Friday, October 29, 2010

Why is the US cross scene so much cooler than the UK's?

Saw this over on bianchista — I wish more talented photographers and film makers would show up to UK races and shoot stuff like this. C'mon where are you?

Cross Crusade Race #4 PIR from Burk Webb on Vimeo.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

More shots for Condor Cycles

World Series - Black
I shot another bunch of photos for Condor last Friday and the first are beginning to appear on the interwebs now - eg the new World Series of which this is one have been on Bikeradar and Bianchista today, together with half a dozen of my shots.
This one was shot behind Mount Pleasant Post Office on a sunny autumn morning, and I used one flash to camera left to lift the shadows a bit and pop the silver bits on the bike.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Eastern League, Essex


Day 47 - cross, originally uploaded by CJ Boom.

Fourth place today. Bit of a shame as I was in the lead group most of the race but got course tape wrapped up in my wheel with two laps to go and had to stop and untangle it. I lost 35secs on the other two guys who were racing for second in that incident. I pulled back 20secs over the last couple of laps, but it wasn't enough. At least I have this photo of me leading the race.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Manfrotto Magic Arm + Bikes

Condor Magic Arm

Had a play today with MBR's magic arm. Seemed pretty easy to get good results to me. Processing's a bit ott on this, I'm still playing around with Lightroom, enjoying it though, it's a really good tool.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

National Cyclocross Rankings


National Rankings, originally uploaded by Andy Waterman.

As of this morning I am the 12th ranked cyclocross racer in the country. I know that the ranking system is somewhat skewed with wildly varying levels of points being offered at seemingly comparable events, but hey, that's not my fault, and I'm pretty chuffed with the current situation.
That ranking was helped by my scoring a second second place of the season on Sunday at the London League at Herne Hill. An incredible 150 riders started the senior race, showing just how popular cyclocross is becoming, especially when the racing is held at a venue as accessible as Herne Hill.
My race was pretty uneventful really, which is why I got such a good result. I didn't crash, I didn't have any mechanicals, I just plugged away and eventually found myself in second place, while the guys around me were falling off, smashing their bikes up and flatting.
Phil Jones made this silent movie of the race. There are quite a few comical moments in their if you've got the patience to sit through it all.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Condor Cycles, London - New Site, Timelapse Videos by me

My friends at Condor Cycles have just launched their new shop website, and it looks great. They've used a bunch of the photos that I shot for them last week, and there's also some new videos on there that I produced. The first video here was shot in the store to show how the bike fitting jig works. I shot it with my 7D and 30D using a Canon timelapse remote shutter release (which I subsequently lost on a trail in Utah, bugger) and wide aperture lenses. I then put all the shots together to play back at 8fps for this timelapse. I like the result, and thankfully, so do Condor (this is has even picked up a couple of staff picks on Vimeo — I'm happy with that).

Bike Fitting - Condor Cycles from Condor Cycles on Vimeo.
The second video is a re-edit of one I made last year about wheelbuilding. Condor build their own wheels so it seemed like a good fit. I love that I managed to get an Elliot Smith song onto it too — best singer/songwriter ever in my opinion.

Wheel Building - Condor Cycles from Condor Cycles on Vimeo.

Think this kind of thing would look good on your website? Give me a shout!

Monday, October 11, 2010

National Trophy 2010 Round 1, Abergavenny

I've got modest ambitions for the 2010-11 cyclocross season — to stop getting lapped, and to start finishing in the top 30.
I'm pleased to say I achieved both those goals in the first National Trophy at Abergavenny, finishing in 30th position, 6mins and 47secs behind the winner Paul Oldham. That's a big time gap, but crucially, it was less than a lap.
Racing at this level is so much harder than local league stuff and every corner, ever straight and everything in between is a battleground where you're either trying to overtake or being overtaken. It's brutal, but so much fun. I had a good first lap: starting from sixth row on the grid, I narrowly avoided a start straight pile-up that brought down Nick Craig, and moved up a load of positions by being an absolute git on the first few corners. By the end of lap one I was toast though and it took me another two or three laps to recover, by which time I'd lost another few places. I then set about reeling people in, eventually catching the guy who was in 30th at the bell. I didn't know where I was at the time, so I just buried myself trying to catch the next rider, 10secs ahead.
I crossed the line more exhausted than I've been all season, a good workout. I only found out the result this morning — a great start to a Monday. Top 30 is important as that is where you start getting points, and points mean a better gridding position next time. So instead of starting on the sixth row, I should be on the fourth row, making that first lap slightly easier, meaning I won't have to go so deep into the red, meaning I'll be able to maintain the effort for longer. That's the theory at least. Roll on Ipswich and round two, I can't wait!
Both photos here are by Dave Haygarth who has moved up to the Vets this year — I'm pleased as it means he's stopped beating me, and started getting some great photos of me racing. There are more on ukcyclocross.com
British Cycling National Trophy 2010 Round 1

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Condor Acciaio and X-Terra

I shot these photos for Condor on Monday, and they're already printed up into postcards, which you can get at the Earls Court Cycle Show, on Thursday. Technology eh! These bikes are both stunners — I'd happily have one of each. If you want to reuse the pics, just click them and get the code from Flickr.
Condor-Terra-XCondor-Acciao

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Podium

Well, I finally got a result worth shouting about - second in the Eastern League in Hertfordshire. There was a similar make-up at the front to last weekend, only I managed to stay upright and claim a decent finish.
Hugo who won this weekend and last is a name to watch - already National Champ in the Youth category, he's now winning senior races as a first year junior. Next weekend is the first National Trophy, but he won't be there, he'll be getting paid start money to race the Superprestige in Belgium instead. Good stuff.
RE my podium pose, I look well out of place eh? I need to work on that - practice makes perfect!

Photo by Claire Beaumont