I didn't walk the whole race course, but from what I know of Crabtree, there really aren't any places that get good open shade light. It's either full sunlight (which I would have paid for today) or the dappled stuff I mentioned. So I was at a bit of a disadvantage already as I don't have good low light equipment. I can use my 50mm prime lens, which stops down to 1.8, but then I'm limited in my range because it only has one option - 50mm. My 18 - 55mm lens stops down to 3.5/5.6, but I had a hard time with that as well for most of the morning, unless I bumped my ISO up to 400...which is what I ended up doing. I have a long lens, but it has the same max f/stop as the 18 - 55.

So the other thing I could have done was use my flash. And I did on occasion, but the problem with my flash is that it takes a bit for the flash to recharge, and mountain biking is fast paced stuff. You can't sit there and wait for your flash to recharge and not miss stuff. I'm referring to my on-camera flash, btw. I have a small hot shoe flash, but I don't think it recharges very quickly either. I just got it, so I'm not for sure about it.

So I saw all these other people taking photos and was almost embarrassed at my equipment. Then I reminded myself that it is not the equipment that makes the shot, but the person using the equipment and whether they know what they are doing. Not that I always know, but I try, and I've learned a lot in the past few months. One thing I did notice was that most of them had hot shoe flashes, and what looked like diffusers over them. They had the kind that could be swiveled up and down for better light control - mine doesn't swivel. It's just a little guy a bit more powerful than the on-camera.

Something else that I did notice...and maybe it's just me being me...I like to move around when I shoot. Try different angles, get nice panning shots, etc. A couple of the photogs I saw there were literally in one spot for the entire race (3+ hours) - with the exception of going to the starting line at each stage of the race. I don't understand that...I'm not knocking it, I'm just trying to figure out how that could be fun for them. To get the same shot every time. My question then becomes, is that what "real" photography is about? Getting the perfect shot? Or is it about trying different things? Or maybe it's just personal preference.

Anyway, I had a good time despite the fucking heat...it was OPPRESSIVE today. I got lots of good shots and met some new people, got to hang with some people I don't get to see often. It was good.

I'm just sorry I didn't catch Kim before she left so I could give her the bracelet...that I actually brought this time. ;)

Pics from Briar Chapel/National Trail Day Shindig

A few photos from the big party at Briar Chapel (the pool area ROCKS people!):

Eagle Scout/TORC Trail Workday 3/7/09

Here's a slidey-show for ya! Photos in no particular order, I don't think.

Bikin' Broads Maintenance Skillz Clinic (Saturday Night)

Hey y'all! Sorry it's taken me so long to get this entry written...but here I am and here we gooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

We had a FANTASTIC turnout at night 1 of the Skillz Clinic put on by TORC/The Clean Machine! This was the portion of the Clinic at which the parts of the bike were sort of de-mystified for many of us...Tamara went over each part of the bike from wheel to wheel and explained its purpose in life...from presta vs schrader valves, hydraulic to cable actuated disc brakes to rim brakes, high gear to easy gear and where the chain is on the cassette or front chain ring...and so much more. And then it was hands on fun time for the chicks...and hands on it was, folks! Men, if it turns you on to see a woman working on a bike, you'd a been a horn dog that night! Bikes on stands, women turning bikes onto handlebars/seats, women with tire levers, grease under their nails, fingering rear derailleurs...whew! The estrogen in the room was overpowering!!

Oh - and whoever picked out the beer and snacks - GOOD CHOICES! I can't remember the name of the beer I had, but I know it was a blueberry wheat beer and it just freakin' rocked! There was smoked gouda, brie, swiss; pears, apples, grapes; hummus and the most adorable little pitas (said like a woman, right? :P)...fantastic and classy food.

Here are some pics from that night:










And thank you mucho to my good friend, and guest for the weekend, Daniel, for taking all these wonderful photos (except the valve photos - those are photos from the interwebs). You can see the rest of them on my flickr account.

I will post part 2 - the SKILLZ part of the clinic later today.

TORC Trail Building Clinic

So as promised (and yes, it really is 3:38am...I can't sleep yet again and I'm sick :(), here is my take on the TORC Trail Building Clinic I involved myself in.

First off, it was FUN. I'm a big nerd, in case you hadn't realized that. I guess it's just the way my brain works, but I LOVE to learn. And when I get a chance to learn about something I've no knowledge about, more the better for me. So when I got there, and Matt was presenting, I was really excited to hear what he had to say. And what was even nicer was that they didn't seem to mind the questions I had. See, I truly had no idea how getting trails built works - so I was starting from scratch. My mind went through things like how do we get the land, who controls the way the trails are built, what about the environmental impact, etc, etc. And every question I asked, either Brian, Stewart or Matt answered...and they weren't just short little "ha ha - what a silly question Jodey" answers. They were fully fleshed out, nicely formed answers. And those are the kinds of things I appreciate and that make me want to participate further in things like this.

Anyway, we listened to the presentation, which was an IMBA presentation that was shortened, I believe, and like I said, it was really informative. I surprised myself at how much information I actually retained. I usually need to take notes to retain info, but I think because I was also engaging my brain in taking pictures, I was able to get more. Don't ask...my brain works in weird ways. There was a lot of good discussion about trail building, good questions asked and great answers given.

Once the show was over, we went outside to do some actual hands on trail building. How cool was that? We got to use the clinos to determine the proper places to put our trail, so that we stayed, for the most part, within IMBA guidelines for trail building. Let me interject here that the land on which we were having this session was beautiful, the house was amazing and all the people there were so nice and a bunch of fun. The land/house is in rural Orange County, NC...somewhere past/near Chapel Hill/Carrboro, I think.

Back to the story...so we go out and "design" our trail on the land that Scott has designated for his trail. Yes...this is a REAL trail we are building. There were 2 groups of us and we met somewhere in the middle, I suppose. I didn't see what the other group designed, to be honest. But me, Maggie, Matt, Stewart and Dave all went out and designed our part of the trail, talked about the best places to put the corridor so that we were getting what we wanted as far as turns, incline and layout and used the clino to measure to make sure we were within standards and flagged the route. Then the real fun began.

Stewart gave us our weapo....er...um...tools so we could get out and start building the trail. He gave a great short lecture on how to carry the tools so as not to kill each other on the way in...let us know that how ever many tools we carried in were as many tools we were expected to carry out, etc. So in we walked. Not too far...we actually started at the top of where we had flagged our trail.

The first thing we did was clean the trail - Stewart went in with the leaf blower along the flagged trail so we could see where to clean, then lots and lots of loose rocks and yard yuck were removed. Trees and limbs that were in the way had to come down...and oh boy did they ever. That saw was incredible! Once that was done for a while, it was time to start taking the organic material off the trail face and making a clearer corridor. It actually went pretty quickly - I was surprised. And again, I was surprised at how much information I had retained and how much more I learned while out there actually doing it.

Maggie and I had to leave early, which was unfortunate as we were both having a blast doing this. During our conversation afterward, we both were saying how much we can't wait to do it again.

Oh - and Scott makes the most AMAZING habernero sauce/spread/whatever it's called. Holy shit - it was spicy...but damn...it was addictive almost. If you like REALLY spicy stuff, get him to give you some. It rocked. I had it spread on a burger.

So here are some pictures...lots of them, actually. I'll try to put them in order so you can figure out what's going on without me putting a blurb in right now...

Artsy pics from TORC Trail Building Clinic

I had the BEST time yesterday at the trail building clinic. Firstly, the land was beautiful. The house was insanely gorgeous. And the people were so much fun!

I could have stayed out there for days and shot...but here are a few of my more typical artsy photos that I so enjoy shooting:

Gun Tree


Tree Stump


Woody Goodness (a particularly appropriate title as I've just had the "do that in your room" discussion with my 4 yr old about touching his parts...oy vey)


Tree Bark


Curved Tree Bark


Another blog with more details about the clinic will come later today when I have more time.

Should I ride tomorrow?

After that honkin' long ass ride today at Umstead that kicked my ass, I'm really wondering if I should ride tomorrow. I kind of want to, but then I kind of don't. I guess I need to look at my bike first and see if I can figure out what's wrong with it and/or take it back to Performance to have them check it. My bike did NOT like me today.

If I ride, it will be Harris, more than likely. I don't want to do too much - I'm still tired. I'd probably do the beginner and 1st loop of the intermediate if I do anything. I don't think I'll be riding at all on Saturday since I have a TORC trail building clinic to attend. I'm kind of excited about it...get to learn new stuff, take pictures, etc. Then Sunday I might have a beginner ride/volunteer thingy with the folks from Burt's Bees...or a ride on ATT with the "wives" into downtown Durham. Either sounds fun to me. :)

Maybe I'll hit Crabtree on Monday...Maggie - you in?

The other thing I want to do - and I need to find out which night is good for hubs for me not to be home - is to do a night ride on ATT. I have been kind of reticent to do night rides anywhere because it just scares the shit out of me to think that I won't be able to really see what I need to roll over or around, etc. But there really isn't anything TO roll over or around on ATT - it's a rails to trails project, so it's pretty flat and the stuff is filtered/packed - well, aside from the horse shit. Gross.

Anywho...I'm going to sleep...again.

Now I Feel Like an Idiot

I realized, after reading a post on the NC/SC board on mtbr.com this morning, that nobody associated with TORC, that I'm aware of, took pictures of the kids on TAKMBD (Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day) actually riding on their ride with Harlan (I think he was with them). I too pics of the kids AFTER their ride and I took their group shot and lots of other shots of them, but none during the ride. It never crossed my mind.

Of course, I DETEST riding at Lake Crabtree...but I'd have done it for the kids.

Damn it. That sucks.