My main man Joe Sales is back from Za Motherland after an extensive photojournalism trip covering all the major races from Roubaix to Milan to the Master's Worlds in Mol. He sent me a mail today after he filtered through some of his old shots from 2008 and along with it this photo. THANK YOU JOE! What a great way to remember CrossVegas.
Have a look at his gallery or the photo updates he did on CXMag.

Grabbed from MTB Kalender, an extremely popular results and race calendar site used in the Netherlands and Belgium. We used this when there quite a bit last year and have been taking pictures for a long time at Mol/Masters including last years race.

Looks like the modified the course slightly this year.

So I've probably said it a million times on this here blog, how I admire photographers of our beautiful sport. They, like us who race, stand out in shitty fields, in the piss and rain, shooting us with mud in our teeth. But while I love the drama captured of the racing action, for me, it's ALL about what happens in and around our races that intrigues me.
For a lone time now I've waxed poetic about Joe Sales and his obvious abilities behind the lens. I love his work so much, I get to see it every time I have to look at my CrackBerry (which, yes, is often and yes, is truly a CrackBerry). FINALLY, I was able to meet Joe in person at Nats in KC and gushed about how I admire his shots. He, like you and I, is a super fan of the sport. You may have seen his latest shots in CX Mag perfectly capturing Bart Wellens violent style of barrier work. Anyone who has been to my clinics knows how I explain Bart's technique and the power he demonstrates flowing through the barriers and Joe nailed it in rapid sequence.

So back to the 'behind the scenes' moments captured on film. You've seen my attempts at photography and while I like shooting the racers, I enjoy grabbing those moments that define our sport. Like this junior's grandmother power washing sonny's B-bike. I love that pic as it typifies the sport, especially the European side of the sport as it is truly a family outing for most.

With that photo in mind, Joe sends me the photo you see below. Unbelievable. It's exactly what I love to see. In his words about it:

I took this shot on the weekend at Roubaix. That's Vervecken's dad on his knees cleaning Irwin's bike after his big win. I thought you would like this shot. It's probably my favorite of the day. I'm not sure who the guy is that's looking right at me wondering WTF I'm doing laying on the ground snapping pictures like an idiot but I did have an official photog bib on.

I love it. Sacrificing for the shot. On the belly, Belgian hard men looking at you like you are insane. All for the sport. And now Joe's handiwork. How PRO is THIS??
Thanks Joe!

My hombre Peter of NY Velocity has posted some of his insane pics from the Mercer Cup this weekend. While Peter shoots color *and* B & W, the images are reminiscent of those the PDXCross crew in Portland shoot on their race weekends. I just love the 'non obvious' shots...e.g. anything that shows a focus on the things going on around the race....not just the prototypical shot of the racer. Details of the course (note the out of focus racers but in-focus mud shots), the fans and the way they go OFF yelling at the racers to dig deeper, the insanity of the pits as bikes get cleaned, and pit crew hustle to get the bikes ready for the hand off. THOSE are the things I want to remember when I am old and fat.
Check out Peter's collection from the Mercer Cup here and subscribe to NYVelocity feeds!

Boulder is very much, as you'd guess, a cycling-mad town. Now that this inter-webby thing looks as if it's going to be here for some time to come, more people are getting their stuff out there for people to consume and enjoy. Thoughts, images, you name it.

Two buds of mine have started some cool cycling-related web services. One a full up new reporting service on cycling goings-on, another a new and rad photographer capturing the fields in digital celluloid as we hup up, over and through Colorado's courses.

303Cycling.com is Mix1 Racing's Kris Thompson's site of all the cycling happenings in the 303. He's bring some old school beat style reporting to the local cycling scene. Check it out!

David Kutcipal is also from Mix1 and is out there every weekend banging out GREAT photos of all of us wanna be Sven Nys's. He's a racer so he know just when to hit the shutter,. capturing our mugs in all our suffering glory. He captures some great photos from this Saturday's BoulderRacing No. 4 at the Louisville Rec Center.

(Yeah, Jon C: You KNOW you wanna buy this photo of you gettin' your hup on!)

And if above ain't proof enough, just click on these two thumbnails of me below to see how GREAT and hi-resolution these photos David shared with me to ensure you know what they're like (just check out the detail of the snot on my leg.) You will not be dissatisfied! Hup hup!

Official Race Photographer of the Boulder Cup, SkiPix, has posted their photos of the Boulder Reservoir race on Saturday.

Come check out the Day 1 and 2 Action Here! It's very easy to find your racing category and is sub-categorized by various course landmarks.

As mentioned countless times on this here blog, the photographers are getting more and more prolific and talented. Why shouldn't they?? They're shooting the most gorgeous, pain filled, beautiful, dirty, outrageous sport on earth!

See the originals here, but you can preview them in this little photobucket dohickey:

The PRO photographers were out in force yesterday! As he was last week, Rob O'Dea was out with his gaggle of cameras on random parts of the course popping strobes and catching your smiling mugs in full flight. Click the image below to take you to his collection of Cat 3, 4, Open Women and Open Men.

I've talked about it quite a few times in previous posts, but the photographers who come out and capture the art we practice in the fall is absolutely spectacular. In Boulder, we're lucky to have Rob O'Dea who combines his extensive experience as a cyclist with when to exactly hit the shutter to catch those moments we feel as we pedal our machines through the muck and over the barriers. You've got to do it, to shoot it and Rob is one of those.

Rob sent me some of his SPECTACULAR pics from Saturday at Xilinx. Enjoy them as I have in a drop jawed manner. Contact Rob should you need any services and to keep track of his upcoming race events.

You can cruise over to Mark Woolcott's site and check out some of the muddy action form the 35/4's, 35 Opens, 4's and 3's.

Dubba also cranked out a bunch of photos of the BCS folks and others. See 'em here or via the show below!