I survived! It was tough but I did it. After shooting the Cactus Cup Friday-Sunday I shot Cross Vegas Wednesday and then the USA Crit Finals Thursday night. In between that it was the dirt demo on Monday and Tuesday with the actual show starting Wednesday and wrapping up on Friday.
We saw some good racing throughout the week and even had a certain L. Armstrong out for the cross race. I'm not sure what he was thinking when he signed up for that and I think after the first lap he was really questioning his judgment. But it was cool to see him out there mixing it up with the big boys of cross and getting a proper woopin. We'll have to wait and see if he fires up the Leer jet to make it to any more of the skinny tired dirt races this season.
The shooting was definitely difficult all week with 3 of the races being at night; the Cactus Cup fat tire
crit, Cross Vegas and the USA Crit Finals. The thing about shooting at night is the shots are either pretty cool or total crap. I had a little bit of both. And I did try a couple of different things which made it more interesting for me and hopefully created some good images.
It was fun to see some people during the week that I hadn't seen for quite a while. Interbike is always good for catching up with people even if it is only for a brief time. I saw one friend whom I hadn't seen since last year at Interbike. We had a quick conversation and agreed to see each other again at the same place and same time next year. And so it went for the rest of the show.
Back at the Mirage Mark Z tried his hand at a little 21. I got this shot with the iPhone just before the pit boss just about yanked it out of my hand. Hey I saw the movie Casino, no need to stick my head in a vice over a cell phone photo of a game that I don't play anyway. Geeez. It was a fun night though after a hard week of work. And even better was the thought of not having to get up early the next morning.
The next morning I did get to sleep in a bit and then loaded up the truck to head back to AZ. It's a nice drive between Vegas and Phoenix and always look forward to it. One part I like is driving across the Hoover Dam. In another couple years you won't do that because of the bridge they are building across the canyon but for now it's a pretty awesome site to be right on it and look down.
So this week I am back home for a bit before heading up to Sundance, Utah to enjoy a couple days off. After passing through there for the Tour of Utah and seeing how beautiful it was I couldn't help but go back. My plan is to not do too much of anything. I am bringing the cameras though because it is peak leaf season. I'll do some hiking and work on some landscapes along the way. And I'm hoping I can find a good book before I leave so that I can occupy some time with that. But other than that I hope to be as lazy as possible....... like that ever works out.