Really this post is just an excuse to share my favourite pictures from the Tour! The Tour Down Under is an awesome excuse to take a week off work, though I've learnt to take an extra day at the end so I can recover. It's actually fairly exhausting trying to follow the tour and I have to hand it to the media that follow grand tours, it's not an easy job.
While the tour starts officially on the Tuesday, two days before on the Sunday the riders get to stretch their legs on a circuit in the city. Considering this was the evening after we had ridden Ride Like Crazy, it's probably no surprise that my favourite photo was the result of a bit of a mistake. Not realising how the camera was set up, I ended up taking photos with an incredibly slow shutter speed. Not surprisingly, most of them didn't work, but this one did and I loved the sense of movement it conveyed.
Prior to the men racing, the first race for the women's Santos cup was raced on the same circuit. While this race doesn't attract the international riders the TDU does, it certainly attracted top national riders, with many of the Greenedge girls (who do race internationally) putting on an awesome display of just how tough women's racing can be. But I guess what I like best is it's also a chance for state level riders to have a bit of a crack. Seriously, I got an invite! I'm not sure who sent it to me, but I'm pretty sure they hadn't seen me race! Given that I haven't yet raced a criterium, I didn't plan to start trying to take on the Greenedge girls. But some local riders did and it's awesome to see people you know, hence the photo of choice for this event is none other than our esteemed club vice president, Gemma Kernich!
Tuesday was the official start of the tour down under and Carl and I managed to sneak out to Bethany to catch the riders 3 times. The course for the day was a loop around the Barrossa, from Nuriootpa to Angaston. The first two laps kept things relatively flat however the third lap sent the riders up Menglers hill.
We started at the sprint point in Bethany for the first lap then made our way up towards Menglers for the second and third laps. There was a nice spot on the top of a fairly steep rise prior to Menglers and I parked myself in the bushes to get photos looking up at the riders. These two photos were the result of my bush bashing, and probably the first photos I've taken that really excited me. I did have a chat to the copper in the photo, he was a really lovely guy and was pretty happy to be paid to be out riding his bike and not doing paper work!
That evening the third round of the Santos Cup was held in Prospect, in conjunction with a street party. The ladies had raced a road race on the day previous, and had returned to the city to race a hotdog criterium. Criteriums either make for really boring or really good photography as you can't rely on the scenery to distract the viewer if the shot is no good.
I like to focus on peoples faces and I think this shot really captures some of the emotion in racing. The second shot isn't the most fantastic, but I had a lot of fun fiddling with this photo to turn something that was pretty appalling (I was shooting pretty much straight into the setting sun) into something a little bit quirky and interesting. It helps that it's a shot of one of the local riders who always gets out and gives it a seriously hard go.
For stage 2, Carl and I made it down to the start at Prospect. Starts are always a good place to collect goodies and I came away with lots! Unfortunately, photos were a little harder to come by and I've picked this photo to illustrate the commotion at the start of the race.
Stage 3 was another stage with a loop, although the riders were mostly taking it easy as they had to face the corkscrew later in the day. Carl and I took advantage of the loop to find a place where the riders went past us twice, before going home to watch the rest on TV. It was the day before the Challenge tour so a bit of rest wasn't a bad idea. I like this photo as the rider is actually looking at me and I'm pretty sure I can see myself reflected in his glasses. Admittedly, I'm not sure what he's thinking when he's looking at me, he doesn't look all that impressed.
Stage 5 was out at Willunga Hill where we attended a bbq held by the awesome Smudge Monkee crew! It was my first time out at Willunga to watch the stage, usually I'm curled up on the couch, too sore to move. Willunga is the biggest day of the tour and usually where the race is decided and everybody really gets into the spirit of things as you can see by the photo.
My other favourite photo of the day is simply because I finally got one of my favourite rider, Jens Voigt, the toughest cyclist there is! Yep, I'm definitely a fan!
So finally we made it to Stage 6, and after racing ozzie cross in the morning, I was a bit too worn out to get many good shots, however I got one, which sums it all up really. Jens bidding farewell to the tour, I can only hope he'll come back as a commentator!
So that wraps up the tour for another year, in the mean time I get to look forward to watching the European races on the TV, but nothing is really as good as being there in person. I can't wait until 2015!
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| Speed and Movement |
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| The Pres (vice)! |
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| Who knew fluro pink could look good? |
Tuesday was the official start of the tour down under and Carl and I managed to sneak out to Bethany to catch the riders 3 times. The course for the day was a loop around the Barrossa, from Nuriootpa to Angaston. The first two laps kept things relatively flat however the third lap sent the riders up Menglers hill.
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| Mr Policeman |
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| Hard Effort |
That evening the third round of the Santos Cup was held in Prospect, in conjunction with a street party. The ladies had raced a road race on the day previous, and had returned to the city to race a hotdog criterium. Criteriums either make for really boring or really good photography as you can't rely on the scenery to distract the viewer if the shot is no good.
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| Vintage Shot - Awesome Rider |
I like to focus on peoples faces and I think this shot really captures some of the emotion in racing. The second shot isn't the most fantastic, but I had a lot of fun fiddling with this photo to turn something that was pretty appalling (I was shooting pretty much straight into the setting sun) into something a little bit quirky and interesting. It helps that it's a shot of one of the local riders who always gets out and gives it a seriously hard go.
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| Commotion |
For stage 2, Carl and I made it down to the start at Prospect. Starts are always a good place to collect goodies and I came away with lots! Unfortunately, photos were a little harder to come by and I've picked this photo to illustrate the commotion at the start of the race.
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| Why are you pointing a camera at me? |
Stage 3 was another stage with a loop, although the riders were mostly taking it easy as they had to face the corkscrew later in the day. Carl and I took advantage of the loop to find a place where the riders went past us twice, before going home to watch the rest on TV. It was the day before the Challenge tour so a bit of rest wasn't a bad idea. I like this photo as the rider is actually looking at me and I'm pretty sure I can see myself reflected in his glasses. Admittedly, I'm not sure what he's thinking when he's looking at me, he doesn't look all that impressed.
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| Spirit of Willunga! |
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| JENS |
My other favourite photo of the day is simply because I finally got one of my favourite rider, Jens Voigt, the toughest cyclist there is! Yep, I'm definitely a fan!
So finally we made it to Stage 6, and after racing ozzie cross in the morning, I was a bit too worn out to get many good shots, however I got one, which sums it all up really. Jens bidding farewell to the tour, I can only hope he'll come back as a commentator!
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| Farewell Jens |
So that wraps up the tour for another year, in the mean time I get to look forward to watching the European races on the TV, but nothing is really as good as being there in person. I can't wait until 2015!
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