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Blood, Sweat and Mud…

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Blood, Sweat and Mud…

Way back in the early 90′s I purchased a my first Mountain Bike whilst working in Germany. An obsession grew and for a number of years I spent the majority of my free time riding, maintaining and wondering which bit I was going to upgrade next. This obsession went on for a good few years before circumstances see my Mountain Biking obsession fall by the wayside and disappear into history.

Move on a few years and I purchased a MTB to ride to and from work, which wasn’t too successful but did have fit’s and starts. As my life has come to a major junction and no longer being ‘forced’ to go out and do some exercise and enthused by the recent successes in British Cycling, my 9yr (possibly!) old Gary Fisher Marlin has been dusted off, serviced and given new boot’s to take to the trails.

A couple of years ago a work MTB day out for a 30Km trek around the Purbeck Hills, highlighted to me that maybe a little bit rusty but the fun was still there, so for the last few months I have gradually been getting out more and more on the bike and last week started doing some routes from an excellent guide book called Mountain Bike Guide Dorset by Collin Dennis.

The first gentle outing around Kingston Lacy and Badbury rings saw a straightforward track turned into a technical descent after erosion from farm vehicles and the recent heavy rain. This was later followed by a slow puncture on a long fast downhill section, which after gently coming to a halt at the bottom saw me practice my puncture fixing on the trail.

Puncture…

Mid puncture fixing

The second route was to be a gentle warm up around Bere Regis and Wareham Forest that went fairly well despite the almost sub zero temperatures, that saw me promptly purchase some neoprene overshoes (frozen feet is not funny ;) )

After a couple of warmers in the bank I set off on a 30km ride (well it was by the time I had finished) taking in Cannock Chase West, starting in Pimperne across the bridleways of Dorset to Farnham and back. The Guide Book said it could be a bit muddy by Pimperne Wood, which in all honesty it was, after a fight with a bramble bush, trying to avoid the ruts, the mud built up on the brakes (still using old fashioned callipers) and the front derailleur so much so that it actually brought the bike to a resounding HALT :O It then took some manual mud clearing to get going again. After a few more miles and stopping to negotiate a farmers rope barriers across a track (much to the disgust of a local horse rider) it happened again, in fact I had to stop several times to carry out mud clearing duties. This phenomenon also introduced a new experience of having no traction, the mud a couple of times built up on the tyres, clogged up the tread so essentially became mud tyres riding on mud, I may as well have been ice skating :)

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Despite these little niggles, (after all we have had a little rain) and dropping the bike on a slippery corner,  an enjoyable fun outing around the Dorset Countryside was completed. I look forward to some more in future :D (after I have cleaned the bike!)

WRC Wales Rally GB 2012

Posted on by Posted in Motorsport, Photography, Rally, WRC Leave a comment
Halfway 1 - Petter Solberg

So it came around earlier than it’s usual end of season closing round of the competition in November, however day 1 at Hafren Sweet Lamb had the usual wind swept and rain affair, day 2 started with a misty start on Halfway and Port Talbot was damp after some overnight rain. However as usual that didn’t dampen the spirits of the rally hardcore. They were there with the usual joviality, sleeping in camper vans, cars, vans and tents. The aroma of bacon filling the still early mornings, before the sound of WRC car’s fill the air, and gravel was spat out from their tyres. As always the thrill of seeing some of the best drivers in the world on the limit at close quarters was spectacular.

However the same topic came to the forefront of all the conversation’s with those that attended and online afterwards, even amongst the rally media fraternity. There was a lack of spectators, a lack of WRC cars (however the run through by the National B cars dis somewhat make up for this!). So what was the reason for the low numbers, the lack of International promoter being appointed by FIA, the earlier running of the event, the pricing, the lack of cars, the lack of promotion of the event? Whatever it was the FIA, MSA, IMS and Welsh Assembly Government need to get their heads round the table and listen to the rally majority and resolve the issues. Much as it was great from a photography perspective to not have to struggle to get a decent position, to take images. As a rally fan the future running of the event could be in serious jeopardy.

That said I am already looking forward to next year, to more sideways, wheel spinning, airborne WRC cars, especially as more manufacturers are committing to the championship :) To the smell of bacon filling the early morning air and to the French fans, letting off fireworks directly above my tent at 1am in the morning. WRC Wales Rally GB 2013, Bring it on :D

My photo’s of the 2012 Wales Rally GB round of the WRC can be found at the links below:

  1. Hafren Sweet Lamb
  2. Halfway
  3. Port Talbot

Olympic Spirit

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Olympic Mens Mountain Biking

When the tickets went on sale for the Olympic’s, I wasn’t really that interested in it. My wife ordered them and asked me what I would like to see, so I said Mountain Biking. However the only tickets that arrived where, yes you guessed it the Mountain Biking.

The build up was looking worrying, here is the biggest sports event in the world and the run up was full of doom & gloom, G4S, strikes, sponsors, Olympic lanes it was all looking like UK PLC was going to be a failure on a world wide scale. We had by chance booked our holiday over the Olympics and off the back of Sky Team’s success on the Tour de France, I set out to watch the road cycling and it didn’t start out as a planned, in fact a few days in and Team GB nil medals, it looked like it was going to end horribly. Then they slowly started rolling in, I was hooked watching sports I wouldn’t normally watch, it was the must watch every day.

So roll on the last day of the Olympics and the day of our visit to Hadleigh Farm to watch the Mens Mountain Biking, should I take my DSLR, a couple of lenses, would the spectre of G4S & LOCOG strike and class my camera gear as ‘professional’? We headed with 20000 other people to Hadleigh Farm in Essex. We arrived at the Park and Ride and were whisked to the venue entrance, where a large number of people were waiting to pass security. A short time later we had passed through, a pat down and quick bag check by the squaddies on duty. Wandering around the Gamesmakers were friendly, saying hello and willing to help, the Police were friendly and chatty (When did that last happen in the UK?).

The racing didn’t go Team GB’s way with Liam Killeen crashing out at the bottom of Dean’s Drop, with a broken ankle (Hope it gets better soon!). The racing under the sunshine saw the racer giving it all around the tough, unforgiving course. With the spectators cheering on the riders from all nationalities, smiles all round. The medal ceremony over and 20000 departed, the bit of the day I dreaded, however I was shocked as we were straight out onto waiting buses and whisked back to the Park & ride, again with the Gamesmakers & Police still smiling doing Bolt impressions and raising spirits.

The Olympics was a success from a planning point of view, a success from a Team GB point of view and its haul of medals. LOCOG, the Gamesmakers especially must be congratulated on their hard work for free, the military for stepping at the 11th hour and bailing out G4S, the Police for doing an outstanding job and interaction with the public and the athlete’s for their grit, determination and sportsmanship.

In these times of doom, gloom and people looking after the own pockets, the GREAT has been put back into Great Britain, 2 weeks of feel good factor, can we have more of it please :)

A selection of the images I took at the Mountain Biking can be found in my Flickr set Olympics 2012 – Mens Mountain Biking

One of the best days of my life…

Posted on by Posted in Photography, Wildlife Leave a comment
Cheetah on the prowl

Jambo :)

I’m sat writing this blog entry sat on the Verandah of my tent, looking out onto the wilderness that is Africa. The only line of defence between me and the predators of the African Plains is 2 fairly low strands of electrified wire, which has already been breached by 3 of the local young antelope. OMG a giraffe has just appeared before me :O
Following a short interlude of trying to photograph said giraffe, as the sun goes down, and tourists start shouting at each other, grabbing cameras and spooking said giraffe, I will return to my digital memoirs, especially as the daily rain shower starts.
This opportunity to visit Kenya came through a 2 week work trip, we have taken the opportunity to take an overnight break at Sweetwater Tented Camp, sort of Glamping in Kenya. the tents have ensuite bathroom, electric lighting and a verandah were you can sit and watch the tooing and froing of the local wildlife.
We have spent the day touring around the Ol Petja Conservancy I have had dust thrown at me by a chimpanzee as I tried to photograph him, fed a black rhino and seen 4 of the 8 only surviving northern white rhino’s in the world, as well as impala, onyx, elephant, giraffe, zebra, warthog, buffalo and a lot more besides.
What this experience really brings home is that it is not wildlife that is the cause of conflict with humans, but that it is humans lack of tolerance and greed that leads to the decline of some of the most awesome creatures on this planet. More needs to be done to stop the poaching of rhino’s, tigers, elephants and the like. I once went to an Andy Rouse talk and he said that we have to make these animals worth more alive to the local population, than dead and the only way to do that is to visit these places and see these animals up close and personal. I recently criticised people on Twitter who complained about Planet Earth Live not being live or the presenters, well I can tell them it is not the easiest of jobs to film or photograph wildlife, the natural world doesn’t work to a script. It doesn’t matter who presents it, as long as the message gets across that we need to protect these creatures, they all have a place on Planet Earth.
As for me the buffalo and antelope are 20m’s away, drinking at the water hole, it is now dark and the night soundtrack closes what has been one of the best days of my life, second only to the day I get married (Disclaimer – I had to add that to keep the wife happy ;) )

Safari nejam.

Is it about ticking lists?

Posted on by Posted in Photography, Wildlife Leave a comment
Mother and Cub Otters

Now that I have got the majority of the website sorted out, I suppose I ought to use it for what it was intended to blog.
A couple of weeks ago in amongst everything else going on and the sleepless nights brought on by the addition of a Jack Russell puppy to the clan. I took a trip down to the River Stour to get see if the otters were around and try and get a couple of shots, as the weather was looking favourable.
The first day was a result, with seeing a mother with and 2 cubs who at one point were right underneath me. A real privilege to get so close. Another photographer down there, started following them further and further upstream. Given that it was going to be a little difficult to get in front of them and despite not having a shot, I decided to go downstream in the search of other subjects to photograph and managed to spend some time with just myself an otter and a cub.
The following day I had another go, which resulted in seeing no otters at all. I did however get some shots of a wren, grey wagtail and a tree creeper whilst meandering along the bank and waiting to see if any of the otter clan emerged.
I bumped into other photographers and they had not seen anything, however I noted that despite them carrying around a ton of kit, with heavy tripods and large lenses, they seemed only interested in the otters, despite the abundance of wildlife in the vicinity kingfishers, herons, cormorants etc.
This got me thinking as to whether these photographers were there just for the prestige of getting a shot of the now widely known about otters, or indeed wether they are there for the greater wildlife. Who knows, only them. As for me it is about being outside at beautiful times of the day, seeing the wildlife going about it’s business, yes I want the pictures of otters but I will also take the opportunity to get photo’s of all wildlife, no matter how dull and insignificant it may appear :)

marti_b - Virgin Media installed just short of 100Mb download about 12Mb upload. Better than the 2Mb download we used to have ;) 6 hours ago