I was fired up going into last winter and really looking forward to strong imagery and skiing as much as possible. It started out as being an all-time year for me but then I developed some knee issues. Clearly it was getting worse so my only option was surgery. I was fortunate to get fast tracked in for Meniscus clean-up..
The rehab was riding the bike so not all was lost !
I decided to go pinner on the bike and build on last seasons fitness. I set some goals for the coming spring and summer.
I was a little surprised that my form was not stronger after having a good year prior. I did a lot of suffering in the spring series although I was pretty happy with a top 15 in my favorite race- Matsqui Roubaix, not bad for a washed up retired bike racer.
After that it was mostly strong moments rather than results that would have to keep me motivated.
Personally I had a great ride at Tour of Delta, with a couple of Pro Tour riders present and continental pros forcing the pace I did pretty good. I was strong enough for a top 10 in the blistering criterium but got slowed up by a pileup with 4 laps left. Finished the road race which was my goal being a difficult finishing circuit.
I did my 1st masters race which was the Canadian Nationals and finished up 3rd overall in a bunch sprint..I thought I had shot my bullet after riding solo for 20km and then got caught by group of 20 mid-point through the race..
Not many races left in mid August and I was in full burn out mode and looking forward to switching gears. I started climbing again and completely stoked on that. My imagery has picked up and I'm getting at it as much as possible. Alway's looking for something creative to document from behind the lens. It feels good to balance my passion for photography and doing the things I love to do. The cycling background seems to have given me a great base to keep up with the athletes while packing the loads..
Check this link-http://vimeo.com/14074949
I've watched it about 5 times and it puts a chill down my spine. I find it incredibly inspiring and really motivates me to be out there more, experiencing as many new things as I can from behind the lens. Sharing my vision of how I see new things in relative difficult to reach places stokes me.
I'm looking forward to the fall, one of my favorite times of the year. I can't believe how fast time is moving. before we know it, we will be smiling ear to ear while picking west coast pow out of our teeth."Quote- Dark Side of the Lens"
If I only scrape a living, at least it's a life worth scraping for !!
Getting amongst it =)
Cheers,
Chris
