Tag: United Kingdom

Milton Keynes WCX

As soon I as found out about Milton Keynes hosting a round of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup I immediately got our tickets and started planning our trip.  This was the first time in history that a UCI Cyclocross World Cup race was to be held outside of mainland Europe and with most of the big names attending, especially Sven Nys, it was not a race to be missed.  A one hour plus delay getting across London put us on the back foot and we unfortunately missed the Junior Men.  However we had plenty of time to wonder around the expo and rider pit area before the elite training and racing started.  It was great to see these elite athletes up close and mixing with all the fans.  There was an estimated 8000 spectators at the event.

Just before the official training started we headed to the course and parked ourselves at one of the most treacherous parts, a slippery off-camber descent into a very muddy left hander.  We had picked a good spot as it was very entertaining watching the pro’s negotiate their way down the hill and around the corner.  We stayed there for the start of the Womens race and we weren’t disappointed as there was a big pile up when one of the lead ladies went down which in-turn brought most of the pack down.  This really helped the four lead riders get away from the pack.  Ultimately it turned into a two horse race between Katie Compton and Sanne Cant with Cant taking the win in a sprint finish.  The Mens race was very exciting as well with a closely fought battle between Kevin Pauwels and Klaas Vantornout in the closing lap with Pauwels out-sprinting his teammate Vantornout for the win.  Unfortunately Sven Nys had a mechanical on the first lap and that put him third last at the end of the first lap. Chasing for the remainder of the race Nys finished eighth.  Overall we had a great day and would highly recommend attending one of these races.  Here are a few of my favorites pics and you can see the rest on my flickr page here.

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The specially laid asphalt start/finish straight.

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Jeremy Powers practices the muddy left hander. Mud glorious mud and SuperFan Gabi.

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The British fans out in force.  Ian Field fans flying the Union Jack.

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Elite Men practice in the mud.

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Accredited photogs! Get all the good spots and always in the way.

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The Womens race was very exciting, especially the start.

img_Sports_0499A lot of running where it should have been riding.

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Katie Compton trying really hard to drop Sanne Cant on the tricky parts of the course.

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At the bottom of the course was a big muddy puddle. I’m sure they enjoyed this part the most!

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The pits were the busiest place on the course during the race. Most of the mechanics spent their time water blasting the mud off the swapped out bikes so they were ready for the next change.

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Klaas Vantornout was never far from the front of the race.

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Marcel Meisen eventually finished 26th.

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Riders used anything they could help with traction in the mud.

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The 38 year old Belgium Champ Sven Nys, chased hard after his first lap mechanical.

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Eventual winner Kevin Pauwels leads in the closing laps.

 

2014 Tour Of Friendship Stage 5

Today I started off with the 50’s men, juniors and women.  It was great to see the juniors attacking each other and the 50’s men closing the gaps and bring it back together.  After the initial flurry of attacks it settled down and this is when I decided to wait for the Open Men and continue to the finish with them.  This was a good decision as it was all action in this peloton.  The pace was very high and the bunch was continuously being strung out, there was quite a bit of suffering going on on this last stage. Looking forward to returning next year!

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2014 Tour Of Friendship Stage 4

It was the Forties group who got my attention on Stage 4.  I picked the group up as they crossed the river Kwai.  I had planned a few shots to capture the riders crossing the river but the sun gods were against me and I was unable to get the shot.  I was surprised by the pace of the peleton and it was an exciting first few kilometers.  It wasn’t until they reached the long false flat, that the pace settled down and some of the teams tried to control the front.  This didn’t stop various riders trying to get off the front but they were always brought back into the fold.  The descent was very exciting with speeds reaching up to 80km/hr.  Hanging off the back of the motorbike with riders trying to sneak a draft and me trying to get a closeup was great fun. Once off the descent the road narrowed and it was littered with potholes.  The marshal’s did a good job of directing the riders around the obstacles but it was nail biting stuff waiting for a possible pile up.  It wasn’t until the last few kilometers that the real racing started – with a steep climb up to the dam, this is where the stage was going to be won and a small group finally went clear within the last few hundred meters of the climb.  Riders then raced along the top of the dam to the finish.  Another great day of racing and some fierce competition amongst the old guys.

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It was a mixed bunch for todays stage.

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The old guys set a blistering pace.

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Trying to get a draft on the decent. One rider went for extra protection and not sure if this old truck was road worthy.

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High speeds on the long decent.

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Some of the locals weren’t that interested in the racing.

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Nearing the final climb riders started to attack.

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Shenanigans around the back of the course.

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Scary marshaling around big potholes.  At first glance I thought it was Jens Voigt but it turned to be Adam Horler tucking into his chicken rice!

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!

 

Lonetrees

I recently had the pleasure of shooting a new dwelling in Reigate for Christian Froggatt Architects.  I had to concentrate on external images as Christian had limited involvment with the interior decor.  Luckily the weather played its part and we had a beauitful sunny day, however with some rather large trees and the low winter sun, capturing the front face of the house bathed in sun (which it would be in summer) proved to be challenging.  I did my best and hung around all day in hope that I might just get a few seconds of sun peeping through the trees and lighting up the face of the building.  I was out of luck but managed to capture some cool shadows falling accross the elevations.  One of the advantages of shooting in winter is that the sun goes down early and in this case it was around 5pm which was good as it was freezing and I didn’t have to wait long to get the evening shots I needed.  Here are a few images from the shoot.  You can visit Christian’s website here.

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De Beauvoir House

Scott Architects have just completed the renovation and extension of this Victorian Terraced house in the De Beauvoir Conservation area in Hackney, London.  I was lucky enough to have a nice fine day to shoot this house which has been shortlisted for the The Sunday Times British Homes Awards 2013 ‘Small House’ category.

A quote from their website pretty much sums up the renovation….“The sculptural form of the rear extension has resulted from specific responses to the site’s immediate surroundings, while preserving the character of the existing building. The extension is designed to be part of the garden landscaping rather than the main house and this is reflected in the choice of timber cladding and green roof system”.

I pretty much spent the whole afternoon and evening there and the only thing missing was cranking up the barbie and having a beer in the courtyard.

 

 

London Photo Walk

Last weekend I attended an Architectural Photography workshop run by Andy Spain.  Saturday had been the first sunny day in a while but unfortunately Sunday, the day of the workshop, was a bit hazy with high cloud.  I was hoping for blue skies.  Five of us started off near Southwark Cathedral and we did a loop up to the Swiss Re building and back to the New Exchange before a quick break and a look at some of the images we had created.  After our break we headed out again to capture some evening shots of St Paul’s Cathedral and views from the Millennium bridge.  It was a great afternoon and Andy was very generous with his knowledge about photography and his experiences of the business we work in. Here are a few images I made.

First shots across the river with London bridge to the right.

Inside Southwark Cathedral.View of The Shard from London Bridge. Lendenhall Market.The Swiss Re building aka The Gherkin.After a quick break it was off to St Paul’s Cathedral.Looking back towards St Paul’s Cathedral from the Millennium bridge.The Shard again but from the Millennium bridge this time.

Splashpoint Leisure Centre Construction.

Currently under construction and due to finish soon is the new Splashpoint Leisure Centre in the seaside town of Worthing.  After a bit of to-and-fro, I finally made it down to the site on a very cloudy and cold day.  The forecast was for fine spells in the afternoon but they didn’t eventuate.

Wilkinson Eyre Architects designed the new pool complex and it is being constructed by Morgan Sindall.  The complex comprises of a 25 metre six lane pool, a learner/diving pool with a variable depth, indoor leisure pools with hydro slides and an outdoor paddling pool. For the non swimmers a health and fitness centre, café, crèche and what I was told were dance rooms complete the building.

The unique copper cladding was definitely a talking point for many of the contractors on site and lead to a couple interesting conversations regarding the use of the material as a cladding.  I was also bombarded by a few local residents voicing their opinions about the project whilst having a coffee break in a nearby cafe. I guess you can’t please everyone!  I thought it was pretty cool and look forward to seeing what effect the salt air has on the copper cladding a few months from now.