This last weekend, however, thanks in no small part to his new 'obsession' I was presented with the opportunity to try my hand at photographing something 'new' - no, not my DH in his lycra - but the inaugural Etape Cymru.
This event is billed as North Wales Largest Cycle Event - its 100 miles of absolutely gruelling terrain, which amateur cyclists would try to complete. The route started in Marchweil Industrial Estate, and involved riding through Minera, Panorama and Worlds End, on to Corwen, through Llangollen, over the Horseshoe Pass, and back to Wrexham, via Nant Y Garth - my legs ached just looking at the route map! As part of one of the Summer Modules, I'd been out photographing bikers and cyclists the previous weekend, and thoroughly enjoyed it - so going to watch stretches of this event struck me as a great day out for both DH and myself. I've never photographed any sort of sporting event before - though I wasn't sure that 'sports photography' was the exact description of what I had in mind to accomplish - I was heading more down the route of 'Street Photography - on wheels', but it struck me as a bit of a challenge and something new. And DH would certainly enjoy drooling over the bikes and scoping out the event ready for next year, when he is considering entering it himself.
So, although we were unable to get to the start due to child care issues, 10 am saw us parked up by where the A452 intersects with the A5104, ready to cheer on and photograph the cyclists at about the 35 mile mark. It wasn't exactly ideal conditions, because the wind was really strong, so we knew the participants would have had a tough ride already by the time they got to us, and I was prepared for a lot of cyclists who were probably exhausted, in pain and not likely to be much interested in the supporters or some mad woman crouched by the side of the road with a camera.
I got a surprise - The cyclists started to come into view, the few (at this stage) spectators started to clap them on - and almost without fail, every rider spared a smile or a wave. One cracked me up by shouting out 'Never mind clapping - give us a push' ! . And they reacted in the same way if they spotted me with the camera - it made for a really nice atmosphere, and I really started to enjoy myself.
It was hard to know what to concentrate on - some of the cyclists were going at one hell of a speed, and I wanted to capture that - but there was also so much else in evidence to try and catch with the camera. That first stretch must have been bloody tough - the pain was evident on some faces. Alongside that, there was sometimes an air of accomplishment, and also enjoyment and camaraderie - I ended up just firing off shot after shot, not knowing what element to go for.
The speed some of these riders were hitting was amazing . . . .
And the faces . . .
And the smiles and the atmosphere, between the groups that came through - you could hear some of them shouting and calling encouragement to each other . . . 'Come on Mate - and I'll buy you a pint in Llangollen !'
After an hour or so here, we decided to head up to the Horseshoe Pass, stopping for lunch on the way.
And whilst we were having lunch, the wind picked up - and the rain started, not heavy, but blowing in from all angles in the gusting wind .
We headed up past the Pondarosa to a large layby - lots of cars already there, and a fair few more supporters. It wasn't long before the first cyclists started coming through - and boy - did I curse that rain !
No way could I shelter the lens from the angle it was hitting, I constantly wiped it and tried to protect it - but on looking later, so many shots were spoilt by it. Even so, I took plenty - by this stage, looking at the climb the cyclists were handling, I was in absolute awe of them all, again the speed of some of them after that incredibly hard climb - and still they smiled and waved and called out 'Thank you' to the supporters that were there.
You can see the grey cloud and how miserable it was, weather wise .
And after that climb, still the smiles
The support between riders so evident .
The odd 'Trick' Cyclist, this guy had everyone clapping :)
OK, some pulled tongues:)
Sharing jokes
More tongue pulling, lol !
And more smiles !
We had decided to finish the day by heading down to Tetrapak, in the Marchweil Industrial Estate, to see some of the riders finishing. By the time we got back to Wrexham, the rain had gone and there was even some sunshine - so a chance to grab some more pics :)
That Last Push !
Smiles - and 'thumbs up' from this guy!
And the support for each other, right to the end!
And given the distance and conditions, couldn't blame this guy for taking a bit of a 'short cut', lol !
And so the end of a fantastic day for me - I can't believe I enjoyed it so much. And that's totally due to the participants, who not only impressed the hell out of me with their endurance and bravery at tackling that route, but also by their humour and camaraderie.
Photographically, although there is definitely room for improvement, I am really happy with the majority of photographs I got from this day - it was new, and challenging and enjoyable, and it taught me a lot of new things - not least how to perform a lens change at break neck speed in order to try and take advantage of every photo opportunity. This is most certainly something I would love to do again - and again :)
I sincerely hope that this is really just the first Etape Cymru - to be 100% fair to the riders who took part, I have to mention that they had a lot more than the weather to contend with, and I think I need to just touch on that here - it makes their humour and commitment to finish this sportive even more impressive !
Reading comments from the cyclists afterwards, I was really shocked by the total chaos that they had had to put up with. The food stations were not adequately stocked with food and water, and many riders reached them, only to find them empty - not good, these people need to re-fuel when they are facing a challenge like this.
Some junctions were not staffed by marshals - leaving some cyclists not knowing which road to take, causing them to go off course and sometimes get lost.
It was billed as a 'closed road' event - it seems some locals were not aware of this, and we saw marshals arguing with motorists who were objecting to not being able to use certain roads. It also seems that maybe some locals objected to the closed roads anyway - and signs had been removed. I personally find this appalling - these cyclists were travelling at speed, down some steep roads, with poor surfaces and sharp bends - what if just one of them had met a car coming the other way? Its a miracle that there wasn't a damn tragedy. Better PR, more marshalling, and advertising could go a long way to deal with problems like this - I am totally ignorant about the sport, and I ended up thoroughly enjoying and being captivated by what I saw - there's a lot about it to promote, make the local area proud to host it and hopefully, do away with situations like signs being taken!
Add to all that, last minute changes and announcements that caused inconvenience to the cyclists, a massive entry fee - which should have been offset by a free gift of a gillet, which the riders then didn't get; Faulty recording equipment - meaning people's times were lost or wrong, Inadequate toilet facilities, lack of signage letting cyclists unfamiliar with the area know that steep bends were coming up, and a whole host of other justifiable complaints .
Organisers - please get your act together for next year. This event could be such a big draw and provide so many with a great day out - cyclists and spectators (and snap happy mad people like me! ) alike. I'd love to go and watch this again - and with better organisation and advertising, I think an awful lot more would too.
Lastly, again, i have to give massive thanks to the participants - you were all absolutely amazing !
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