Head of the Pack

Originally uploaded by hawridger.

Here’s a shot I took with my Canon Rebel XT and Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 at the NORBA Showdown at Sugar on Sunday, June 29, 2007. This is Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (aka, JHK) of Subaru-Gary Fisher) at the front of the pack. He went on to win this short track cross-country race with a killer final descent pass after Todd Wells attacked on the climb. If you’re interested, you can get the whole scoop on Velonews.

If you haven’t guessed already, I really dig cycling. So, give me a camera and a bike race and I’m in heaven. This is my second year spectating/shooting at the NORBA Showdown at Sugar. While I caught the pros this year, there was a lot more racing and wrecking going on last year when I attended on Saturday.

For me, cycling is a great spectator sport because of the access opportunities that you get. I generally can’t go up to guys at, say, a pro football game and shoot the breeze with them after a quarter. With cycling, be it road, mountain , downhill or whatever, I can usually get a pro rider to spare a few seconds to pose for some pictures or an autograph. Similarly, the course is extremely spectator/photographer-friendly. I’ve really got my choice of where to shoot from at most venues.

You can check out some more of my cycling pics here on smugmug and here on flickr.

Technorati Tags: photos, cycling, mountain biking, jhk, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, gary fisher, subaru, climbing, canon, sigma, 70-200