Spiral Dance - Faerie Ball

Miss V and I finally made it out to another Spiral Dance gig! It seems that a lot of their gigs have been clashing with other stuff, so we've not been able to get out as much as we have done in that past. Which in turn means that I haven't had much opportunity to practice shooting gigs.

In the lead up to this event Spiral Dance had a few dramas with venues, with previous venues either changing hands or not being available. Fortunately the owner of the old Chelsea Theatre came to the rescue and made the old theatre available. What an amazing venue. The Chelsea is one of the classical style theatres, with some elegant features scattered around, if someone were to look.

Prior to the start of the gig I was chatting to Rick who gave me the heads up that it was his last Adelaide gig with the band. Having taken very few photos of Rick that I'm happy with I thought I'd make the extra effort to focus on him during the course of the evening. On the whole I think I got a few decent shots, and more importantly I'm still improving when I get out there.

Near the end of the gig, there was talk of getting a group shot of the band and all the audience. And there I was holding a camera <gulp>. Eeek! Pressure time!  I usually avoid trying to do particular shots for people, since there's always the expectation that they'll work out.  Fortunately everything worked out and a half reasonable shot was the result which seems to have been fairly well received by the group (except one person who took to defacing it within minutes of me uploading it).

While taking this group shot I was chatting to the theatre owner who as it turns out is another Pentax owner. So we chatted cameras for a bit, before he left me to do my thing, while giving me permission to sit up in the balcony to take shots (under the proviso that I don't stand on the edge of the balcony..  I don't think there was ever any danger of me doing that! :o ).

This was a fun outing, not just from the point of view of seeing a great band, but for having the opportunity to photograph in a venue completely different to any where I'd previously shot before. Hopefully they return there soon!  




   

Three Races in Week!

Somehow I'd managed to sign myself up for three race meetings within a week, which seems a little excessive!   It's almost like I'm some sort of bike racing type person!

State Criterium Championships - 7th Dec 2013

I had decided ages ago that I wanted to have a go at this event. Not that I really stand a chance in these Masters Championships. While I figure I could be an outside chance at events when they are graded events, Age grouped events like these just mean that I'm potentially up against state and national level riders that have just got a bit older! 

Racing was held at the Victoria Park circuit, though with the Clipsal 500 preparations already under way we were restricted to the alternate circuit. Weather turned out to be fairly warm (~30 degrees) and there was a fairly strong wind blowing, providing a head wind the length of the finishing stretch. 

I got there pretty early so that I could get in a decent warm up. Around 20km of warm up, though that was more just rolling the legs over rather than any efforts. Miss V came along to watch and take a few photos, knowing that I was likely to want some to put in this blog. This was also my first criterium on the Pinarello, so I was interested to see how it would perform.

We lined up and watched the MAS4 riders go off at 11:30, then at 11:35 we (MAS3) were sent on our way. Forty minutes of racing, which was longer than my usual criterium races in E grade. The pace was quick, but semi comfortable initially, though it became fairly clear that I was one of the slower riders, probably as expected.

Within the first 10 minutes there were a number of surges from the faster guys. I stayed with the first, then the second, but the third finally unhitched me. :( 

But I wasn't alone and there was another guy that had been dropped already too. I was ahead of him by about 20 metres. Decision time! Go it alone and probably have no chance to catch the main group, or sit up and work with this other guy and try to get back on. So I sat up. The other guy latched on an we were away. We worked well enough together, though I managed to get the better deal in that I managed to do my turns at the front on the back straight, while I pushed him to the front on the front straight with the headwind. Despite this, we still were losing time on the bunch. We were lapped with about 3-4 to go which was a bit of a shock to the system for the other guy who reckoned he'd never been lapped before.  Welcome to my world! :D 

Racing at the rear of the field.
(Photo c/ Miss V)

With one lap to go, the two of us were still working together, but I think I must have missed a slight increase in pace, and he opened up a bit of a gap, which increased further still. So last place.. but I felt ok and don't feel disappointed in how it went. Pinny the Pinarello performed fantastically and felt really good. The more I ride it, the more I'm happy with my purchase! 

Strava data

<mini rant> While I enjoyed the racing, I think the event as a whole was a bit of a let down. There's been a bit of a drop in activity from Cycling SA, including a lack of promotion of events. The number of competitors was fairly low, compared to some club level criterium events, and as a result not much atmosphere that a state level event deserves. On top of this, no food/coffee vans around the place nor was there an official photographer out on course. I would have killed for an ice cold coke after my race! I think they're undergoing some restructuring so I can only hope that things get better, as there's already a lot of disgruntled CSA members! <\mini rant>

I'm done!
(Photo c/ Miss V)

PACC CX TwiLite - Round 2 - 10th December 2013

Persistent and at times heavy rains over the days and nights leading up to the race had us all thinking that this event was going to be a mud bath, especially since we were visiting the Forest of Doom, known for pooling and capturing local runoff. Interestingly the entire course was nearly bone dry, much to everyone's surprise!

The course designers had outdone themselves with a fairly short 1.75km course that seemed to sap energy by the bucket load. Turn out for the event was, as usual, pretty damn good for an after work event, with my brother and nephew also coming out to race, giving me some extra people to cheer on and to cheer for me. 

Owen! How Awesome the little crossers!? (Photo c/ P. Purczel.)

Little Bro smashing it! (Photo c/ R. Cannon.)

I'd signed up for B grade, starting at the tail end of the field as usual. Fortunately now there's a much wider spread of riders, which means I have people to race against back there! :) 

The whistle went, and immediately I was swamped by riders from behind. Definitely not my best start. The first straight was fairly bumpy grass so it would be easy to overdo it. I hung back a bit, figuring that I can wait for others to tire out before passing them.. if possible. After the opening straight there was an interesting series of S bends; "interesting" because each and every one of them passed under low hanging branches. In theory I had an advantage because I'm a shortarse and could hit the apexes, in practice the taller guys ahead of me were brushing past the branches and they were whipping me in the face as I went by <sigh>.  First entry into the Forest of Doom and I was surprised at how much the previous race had compacted things. The surface was actually quite fast and grippy .. I really enjoyed this section! That said there weren't too many lines through here which meant getting caught behind a rider could mean losing heaps of time. Out of the forest, and we had a loose gravel path which tended to make the bike get a little skitish, over the barriers and back across the finish. 

I was having an awesome battle with the same guy I was racing against last round (Andrew) as well as Ben from Lifecycles. A few passes and re-passes. The three of us caught up to two women racing hard against each other. Coming up to the forest, we all managed to get past one of the girls, and then Andrew and Ben got past the second. Unfortunately for me, not so much. So I was stuck behind her through the forest while the other two escaped. In the next few laps she always found herself ahead of me before the forest, so I kept losing ground on the two guys I was directly racing against. A little frustrating, but that's the way it goes.   That said, I was having a pretty awesome race against her, even if we weren't directly competing. Sometimes it's just good to have someone to make you try a bit harder. Exiting the forest for the last time I made a point of sticking close on her tail, shadowing her over the barriers so that I could out sprint her for the line. Everyone loves a sprint finish, even if it's at the back end of the field! :D 

Looking at the results, my lap times are pretty consistent, which is good I reckon. And I wasn't lapped, which is even better! :D 

Results animation!

Strava!

Racing under dramatic skies.
(Photo c/ P'An-Tau)

John Lehmann Wheelrace.- 11th December 2013

This is an annual memorial track race run by Port Adelaide CC. The last two years I've watched or gone to take photos, but given my more recent enthusiasm for racing track I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring and have a go. Similarly, Miss V figured that there was nothing to lose and signed up too. There's some big names on the trophy, so there's always a bit of competition around it. Fortunately they also run a full support race program too for the also-rans like me!.

The actual wheelrace is a five lap, handicapped event. For the 250m track, my mark was 220m! So I was getting almost a lap head start in the qualifying rounds and the final, should I make it that far... Miss V, and the rest of the D-grade women were told that they couldn't give them enough of a lead in the main events, so they'd run in their own D-grade women's wheelrace, which I think was an awesome idea.

As an aside, one thing that track racing organisers seem to do extremely well is to cater to everyone, no matter what skill level. It would have been very easy To tell Miss V and the other D grade women in this instance that they had no opportunity to ride in a wheelrace, but instead the organisers put on a wheelrace just for them. Kudos.    

First races on the block were ten lap heart starters. This was my first race in C grade at the Superdrome, so I was fairly nervous rolling out on the track to start. The pace was significantly faster than I'm used to which could particularly be felt in the bends as the g-forces feel like they're trying to rip your face off (no idea how the even faster guys cope with this!). There was a sketchy moment when someone nearly merged into me, but he realised just in time and backed off. At the start of the bell lap I found myself near the front, but very much boxed in. So I slid back along the pack, hoping to find an opening that I could exploit. No such luck as everyone was very much nose to tail and going all out. I eventually reached the rear of the field, swung high and then tried to regain a few spots in the sprint. I made up a few, but I was closer to the rear of the field than the front. Something that I noticed was that my gearing now seems far too small as I was spinning and bouncing around in the saddle, which certainly isn't ideal.

With the heart starters out of the way, the next event of interest to me on the program was the Women's D-Grade Wheelrace, featuring Miss V! :) As with the other wheelraces, this was a handicapped event, but this event was run over four laps instead of five like the others. Miss V was the limit rider, so she was starting about 65m ahead of the scratch rider. Off the start, Miss V powered off (possibly helped by a sensational push from Paul King) opening up an even bigger lead. Lap after lap she maintained that lead as her opponents caught each other, but seemingly made little ground on Miss V! Final lap and it was fairly obvious that Miss V was tiring, but with the amount of encouragement she was getting from the infield, I suspect she not dare slow up! The rest of the field made marginal ground on her, but Miss V romped away with the win!! Champion! :D

My next race was my wheelrace heat. Five laps, but with a 220m headstart on scratch :) First 4 go into the final wheelrace. There was one other guy in front of me who was starting at 245m, so if I had any chance, I couldn't really use catching the wheel in front as motivation for too long. As usual, my ability to stay upright while being held on the bike was terrible, so it was a great relief to get the start. Thanks to Mick for holding me upright!  Out of the blocks I felt pretty good. My gearing is actually pretty good for this bit! I caught the limit marker in the back straight, and put the head down and pushed hard. Eventually I could hear the familiar sound of the group bearing down on me. They went around at something approaching lightspeed while I desperately tried to hang in there for the last few laps.

The next bit has some variants, depending on who you ask. The one that seems to sound most plausible is that Taylah Jennings spotted a gap to get down into the sprinters lane, but in trying to get there she clipped the wheel in front and went down. I was left without anywhere to go but down on the track towards the infield due to other riders passing on the right.  Not ideal, because once a rider that's sliding on the track slows they'll inevitably slide towards the infield due to the banking.

And so it was this time.

I was desperately trying to put back pressure on the pedals to slow up, while seeing Taylah and her (no doubt very expensive) bike sliding just in front of my front wheel. I thought I was going to get through the carnage as I noticed Taylah's bike sliding further ahead of me, but then, I assume friction took over and the whole mess came to an abrupt stop with me crashing into her and sliding along on my arse for a short while. Further up the field, all the commotion caused another rider to look back and lose control (as he stopped pedalling!) and he too hit the deck.

Medical staff came out to sort us out fairly quickly, taking us off the track to check us out. Miss V made sure to take care of the important things like checking my bike over and stopping my garmin :D While the other two had ripped kit and lost skin, I looked like I'd come out of it fairly unscathed. Though since I came down on the concrete apron, I have a fairly bruised thigh and my knee is pretty banged up since the top tube of my bike came down pretty hard on it :(

The other guy had lost a bit of skin, while some melted rubber from a tyre coating one of his wounds.. obviously not pleasant to remove!

And Taylah.. with lost skin and ripped kit she was carefully walked back to the medical area, While I was sitting applying an ice pack I hear from her bench "hey, is that a splinter?" from one of the medics. Sure enough it was. About 6 inches long. :o

So my night ended on that note, And, because I know you're all wondering, ... the bike is fine :)

C Grade Heart Starter Strava
Wheel race Heat 2 Strava

Thanks for reading! :)