Photos from Colorado - Photography of Ryan Wallace

Ryan Wallace of RevLine photographed Stage 7 of the USA Pro Challenge

You might remember from the past two years that Ryan Wallace captured some excellent images of the final weekend of this Colorado stage race. Ryan was happy to help me again this year. He excels at capturing fast images, formally educated in journalism and photography. He took his skills capturing fast cars and focused on fast bikes.

I can't emphasize enough what peace of mind Ryan offers by being out on course. I never micro-manage him, Ryan instinctively goes where the race is, and I believe he captured some of the best images of the finishing sprint, even without preferential placement (although he did wear an approved Photo badge). In my mind - that is the skill of a true race photographer.

Exactly because Ryan was there with me on Stage 7, I felt free to move elsewhere on course, and because of that freedom I captured a popular race image from the day - the Alex Howes tripod of how to avoid a barrier after a sprint finish. Thank you Ryan Wallace and congratulations Alex Howes for being an incredible bike racer.

See our combined finish report and photos here: Alex Howes wins the final stage of the 2014 USA Pro Challenge

All photos ©Ryan Wallace for Pedal Dancer®   (See more photos from the day at Ryan's portfolio here: revlinephoto)

Thank you Ryan Wallace!

Ryan Wallace, Photographer RevLine

Many Photographers at the race contract out to several news sources, equipment manufacturers, or teams at any given race, in combination. It often requires the photog to be in many places at one time, always thinking of their customers needs when capturing race images. You can spot these hardworking men and women on photo motos, crouched on the pavement, carrying heavy gear up mountain tops, perched high atop buildings, at call-ups, in front of podiums or mixed in with the crowd.

View a nice (slow) slideshow of Pro Challenge Getty Images, photos from the week: http://tourtracker.usaprocyclingchallenge.com/. If you are a photographer, you might like to study their style, if you are a fan, you might find yourself within their beautiful images (with a warning: you cannot reproduce Getty Images without permission). And if you are a graphic artist/tech geek you will enjoy the clean crisp images on Tour Tracker.

Have you been watching the action at the Vuelta a España? Also, cyclocross season is starting up this month in Colorado! My 2014-15 Colorado CX Calendar will be published soon.

Pro Challenge reports from the road Stage 7 - Denver, Final Stage

The 2014 USA Pro Challenge finished the week in downtown Denver

The peloton was gathering on a sunny morning on Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado. The Pros would shortly depart south bound to Golden, Colorado to race through downtown and up Lookout Mountain only to return again for more sprint points in town. Denver was buzzing with anticipation and would shortly witness full-gas Jens Voigt racing and a sprint finish determining the winner by fractions of a second.

Read about the Stage 7 start in Boulder
Pro Challenge reports from the road Stage 7 - Boulder by Pedal Dancer®

Read a previous post about the hill climb of Lookout Mountain:
Photos of the Day - Lookout Mountain by Pedal Dancer®

See photos and story of the final sprint finish in Denver on Sunday (great photos!):
Alex Howes wins the final stage of the 2014 USA Pro Challenge by Pedal Dancer®

See more photography from Stage 7 by Ryan Wallace:
Photos from Colorado - Photography of Ryan Wallace.

My day at the race - Denver

After watching the two laps around Boulder, I listened to Tour Tracker Live as I drove to Denver. I parked my car, rode my bike in (gave up on parking nearby) and happily handed my bike to the Lexus sponsored Bicycle Colorado operated bike valet lot volunteers. I walked into Civic Center Park to find lots of colorful people ready to watch a bike race. Of course I had to take a quick walk through the expo area for a few pieces of "free junk" (as I heard one child proclaim with great joy).

I had considered trying to get in a media car again as I had done last year (to verify my race viewing recommendations) but the scene was way too crazy and impossible this year. Fans packed Civic Center Park. Instead I headed exactly one block away where I found very nice courteous fans standing happily along the orange barricades with plenty of elbow room.

I watched as my fellow photographers began to pile up in a heap of camera gear. There they sat for hours waiting for one photo of the finish. Meanwhile I was busy recording my hometown on the Sierra Nevada beer map (photos below), moving about, chatting with fans, cheering really loudly for The Jensie, and getting shit upon by a bird. True story that last part, you can read about it here: Alex Howes wins the final stage of the 2014 USA Pro Challenge (with some great photos, if I may say so).

RESULTS

Stage 7 Results

First - Alex Howes (USA) of Team Garmin-Sharp
Second - Kiel Reijnen (USA) of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
Third - Michael Schar (SUI) of BMC Racing Team

GC Standings

First - Tejay van Garderen (USA) of BMC Racing Team
Second - Tom Danielson (USA) of Team Garmin-Sharp
Third - Serghei Tvetcov (ROM) of Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis

Jersey Winners

Yellow Smashburger Leader Jersey – Tejay van Garderen (USA) of BMC Racing Team
Green Lexus Sprint Jersey – Kiel Reijnen (USA) of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
Polka-dot Sierra Nevada King of the Mountains Jersey – Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) of Jamis-Hagens Berman p/b Sutter Home
Blue Colorado State University Best Young Rider Jersey – Clement Chevrier (FRA) of Bissell Development Team
Orange FirstBank Most Aggressive Rider Jersey – Jens Voigt (GER) of Trek Factory Racing
Dark Blue Colorado National Guard Best Colorado Rider Jersey – Tejay van Garderen (USA) of BMC Racing Team

Final General Classification (via Steephill.TV)
USA 1 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) 20:05:42
USA 2 DANIELSON, Thomas (GARMIN SHARP) + 1:32
MDA 3 TVETCOV, Serghei (JELLY BELLY P/B MAXXIS) + 1:45
POL 4 MAJKA, Rafal (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 1:49

The big city - Denver

The Sierra Nevada map marked by color (beer choice) and pin (hometown) - national and international!

Thank you fans! There is something special about watching a bike race with fans. Somehow when they block your view it doesn't really matter, because it is about the experience, or rather, it is about having three more laps to actually see anything!!

The race - Denver

Jens Voigt and Ruben Zepuntke in the breakaway

Alex Candelario is also retiring

BMC staff were throwing more free junk to the fans in between laps

A mix of soigneurs and staff waiting for their riders to complete the race

A massive heap of photographers (and my friends)

TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED NEXT - please read this post with all finishing photos of Alex Howes Stage 7 win: Alex Howes wins the final stage of the 2014 USA Pro Challenge
Read more about this photo I (Karen at Pedal Dancer) captured of Alex Howes' near fall after the stage sprint.

This would be Jens Voigt's last race, seconds after the finish I ran toward the pack of people forming around Jens where the pro riders had come to settle on their bikes. I wanted to see Jens' face, look into his eyes.

I watched closely as Alex Howes, nearby, swung his bike around and came to a stop, I looked into Alex's face and saw a definite look of "f-What?!!!", it was almost as if he was in a different place in time and was trying to bring his brain back to the present. Nearly stumbling off his bike, he seemed not to know what to do for a brief second there on his own, then the mass of people hit and surrounded him throwing their arms around him repeatedly with huge hugs (and a awkward kiss by Tom Danielson). It became very real, he had just won a bike race.

I hope I always hold that image in my mind of Alex's lone expression just after his win. I hope I always hold in my heart the feeling of being there, two feet away, when Jens Voigt stopped racing.

Coming soon, podium, Jens farewell and some great photos by Ryan Wallace of RevLine Photo.

NEXT STAGE
2015!

Did you miss any coverage - look back on the days of the 2014 race coverage by Pedal Dancer® here: USA PRO CHALLENGE

How to make me super duper happy - link to my post on Steephill.TV -- http://www.steephill.tv/usa-pro-cycling-challenge/. In my world Steephill.TV is cycling news, I visit Steephill.TV many times a week (sometimes many time a day) and Steve Hill added this link of his own accord. Thank you Steve Hill for including me. And thank you VeloImages Brian Hodes and Oran Kelly who regularly occupy this territory.

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Alex Howes wins the final stage of the 2014 USA Pro Challenge

Alex Howes races for Team Garmin-Sharp. Plenty of local Coloradans know Alex, so when he won today, tons of people where very happy for him.

I have this thing about not liking to follow the pack. My niche in this great big crazy world of bike racing is to write about what it is like to experience a bike race and to offer tips to fans on traveling to and being at the race.

That is because I am good at moving around at a bike race.

I don't have big sponsorship or preferential treatment, but I have okay access and I can move. I often find myself in the right place at the right time during a race. Today I saw this large pack of photographers (below) crammed in at the end of the finishing straight, growing bigger by the minute, and I decided I did not want the same photo as everyone else. I also had added confidence knowing Ryan Wallace was out there somewhere (shooting for me) and Ryan is a very good action photographer (RevLine Photo).

All these photographers were lined up to catch the oncoming sprint finish.  © Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer®

So I went where I belong and feel best - I went to be with the fans. I studied the late afternoon light and decided that the stage winner would come flying around the corner past these photographers. I also knew the riders would stop shortly after the finish area and I wanted to get those happy post race shots. After all this would be Jens Voigt's last day of racing.

I watched the race while chatting with a variety of fans as I moved easily along the barrier between the VIP tents and the capital building. We were all thrilled to see Jens Voigt in the break, lap after lap. I had no idea who would win the sprint, I had no idea who would appear from around the corner.

Observing the mayhem from afar as more photographers and then team soigneurs were added to the corner where Alex Howes would later barely miss crashing into the barricade.  © Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer®

Then it happened

A bird shit on my shoulder.

I turned to the fan next to me, whom I had earlier asked if it was okay if I stepped in next to him and said, "Oh that's why you weren't standing here." He laughed and said "Hey, that's good luck!" "Well it's kind of icky luck," I said, as I tried to brush the shit off my shoulder, quickly realizing I was just smooshing it around on my tshirt instead. But the fan and I decided that it indeed meant good luck.

Shortly there after, I could hear Dave Towle announcing the finish, and just as he declared Alex Howes had won the stage, Alex came screaming straight into the corner.

When I say straight, I mean he was not arcing as the riders had in previous laps. His added speed in the sprint changed his line and he was headed straight for the barrier. It all happened so quickly - the gasp from the crowd when they saw his trajectory, the surprise, the fear for his safety. Suddenly I was tracking an object in my viewfinder that I fully expected to be elsewhere.

Click click click

What just happened? He's still up, how did he do that? In a blur of seconds Alex Howes had won the final stage of the USA Pro Challenge in Denver and not only completed an impressive sprint, he defied gravity and barriers in a perfectly instinctual bike handling move; he was victorious. It was brilliant.

Or, it was the bird shit on my shoulder that brought the good luck. Either way the victory was thrilling.

Last Km of Stage 7 with replay (04:56 English) — nbcsports (via Steephill.tv)

click any image to enlarge

Alex sprints to the line (where my fellow photographer Ryan Wallace of RevLine Photo snapped this shot. © Photo by Ryan Wallace of RevLine Photo for Pedal Dancer®

Giving his victory salute, maybe he lingered too long, but his speed was high, and he needed to start thinking about turning - and fast! © Photo by Ryan Wallace of RevLine Photo for Pedal Dancer®

Alex's speed was so fast and his position so left, he began the curve before the pack of photographers and just didn't have enough room. I caught sight of him rapidly arcing toward the barrier. I really thought his front wheel had touched.

Nice save Alex!  © Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer®

Fifteen feet later, here he is applauding himself, with the teams' soigneurs (who had luckily moved down the barriers) and the fans applauding as well. Can you imagine Alex's adrenaline level at this point? © Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer®

Alex Howes still celebrating as his floats up Colfax trailing Reijnen and Schär behind him. © Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer®

Alex Howes immediately after the race.  © Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer®

Alex being guided by team staff after his stage win. © Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer®

Alex, very happy on the podium  © Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer®

Stage 7 winners!  1. Alex Howes, 2. Kiel Reijnen 3. Michael Schär.  © Photo by Ryan Wallace of RevLine Photo for Pedal Dancer®

In the last minutes of the stage, I saw Alex Howes nearly crash into the barrier after winning the stage, I ran up the road to see Jens Voigt stop racing (forever), I heard Alex Howes screaming out in joy behind Jens, and then walked back down the street to the podium presentation for more photos and to get sprayed by champagne. It turned out to be a lucky day.

My photo of Alex Howes doing a tripod in the meters just after his Stage 7 win got lots of air time on Twitter after the race. Thank you Neal Rogers, Dan Wouri, Ride_Argyl, Kathy Lemond and so many others who shared the experience of what we all saw on TV only couldn't tell quite how skilled a rider Alex Howes needed to be to have stayed upright.

Today I saw the race as a regular fan at the barriers - and loved it!

I attended the press conference after the race where I chatted with a number of my favorite photographer friends, I admitted to them, I don't want to go home, I don't want to discover I didn't get the shot. They knew exactly what I meant but did not know what I had seen through my camera lens. What I later discovered, was that I got the shot! I had already felt quite a part of the day as a fan of bike racing, but to see that image held in time - was so cool.

A quote from Alex Howes at the press conference post race:
"A lot of Europeans don't understand America, they think it is Las Vegas or whatever.  To me, this is what America is -- It's big open mountains, It's small towns, It's beautiful, It's home."

Alex Howes. © Photo by Karen Rakestraw of Pedal Dancer®

Anyone in Denver tomorrow - Jens Voigt will be at Wheat Ridge Cyclery (Ron Kiefel's bike shop) from 10:00-11:00am for the TrekFactory farewell.

Send good thoughts to Ian Crane (Jamis-Hagens Berman) injured today in the race: USA Pro Challenge stage marred by crash of Ian Crane by Cycling News

Results, photos and more stories from the road for Stage 7: 
Pro Challenge reports from the road Stage 7 - Boulder by Karen Rakestraw
Pro Challenge reports from the road Stage 7 - Denver, Final Stage by Karen Rakestraw
See more photos from Stage 7 by Ryan Wallace at RevLine Stage 7 by Ryan Wallace