The Dark Side

Every year in the fall, Ellsworth Bicycles has a retreat where anyone who owns an Ellsworth is invited to come out for two days of riding and socializing with Tony Ellsworth and the rest of the crew. Last year I took a whole bunch of photos of everyone. This year I was slightly less motivated, sorry. Fortunately Kurt (Whose motto is ‘Why use a lens cap when you have the healing brush tool?’) took a lot of photos of everyone. Unfortunately that’s a whole lot of editing, so I just picked a selection. So check them out. I left the watermarks off so you can download the pictures of yourself. See how nice I am? Email me if you want a printable size copy.

I am finally getting around to posting the pictures from the 2006 Ellsworth Owner’s retreat in Moab. Saturday night dinner was hosted by Jonny from Moab Cyclery. He has a cool little dirt jump park built in his backyard with some doubles, logs, ramps, and bridges. Bender, Travis, and Merrick threw down a session before dinner and here are the pics. We had two photographers, Kurt from Ellsworth was also shooting but he’s and even bigger editing slacker than me so I took the liberty of going through his pics. The light was low and the background noisy (from a photographer’s perspective), but here you go, never the less.

Trilogy Wine Bar hosted yet anther fashion show last night, featuring the exotic designs of the lovely Rachel Z. I probably should have warned you ahead of time about this star-studded gala . . . But it was Sunday night and I figured that it was past your bedtime anyway. I’m getting to be a regular fashionista these days, yes it is true. The theme this go-round was Urban Street, or something like that. You saw it here first, aluminum foil wrapped coffee tables are the next Big Thing, so be sure to wrap yours up today, unless you are willing to risk an embarassing fashion faux pas! Be sure to view the photos full size, as the thumbnails are a bit noisy. Enjoy, and email me with requests.

Loveland Ski Area received 26″ of snow out of that last winter storm that closed I-70 down. Weds was epic, they opened the double blacks for the first time of the year. I wound up buying a midweek season pass for $189. Anyone want to carpool this season? Oh yeah, they are opening chair 4 on Friday and chair 8 on Saturday, so get on up there for bottomless powder.

I got a last minute call to head up to the Hill and shoot a fashion show. Well, OK, twist my arm. The theme was Futuristic Burlesque, and was supported by local clothing designers. My friend Davidson Lewis of Ecologic Designs had his clothing made from recycled billboards and bicycle inner tubes. The only other designer whose name I remeber is Rachel Z, mostly because she has the coolest last initial in the world. If you are interested in using a photo, shoot me an email for a non-watermarked hi-res image. My address is steve @ this website name.

Brayden is such a good model. I don’t even know where he comes up with this stuff. You wouldn’t know that the insanity of the Boulder Cup Cyclocross run-up is right below us. See the people in the tree in the picture below this one? That is where we are.

Here we are, back with the second gallery of cross pics from this weekend. If you live in town and you missed this event . . . well you screwed up. Both the men’s and women’s Elite races came down to the wire with tight, exciting finishes. The crowds were thick and rowdy, the cheering and the cowbells left your ears ringing after the races were over. Hopefully this year was the first of many more to come, as this race could turn into a classic.

The US Gran Prix of Cyclocross visited Longmont, Colorado this past Saturday, and I was there to shoot pictures of the Masters 35+, Elite Women, and Elite Mens classes. This race is a pretty big deal in the pretty small world of American cyclocross. The race is more or less the US National Series, and carried UCI international points, which are important for starting postion and rider selection for the World Championships. Enjoy the gallery, and check back tomorrow for the gallery of the following day’s race in Boulder.

For all three of you following the saga, I’ll give you a brief lowdown on the final days of my journey, even though I’ve already talked with all three of you on the phone. I spent Monday morning shooting sunrise at Canyonlands. Voila, picture numero uno. After that, I decided to flip the switch and start heading homeward. I shot nearly 3000 photos in the last 2 weeks, so I have many late night hot dates with my computer in the near future until, oh, probably New Years or so. Monday night was spent in Rabbit Valley, CO just outside of Fruita. The morning awoke clear and frosty, and I nabbed some cool photos and spent time with an extremely tame and curious lizard family. There were four of them, and they actually came out of their little crack to stare and check me out. They let me get so close I could touch them. The lizards match their background extremely well, so I took the liberty of fixing that in Photoshop. That afternoon I rode the Loma MTB area, including Mary’s Loop, Rusters Loop, Horsethief Bench, and Moore Fun on a glorious fall day where I wore shorts and a sleeveless shirt. Moore Fun has to be the most technical trail I’ve ridden in this part of the country, it makes Hall Ranch look like a beginner trail, and it kicks my ass every time I ride it. I dabbed so many times I didn’t even bother to count. Well this was Tues and it WAS Halloween after all, and me being me, I paid a visit to Breckenridge, Chris’s new pad, and the local thirst refreshing establishments. They really aren’t afraid to party in that town. After a late start Weds morning, I completed my annual Fall Moab pilgrimage exactly where it began, on the slopes of Abasin. On the way out I snapped the moonrise over the ridge. So, that’s it! Next on tap is a big weekend of UCI International Cyclocross action here in Boulder. I’m thinking I’m going to actually race on Sunday, so come check it out!