Road cycling | Craig Sheppard Photographer

2014 Tour Of Friendship Stage 2

Stage 2 of the Tour of Friendship was the first road stage, following the time trial of stage 1. We headed west towards Kanchanaburi Province along exposed two and three laned motorways. The stage started with a 20km neutral zone to the official race start of which apparently I missed as all of a sudden the high pace got a lot faster and attacks were coming thick and fast. I was accompanying the first group on the road which comprised of the Cat 1 Men, Women, Juniors and the Fifties men. It was the Cat 1 Men who got the ball rolling and it wasn’t long before one of the attacks got away. Three riders were able to get up the road before they were slowly joined by a few riders bridging the gap in ones and twos. The final breakaway ended up with about eleven riders. It was interesting to watch as there seemed to be a big difference in strength across the group with a few riders doing the majority of the work and the weaker riders trying to hold the wheel at the rear of the pack. It was hard to believe that with temperatures as high as 38 degrees some riders had goose bumps on their arms and legs and a couple times I had to remind them to remember to drink to avoid getting dehydrated. In the end the break stayed away and Dave Christenson (Direct Asia) took an early flyer with 450m to go and held on for the win. It was a great first day of real racing and it left me really looking forward to the next few days ahead.

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A busy morning for the riders before they set off. Getting all the gear in the correct support van, signing in and finally posing for photos.

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Amazing infrastructure being built in Bangkok. The riders ride beneath the recently constructed rail line as they head out of town.

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The police did an amazing job stopping traffic for the peloton.

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Riders from all over the world make up the peloton. The best beard in the peloton belonged to Nick Mahoney (Saint Cloud Racing) Australia.

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As soon as the neutral zone finished the attacks started.

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The pace was high in the break.

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High temperatures and lots of sweat meant riders kept their salt tablets handy.

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Exposed roads offered little protection from other road users and the sun. Eri Yonamine and her Japanese counterpart Kyosuke Takei were two very strong riders.

img_Sports_0436 And finally Dave Christenson (Direct Asia) out sprinted the break to take Stage 2.

2014 Tour Of Friendship Stage 1

Once again I had the privilege to go back and shoot the Tour of Friendship amateur road cycling race in Thailand. I have now ridden the race once and shot it three times and each year I return it just gets better and better. Khun Kai (Titaree Tanakorn) and her army of helpers are doing a great job and this would be one of the best value for money races I’ve been too, providing you can get yourself to Thailand.

It was a mixed bag in terms of teams this year and I didn’t really know who were the favourites. The Specialized Mavericks brought along a big team which was spread out over the different categories and they looked strong in Cat 1. Direct Asia had a solid lineup but I only knew of two riders who were potential podium finishers, however they had a experienced group of domestiques to help them. The other team of note were Champion Systems. In the womens category Eri Yonamine proved she was a force to be reckoned with when she produced a time in the individual time trial that many of the men would have been pleased to have. I think she used the tour as a training camp as she rode the remainder of the race in the Open Mens cat and from what I saw she held her own.

For me, this year was hard work as I flew more or less straight to Thailand from the UK. This put me on the back foot as I suffered from terrible jetlag during the first few days. Once I got over that I started to enjoy it a lot more. Being back on the back of the motorbike was also lots of fun and my driver (I called him ‘Valentino’) was just awesome. I swear we had both our knees down on stage 3. Here are a few favorites from Stage 1. If you would like to purchase any images you can view them all on my website at www.craigsheppard.co.nz

img_Sports_0421 The starting straight.

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A few shots of the Cat 1 boys starting their race.

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Uncle Pete (Direct Asia) mixing it with the Cat 1 boys. Great effort Pete!

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John Bateman (Anza) starts his run!

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Richard Paine (Specialized Mavericks) brings the bling with his gold chain on his Specialized SL4.

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Tina Haugbro finishes a fast and furious lap of the course. And some wheel trouble for one of the ladies.

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Eri Yonamine (Forza) powers up the hill to the finish while Sarah Clark (Specialized Mavericks) crosses the line.

London 2 Paris

A few months ago Gabi put my name down to ride from London to Paris in support of COSMIC (the Paediatric intensive care unit at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington). This was the brain child of Chris Bunker who is part of the Wellcome Collection Development Project team, of which Gabi is also member of, due to her current work project. I didn’t really give it much thought until someone actually donated some money on my fundraising page and then it suddenly became real. With the ride being at the end of March and me being a fair weather cyclist I wasn’t too keen to get out and train over the winter months, but with a few indoor training sessions I started to get those cycling sensations back into the legs. Panic then crept in as after a 3 week trip to New Zealand and Australia we were only left with eighteen days to clock up some miles so we could ride the required 130km-160kms a day, for 3 days, to get to Paris.

The first day to Dover was a solid day on the bike. The route was quite hilly and it’s always a challenge riding on unknown roads. Day two was a long day. A 3.30am get up to catch our ferry to Calais was hard work and to make matters worse it was pouring down. The weather forecast was for it to clear around 10am but that meant a good couple of hours riding through France in reasonably heavy rain. We hadn’t even left Calais when bad luck struck in the form of railway lines crossing the road at an angle and 4 or 5 riders hit the deck with Chris, our leader, coming off the worst and breaking a bone in his shoulder. We were forced to carry on while Chris and the support van went looking for a hospital. The ensuing 2-3 hours of rain-soaked riding were probably some of the most miserable miles I have ever done on a bike, so when the sun came out and it warmed up it was a huge relief. The rest of the day was great fun with some nice roads and great scenery. Day three from Amiens to Paris was also a brilliant day riding on quiet, smooth roads until we reached the outskirts of Paris. It suddenly got very busy and traversing across Paris was a little nerve racking at times. However we soon had the Eiffel Tower in our sights and nothing was going to stop us. After a quick celebration beneath the Eiffel Tower we headed to the hotel and a celebratory well earned steak!

I would like to thank all those that donated money to my Just Giving page in support of COSMIC and I was very impressed by the efforts of everyone to get to Paris, especially as a few riders had only been riding for a few months. Our target was £10,000 and we have currently raised £15,100. Well Done guys and girls!

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Early start at the Wellcome Trust on day one.

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Big thanks to Steve for organizing some breakfast before we set off. Can’t go wrong with porridge and coffee.

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Regrouping in Gravesend after a morning tea break. Clearly Neil feeling the heat with his short sleeve jersey and shorts whilst the rest of us are rugged up!

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Gabi leading the charge! Just like the old days….

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The roads to Dover.

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One of the many hills encountered. Some happier than others.

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The ferry to Calais. Breakfast onboard and preparations for rain…

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Battling some nasty cross winds through northern France.

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Reasonably tight bunch heading into a small rise, allez, allez!

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The team were loving the smooth roads and blue skies.

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Mark gets his own set of images. New bike, new kit, new shoes and only 300kms of bullying to finally get him to take off those football shorts!

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Pushing hard to get to the hotel before the sun goes down.

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Finally Paris and the Eiffel Tower. Quite the sight-seeing trip through Paris.

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The last leg to the train station. No Lycra today. Some were more tired than others, however this may not have been from the cycling but a late night in Paris!

2012 Singapore National Cycling Champs – ITT

This year the Individual Time Trial was held at Changi Aviation Park, which is situated at the northeastern tip of the island. This barren piece of land offers no protection from the sun and the sea breezes. I ventured out there today to capture some of the action. The course was a hotdog circuit with the Open men having to do 7 laps or 14 U turns. Trying to keep count whilst giving it your all proved just as hard as the racing with some riders doing 8 laps. The course length was shorter than advertised which also added to the confusion. Here are some images from a severely restricted spectator course. See more images here.

Cannasia-Cannondale Race OCBC Criterium

As usual it was fast and furious racing in the Open Mens Criterium. The Cannasia-Cannondale guys had a huge job ahead as most of them started from the rear of the pack and inexperienced riders ahead were dropping wheels like flies as the pace was high right from the starting horn. After a few laps three riders made it to the lead group while the remainder of the team were spread out through the chasing groups. As the pace quickened and the light disappeared both racing and photography got harder especially due to the wet conditions and low light levels. Despite the conditions my ‘camera for the day’ the Canon 1D Mark IV was faultless and I was pretty pleased with the results and the experience would help me in the upcoming Pro Criterium later in the day. You can read the Cannasia-Cannondale race report here.

OCBC Professional Criterium 2012

Once again it was that time of year when OCBC Bank put on the OCBC Singapore Cycle 2012. The main highlight for me was the Professional Criterium Race which attracts some of the best cyclists in the world to compete for a hefty prize purse. This year Robbie McEwen from Green Edge Cycling was one of the favorites and he didn’t disappoint. With a masterful display of riding he won the sprint and took home the cash. It was a difficult evening for photography with the light conditions and the early rain but I had a great time and got to see some real pros race here in Singapore.

Cannasia Cannondale race Sepang Criterium 2012

After a great experience at last years race the Cannasia-Cannondale Team decided to make the 3hr journey from Singapore up to Sepang again in 2012 for the Sepang Criterium. With a few of the guys going really well and super motivated we were excited and looking forward to the racing. The start line was full with about 200 riders but this time there were a couple of Pro teams on the line. The boys had their work cut out for them racing against these guys. Within the first few laps the selection was made and the remainder of the riders were left to chase the break and settle for the minor places. Overall the team rode really well for the first race of the season albeit the punctures and the heat.

New bikes and the final turn at Sepang.

Team Cannasia-Cannondale

James Pretty (Cannasia-Cannondale) before his untimely exit due to a puncture.

Ryan Mckay (Cannasia-Cannondale)…Full gas!

The Breakaway.

The lead group with one of the chase groups in the background.

Racers take the final turn of the Sepang circuit.

Dave Gowty (Cannasia-Cannondale)

Tour De Bintan – Stage 3

Watching each of the categories leave the start line for Stage 3 from the side of the road was a strange feeling after being in the thick of it for the previous two ‘action packed’ stages. I was assured my driver would be here as soon as possible but with only a 38 kilometer, relatively flat stage with an anticipated high pace I was worried I was going to miss it all. Finally, after 20 minutes my new driver and motorbike turned up. As we speed off it immediately became clear that this wasn’t going to be as smooth as the previous stages. We managed to get to the final sprint point and set up position just before the Cat 1 peloton arrived and with a little coaching and encouragement my driver settled into the rhythm of the peloton for the last 15km back to the finish.

Overall I had an absolute blast on the back of the motorbike and I can’t wait to give it another go. I honestly did miss being on my road bike and racing with the team but I did not miss all the nervousness and anxiety that goes with it.

I would like to thank Metasport for allowing me to be part of the Tour De Bintan 2011 and of course my motorbike drivers who did a magnificent job of getting me so close to the action.

Click here to visit Stage 3 gallery on my website.