1) Have done this race for about 12 years (missed last year because my daughter Brydon was born that day) and it is by far the funnest event I have ever done. Never get tired of it. Like being in Squamish’s version of the tour de France.
2) As Above, tis my daughter’s birthday
3) The Squamish Rock Star happens on the Sunday after the race.
2) As Above, tis my daughter’s birthday
3) The Squamish Rock Star happens on the Sunday after the race.
This year left me exhilarated as usual. The Test was a hoot, course was awesome, raced hard, and burned lots of calories. This classic 67Km XC race features a smorgasbord of trails. All the trails are unique and offer totally interesting riding. Tis also a point to point, so you never see the same trail twice. Cudos to Cliff Miller and the gang for putting on such a great event!
In a taking pictures sense though, this year I went to the Squamish Rock Star on Sunday June 15th. Al Ross and the gang from Tantalus Bike Shop put it on. They do an amazing job. The race is invite only, capped at 50 riders, and they must all be locals (live in Squamish). It is quite a pool to pick from as Squamish trails nurture some of the finest DH and Free-ride bikers in Canada. The likes of Shaums March and Kyle Ritchie go head to head with talented youngsters from the area. The magic of this race is that fact that it is on a tricky, trials like descent. This, not so routine, downhill race course is one of a kind due to the technical nature of the route. Steep drops (I mean really steep) are split by lots of trees, bermy corners, short little roller climbs, and little gaps. This, along with the gauntlet of people lining the drops, make for an exciting and challenging race. I only had time to set up on the first drop, but I got some fun shots using my sb-800s in tandem to light the racers. The sun was pretty harsh and right above, so things were pretty drowned out so I tried to underexpose my backgrounds a little and light up the racers with the flashes. Worked pretty well I think. this first shot I took, with a very slow shutter speed, and used the two SB800s in tandem, using rear sync flash to freeze he riders face but allow for motion blurring of everything else. Really accentuates the speed. Pretty fun to experiment with this.
I also took some fast shutter speed shots to freeze the action and show the height of the drop. Here is Shaums March showing us his "not enough ooooos in smooth" technique in getting down the first drop. He came in first by the way, and I heard he set a new course record. Cool eh.
Using these Nikon SB800s is turning out to be so much fun, Was inspired by Dave Blacks Blog. He really is great for sharing all these tips. Check him out at http://daveblackphotography.com/workshop/index.htm. Thats it for now. Thanks for reading!
