Sure, that title doesn’t sound geographically correct, but that’s what the folks that race it call it. Check it out

It feels so rich to be somewhere so green…

I spent the weekend just outside of Austin, TX at the Mellow Johnny’s Classic mountain bike race. The first pro race of the year is held a little early down here to beat the heat…and that worked splendidly. I was down to photograph the Kenda/Felt team’s photos, but spent the first day running around the race course, shooting and shouting words of encouragement. Sure, I got a little lost out on the course, and even had a crash of my own trying to spring along the course to get back to the finish. But I didn’t get betting by a rattlesnake, nor did I get sunburned…so it was a great weekend. The highlights included perfect weather, Stumptown coffee, great hospitality and an amazing Saturday night dinner. I hope I can go back next year. A sampling of images…

I’m fortunate that there are so many great athletes that live in Missoula that allow me to photograph them. They run, bike, and swim with the best in the world. However, those activities can be challenging to do in the winter time in Montana. So a number of these folks travel down to Tucson, Arizona for the winter months. There, they spend the first few months of the year getting base training in and preparing for the upcoming season. And not only is the climate conducive to training outdoors, but having so many of them down there together provides for a support system as well. This allows them to train together, and socialize with unique activities. I recently spent a few days in the Southwest with these uber-fast folks. Have a look.