With Beaumont and Glasgow

Since following Mark Beaumont on his North Coast 500 ride I’ve kept in touch and hoped we would get to work on another one of his wild rides. Thankfully I had a message on my phone from him asking if I was going to the Strathpuffer 24 Hour and am I interested in following his race? Hell yes!

Mark was teaming up with Alex Glasgow who is no stranger to endurance events, having won the Celtman Triathlon, Relentless 24 Hour, 6 time Puffer entrant with two wins and many more. Mark was definitely in good hands for his first mountain bike race. And what better rigs to have for a race than a couple of Cannondale F-Si Hi-Mods in a lovely green and black which were extremely lightweight. In the support team there was Orange Fox Bikes, Tim Winterburn, Amy Owen, Chloe Valentine and Paul Littlewood. Of course Alex’s and Mark’s mums were there in full force to support their boys!

Mark started the race in the traditional LeMons style with Alex holding his bike at the ready. I hit the shutter as Mark ran up to his bike then I sprinted to catch him again on the next corner. This was the wake up call my legs needed to get me going. After I caught Mark further up the course again I thought I would be waiting a while for Alex. But this was not the case. I was quickly reminded why one has the record for cycling the world and the other has plenty of endurance event wins on his mantle piece.

As the race went on the temperature dropped and the trail became hard packed and pretty icy. There were a few spots where competitors were sliding out, one managed to smack her chin on the ice but after a quick check was back on the bike and pedalling hard. At one point I was expecting Alex but instead was greeted with a fresh looking Mark shouting “Alex fell and cut his leg pretty bad!”. I wasn’t sure if this meant he was out but soon enough Alex, the happiest man at the event, came flying round a corner. I’m sure it takes a lot more than a deep cut and stitches to put him out.

I made my way back to the camp in the evening to catch them resting and found Alex getting a massage and Tim coordinating the arrival of Mark. The changeover was down to the second and executed perfectly to get the least amount of time in transition if any at all. It was a quick change of the dibber riding side by side. Mark was then straight into the tent to get warmed up and fed while Tim ensured the bike was running perfectly.

Throughout the night the guys plodded on at a great pace and in the morning still seemed pretty fresh after only having short 50 minute breaks! At 06:30 I found Alex resting up with a cup of tea. He was in their horse box which had a sofa as their resting place, cosy and warm. At this point they were sitting second but had put in good time between them and third which left them trying to push for final laps before time ran out.

Compared to last year, it seemed warmer on the Sunday but there was still plenty of ice sending racers off track and to the ground. Thankfully there were no more crashes for these two and they pushed on at a good pace with smiles, despite it coming up to 24 hours of riding. The cut off time was 10:00 but if you could get in before then you could go around for another lap. After shooting Alex on track again I ran to catch them at the changeover but his legs made short work of getting back despite my shortcut. Alex’s changeover was at 09:45 which sent Mark off on the final lap. I waited at the finish and Mark came in looking slightly weary but with a grin. After dibbing and hugging it out with Alex and the team, they made their way to record a few clips and were looking pretty chuffed with themselves! So they should be, taking second place with 30 laps!

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With CrossFit 57 North

Last week I headed over to shoot CrossFit 57 North's yearly in house competition.  The event consisted of teams of two smashing out three rounds to put them through their paces.  The final event was kept under wraps until the end which built up the atmosphere coming to the finish.

This was my first time shooting CrossFit and it didn't disappoint at all.  The effort put in and how much strength each person put in made for brilliant captures.  With such high focus on the task at hand I'm not sure if any of them remember me shooting up close.

Calling It Quits: Skiing Ben Wyvis

I was halfway through drinking tea and stuffing my face with toast smothered in peanut butter when my friend Ronan messaged me.  His plan was to hike up Ben Wyvis (Scottish mountain at 1,046 metres) and ski back down it - "Going to be there for 10:00 if you want to come?".  I couldn't say no to shooting this and despite not having skis and needing to hike the whole day, I didn't mind at all!

I was delighted to go hike in the mountains and with it starting to snow I had a grin from ear to ear.  All the images I wanted to capture were in my head already, 10-15 shots of the days adventure.  Skiing was something I have wanted to capture for a while so no photographic opportunity was going to be missed!

On our walk to the bottom of the mountain I caught glimpses of the peak and started to realise what a mission was ahead.  I had always hiked but never gone up a mountain in knee deep snow to try and shoot someone skiing down it.  Nervous but excited, a challenge is always good, right?

As we started to climb, the wind picked up and a grey cloud came in sending a good amount of snow our way.  The visibility got worse and there was no sign of the path.  We made our own way up but every now and then we would drop to above our knees in snow.  It was deep and we had a few laughs at each others expense.  Although thankfully every so often the path would reappear and give our legs a break.

As it started to clear we got back to being motivated to reach the summit and do what we came here to do.  Looking at the summit we could see the snow blowing off the top and wondered if we would be calling it quits. 

Of course the weather decided to come in again.  We took shelter behind a boulder, the usual spot on Wyvis for a snack and rehydration.  Contemplating a plan, we decided on going a little further up and make a call.  Unfortunately more ice was appearing and the wind was biting at our faces.

I have been in some pretty strong winds while hiking but this wasn't good.  When your hiking poles are flapping around and your leaning hard into the wind to stop yourself from falling over, it was time to head back down.  We were so close to the summit, close to getting to the other side and getting those shots we wanted.  I felt like we failed and was frustrated with all the effort we had put in.  That's how it is and to be honest, it's okay.  It's risky being out there and no point in being blown away for trying to ski down a hill and get the shot.

Feeling disappointed, we made our way back down.  During my frustration the cloud had moved and the wind died down.  Ronan shouted that he could ski a section just below us and suddenly I felt like our failure took a turn.  We worked out his line and I dug a hideout in the snow to shoot from. 

Once he had his skis on I was delighted, we are finally getting what we came for!  At the same time I was nervous.  If I miss the shot it was a slog for him to get back up and do the run again.  My gloves weren't doing a great job and I need my fingers to work. I placed my hands  down my trousers and on my thighs, body warmth is great although people look at your oddly!  Now I was ready.

From having to turn back because of conditions to getting two shots and even having the sun make an appearance.  Having to retreat was certainly a hard pill to swallow and something that sadly happens with these kind of shoots.  In the end it worked out although not quite what we had in mind.  "Better safe than sorry" is a good saying but even when the weather is great what we do is still risky.  

With Glacier360

Would you like to photograph riders around Iceland's 2nd largest glacier? YES!

I was back in Scotland for 36 hours and it was time to catch a flight to Iceland.  The job was to shoot a race called Glacier360 which had riders race  290km over 3 days around a glacier called Langjökull.

Not knowing anyone who would be there, the first people I met were of course from Scotland with one of them living 20 minutes away from me.  Not such a big world.

After learning more about the race I was taken by the media manager, Torfi, to ride an ATV about 50kms to recce part of the first days stage.  Our ride was in the Icelandic Highland's and I was delighted.  Driving over dirt and rocks while taking in the stunning volcanic surroundings was a good start.  Having a glacier on your lefthand side also adds to the beauty.  Here are some of my favourite shots from the race.

With A Paddle

The rain is slapping the window outside as I am back home in Scotland after spending almost two fantastic years in New Zealand.  This week has mostly been spent trying to find various bits of gear that I have hidden in our luggage and going through hard drives which brought up a trip I did with Kirsty back in January.

With January being a summer month on the other side of the world we packed the truck and fitted our paddle boards on top, and spent a week looking for stunning spots to paddle around Otago and Canterbury.  A highlight of the trip was getting to paddle on the stunningly blue Lake Pukaki and have New Zealand's highest mountain, Mt Cook, ahead.