The Northwest Cup #2 was the first downhill race that I had ever been too, and I can say that I'll definitely be going to more in the future. The atmosphere was incredible, and my respect for the cycling community grew as I showed up to practice on Saturday!
We (Clinton Overman, Dan Overman, and I) took off from the University of Washington, Seattle Campus on Friday and began our trek over to Port Angeles. As I mentioned before, this was my first race experience, however it was also my first trip with the sole purpose of being a photographer. So I felt obliged to take pictures on the way, and to snap a ton at any chance I got! Instead of writing my experience, I'll show you, and share with you some of my favorite pictures from the trip! Enjoy!
Friday - Drive and ferry ride to Port Angeles
Saturday - Practice day
Sunday - It's race time!
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| Getting ready to leave UW |
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| Clinton and Dan making sure that the bikes are nice and secure! Clinton's Demo, and Brent Van Fossen's Session |
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| We made it to the ferry in no time, but once we got there we had some waiting to do! |
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| After sitting in line for what seemed like forever, we finally made it onto the ferry just in time to see the sunset! |
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| Checking out the sunset from the truck |
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| Only a couple more sunset shots, I promise! |
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| This little guy and his family were out taking pictures as well! |
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| Last picture of the day as the sun goes down |
We got to Port Angeles around eleven at night, and crashed in our hotel room!
Saturday morning started early as we made our way to a local diner for some onion filled breakfast and made sure to poke fun at the Twilight store along the way. The weather was awesome, and the racers were out in full force, rampaging down the trail like there was no tomorrow! I loved it! I'd never had an opportunity like that to take so many pictures! And if I made a mistake with one picture, I had the next rider to try it again and fix what I had done wrong!
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| Clinton Overman hitting the step down for the first time in practice |
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| Of all the people I saw hit the larger gap, this guy threw down the hardest |
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| Evan Choltco-Devlin sending the big line |
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| Unknown rider hitting the big gap |
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| Dugan Crittenden popping over the stump where Nik Clarke almost hit me only moments before |
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| Rhys Ewing following the leader |
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| Chris Pascucci coming through the s-berms with a lot of speed! |
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| Brian Connolly smoothly cornering what most people had trouble with |
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| Steven Baldock cornering smoothly after a root section |
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| An event would be an event without the interesting people |
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| Sam Saimo flying over the roots |
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| Sam Isett coming around the corner in epic lighting! |
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| I'm not sure what you would call this! But if it's you, claim it! |
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| Nic Rodgers waiting at the top to practice |
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| My leg after a collision with Nick Marvik! |
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| Anthony Evans coming through a rough section |
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| Wood rolling down an awkward slope |
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| Luke Strobel right after the step down |
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| Kyle Thomas moving fast! |
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| Jaime Rees about to hit the step down |
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| Bryn Atkinson kicking the crap out of the step down! |
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| Nic Clarke throwing a little style in there |
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| Bryn Atkinson. This guy is so fast, I've seriously never seen anything like it |
The night before the race, the weather changed. It was terrible. I had to walk to Safeway to get some batteries, and I honestly thought I was going to float away. It was still raining when we woke up, and for that reason, Sunday was a short day and I didn't take too many pictures.
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| Coming in after the step down |
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| Smashing through some puddles! |
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| Making a hip out of the stump that most people just dropped |
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| Brent Van Fossen jumping over the roots |
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| Thanks for bringing me along Clinton! |
I learned a lot when I was there and had a good time as well! I definitely hope to do it again, whether just for fun, or professionally!
If you liked what you saw, check out and like my facebook page at
http://www.facebook.com/ReillyKintzele.PHOTO.FILMThanks guys! I hope you enjoyed it!
-Reilly
