The Radavist

It’s been a long, long day. Or rather, yesterday was a long day. So long that I had to cut it into a few posts and sprinkle them on top of The Radavist’s 2014 Amgen Tour of California coverage.

The first chunk is the mid-section and the reason why we all rode up to the Juniper Camp Ground in the first place: to witness the majesty that is the PRO parade / party train that quickly ascends one of NorCal’s most (in)famous climbs: Diablo! Yes, it is a party train… Or at least we tried to make it one.

Now, as mentioned, there’s a lot of content to come from today, er yesterday, so if I shot your photo, don’t worry, it’s coming in a different post. Please don’t email / tweet / gram at me just yet, ok? xoxo

The time trial. To some, the most significant stage of any race, to others, it’s a prison of pain and suffering. Grown men tear themselves inside out for around an hour for the world to watch. The prison metaphor is very fitting for Folsom, which houses the state prison. Founded in 1880, this penitentiary was made famous by Johnny Cash’s two performances, which still resonate today.

Speaking of performance, the time trail bikes of the second stage of the Amgen Tour of California epitomize technology. From the newest wheels, groups and even the helmets, the PRO racers looked like high-tech spacemen.

Team SKY’s Wiggo took the crown today, with a finishing time 44 seconds faster than anyone else…

Sacramento’s projected high temperature was supposed to be 84 on Sunday, yet it felt like the 90’s. I also made the mistake of wearing all-black (again). It was cooking hot, but how could I complain when the PRO racers were out in the real heat, cranking away calories and watts. Luckily for them, the Skratch Labs team was out with Neutral Human Support.

Us on the otherhand, not so much but we did get to drink fresh espresso at the über-new Rapha Mobile Cycle Club and watch the PRO women race for an hour in a fast-paced circuit race around the State Capitol, which became the highlight of the day for me. Not just watching them cook corners well-done, but to see how engaged the audience was and a majority of the passionate fans were women AND it was mother’s day.

There was a lot of love for the women going around, so I reciprocated that by turning my lens to them.

Stage 01 ended with a phenomenal sprint by Cavendish and everyone’s appetite was whet for Stage 02’s time trail in Folsom…

Let’s see, where were we? Oh yeah. We left off with the Blackburn Rangers at the top of Granite Mountain – 7,000′ – in the Prescott National Forest. Camp was set up, we consumed calories, sat around a propane campfire and after we killed all the liquor, we settled in for the evening. The weather report called for a 60% chance of rain and temps in the low 40’s. All was well, right? Wrong…

We had a busy day ahead of us. One filled with supplying the Whiskey Off Road racers with bacon and high fives. The plan was to descend to around 4,000′ at a site right before the last climb of the day and before a stretch of technical 1-track. From there, we’d blast music and shove bacon down the gullet of any hungry racer. My job for the day was to document all the fun…

Check out the full day’s Reportage from the Whiskey Off Road race with Blackburn in the Gallery!

The Rouge Roubaix exceeded mine and Ben from Argonaut‘s expectations. I don’t think anyone involved with that trip knew how that race would unfold. Backtrack to a few months prior, team Argonaut had the idea to pull Brian Vernor in to do a video and bring me down to shoot the race and document the new Disc Racers.

We spent the two days prior to the race testing out the bikes and looking for key vantage points to photograph the event. While Vernor got his video footage, I took some photos of the bikes and (part of the) team River City / Rapha. These photos are to be used on the Argonaut website…

Check them out in the Gallery and see the bike in person at the Aether NYC event this Friday!

I can’t help myself. No matter where I go, I always take my Mamiya 7ii and at least the 80mm lens. As I was packing for the Rouge Roubaix, I grabbed it, along with two rolls of 220 film, tossed it in my bag and took off for Louisiana. Most of the photos I shot were of landscapes, the vernacular, with a few Argonaut ‘lifestyle’ photos mixed in from the race.

Personally, I can never get enough of that Southern architecture and live oak trees…

Tools of the trade:
Mamiya 7ii / 80mm
Kodak Portra 400