Bikes

BMX, Mountain Bikes, Dirt Jumping

15
Aug
2015
Stromlo Rollercoaster, the final round.

Stromlo Rollercoaster, the final round.

 

It’s hectic weekends at the moment as I flit from race to race. Not that I am complaining mind you, I love travelling round and visiting a new place each weekend or revisiting as the case may be. This time it was back to Stromlo in Canberra for the final round of Rocky Trail Entertainment’s Fox Rollercoaster.

With three tracks running the Rollercoaster covered a large section of Mt Stromlo. We went down on the Friday so we could have a bit an explore around the area. We drove out west past Cotter Dam and along Paddy’s River to the space station at Tidbinbilla. We spent the night camped up along the river. Snug as it was wrapped up in the sleeping bag it was an icy morning with puddles frozen and a layer of frost over everything.

Saturday was practice runs at Stromlo. Gil and I took our cameras and headed off to the vapor trail or, as it was known on race day, the Camelbak Track. Gil took to the top half while I explored the lower half. I was quite keen on getting a few shots of the big wallrides in action plus we were just doing a bit of recon for shooting locations on race day. Not nearly as many people were hitting the wallrides as I had expected but I did manage to get a couple of shots. With locations scouted I started on my way back down heading via a field where I knew the kangaroos gathered and snapped a few shots. The sounds of music further down the hill lured me on to the dirt jumps where I met the guys from backbone BMX and did a few shots with them to finish off the days shooting.

Early Sunday morning and apparently the temperatures hit a chilly -4. So I awoke to yet another frosty morning. I don’t mind the cold temperatures but it does make it harder to get out of bed in the morning. Race day all went smoothly. Gil and I shot at the locations we had scouted the day before. Gil got some great shots of a drop up top while I shot lower down on a berm I knew of. I even managed to get a few more sneaky wallride shots in.

A huge congratulation to all those place-getters and an even bigger one to Michael Vanos and Vanessa Thompson who won the male and female elite series. You can, as always see the full results on the Rocky Trail website here. All the images are available for viewing on the Outer Image website here and don’t forget to download your shots if you raced on the day.

A huge thanks to all those who made the series as wonderful as it was. Top of the list is Martin and Juliana of Rocky Trail Entertainment without whom we wouldn’t have a series in the first place. To the fine folks at Fox racing and Camelbak for sponsoring all the races. To all the caretakers that maintain the tracks that the races are run upon and of course to all the competitors who are the soul of the series and who make each event so much fun

Richard

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events
31
Jul
2015
Side trip to Canberra

Side trip to Canberra

I had a weekend free of sorts so I took a trip to Canberra. I had donated a print to the charity Pedal 4 Pierce for their upcoming auction at Fight Night. The framers had insisted that I come down and sign the print before they finished the frame. I had also been wanting to do a shoot with Chris Jefferys, the founder of Pedal 4 Pierce, outside of a race setting as we had always done until this point so that they had a selection of images to use for promotional purposes.

So I guess a little bit of background is in order here first for those that don’t know. Pedal 4 Pierce was a charity started by Chris when he was 10 years old. Chris decided he wanted to ride bikes but did so to raise money for research into a worthy cause. He chose muscular dystrophy as his focus and Pedal 4 Pierce was born. He has been at it for the last 7 years or so. I also asked an outlet of talented dirt jumpers, Jack Baker and Tom Wrigley, to join me for a day shooting down there on some of the local trails that we knew about. The jumps are made from orange dirt that contrasts beautifully with the green of the surrounding vegetation. They had been extended quite a bit since I last shot down there so there was plenty of fresh angle to shoot from.

I also managed to squeeze in a quick shoot for Copic Australia. They brought along one of their new bikes that they had just finished building up, plenty of being on the bike. It was a full steel frame but super light. Keep an eye out for it on the Enduro trails.

The other reason for the trip was just to have a better look around Canberra and its surroundings. I was never too enamored with Canberra before but every time I go down there it grows on me a little bit more. So I drove out into the Brindabella National Park where things were nice and frosty and did a little exploring. There is a lot more exploring needed in this area. I am back down in Canberra next weekend so I shall continue with my exploration then.

Out in the Brindabellas
Parliament from Mount Ainslie
Black Mountain
Founder of the charity Pedal 4 Pierce, Chris Jefferys
Founder of the charity Pedal 4 Pierce, Chris Jefferys
Brindabellas
Forest road
A touch of frost
A touch of frost
A touch of frost
Cotic Bikes, Australia
Cotic Bikes, Australia
Wombat
Lake George
Lake eorge
Tom Wriggley
Jack Baker
Shaping
Canberra’s city lights come on as night falls
Posted by Richard in Bikes, Places
31
Jul
2015
Kempsey Rollercoaster

Kempsey Rollercoaster

It’s been a while since I have been out shooting any races but last weekend I was back at it under the guise of Outer Image. We were off to Kempsey to cover the fourth round of the Gravity Enduro Rollercoaster series.

Kempsey is about 5 hours north of Sydney so I decided to make a weekend of it and spend time camping at Hat Head National Park. This is one of my favourite campsites due to its stunning natural beauty and the fact that you set up camp among the kangaroos.

This year 2 more tracks were added to the course and another day of racing was added too. Day 1 was 2 tracks and then on the second day the tracks changed. There was a little bit of something for everyone in the tracks. I heard some say that there was too much pedaling in parts of the track while others said they loved those same sections for the rolling rides through the trees. The tracks were nowhere near as dusty as they were last year which although is good for the riders There was around 120 riders this time. Not such a big turn out for an enduro but considering its 5 hr drive from Sydney it was more than we expected. It’s a great track and good to see it’s expanded to include another 2 tracks this year.

Enjoy!!!

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events
23
May
2015
Sydney Series Cyclocross round 1

Sydney Series Cyclocross round 1

 

Today i spent the afternoon checking out the first round of the Sydney Series of the Cyclocross. It’s a kind of unique type of racing. The bikes are modified racing bikes and the course is a mix between short course road racing and a short xc track. Obstacles around the course are designed to make you get off and carry the bike over them. Races only run for 45 mins but they are short and intense. Looks like a bunch of fun and I hope to get back and shoot a few more soon.

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events, What's going on
02
May
2015
Shimano GP at Awaba

Shimano GP at Awaba

A couple of weeks ago, back when it wasn’t raining, I was up at Awaba with Outer Image shooting round 2 of the Shimano GP. Awaba for me is a funny track. I have shot there quite a few times but never seem to remember the locations or the layout of the track. I think that is mainly because I have only shot close to base camp before. This time for a change I decided to head out a bit further and just follow the track back in. I found a lot of cool locations, all rainforest type stuff. I did struggle a bit balancing the light out as it was just so dark in some of the locations and the sky when it came through the trees was so very bright. I found my self looking for shots where the sky wouldn’t show.

Love the track though and love the event. It’s another track on my list of places to visit outside of a race meet. I have also been told that I need to go up and shoot the downhill track as I have not yet had the chance to do so. The list is growing.

 

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events
20
Apr
2015
A big weekend in the mountains

A big weekend in the mountains

I had a weekend down in Thredbo a couple of weeks ago. The 3rd round of the gravity enduro races was followed by a big start to the season of downhill racing here in NSW.

Cold nights and warm days made for some great MTB weather in the Snowies over the weekend. Kicking off the weekend was the Rollercoaster on the Flow trail. Not a lot of overly technical sections on this trail but a lot of fast-flowing berms. Gil took the lift up and covered the top half of the mountain while I walked up and shot the bottom section. The smooth fast berms saw a lot of folks coming in low as they flew past, laying into the berms as far as they could go.

Sunday saw the start of the DH season for us. Many familiar faces were out on track along with a lot of new ones. This time Gil and I swapped, me heading up top and Gil walking from the bottom. A cool breeze right up top meant I didn’t linger too long but quickly headed down to warmer climes. I tried revisiting a couple of old favourites on the way down but wanted to shoot a new location. I settled in on a corner and the trees just above Snakes and Ladders and spent most of the race there just trying different angles.

Thredbo always puts on great races and it’s always a chance to get away for a few days beforehand to explore the region. I’m already looking forward to our next visit down there.

All the images were supplied to the competitors for the Rollercoaster courtesy of Fox Racing Australia and BH Bikes. The downhill images were supplied by Redass.  Be sure and swing by their Facebook pages and say thanks. And of course to Rocky Trail Entertainment who brought it all together and put on yet another awesome weekend.

Posted by Richard in Bikes, Events