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.

[tags]photos, cycling, mountain biking, jhk, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, gary fisher, subaru, climbing, canon, sigma, 70-200[/tags]