Surfing On a Lake in December

The thought of it is ridiculous. I don't even like winter. For me winter sports are a necessary evil. The alternative is rotting inside the house, my arms and legs suffering atrophy. Winter sports involving icy water are particularly repulsive to me. However, I have loved surfing ever since I learned how to in my early teen years. I've found that a lot of people don't "get" surfing, but I cannot think of too many things I'd rather do. But then I am used to warmer climes, sunshine and sunscreen - not this masochistic freeze-fest.

I've been assigned to shoot this sport for the last 3 years and finally my calendar and the conditions meshed, so I headed to Northern Minnesota to shoot. As we got in view of the lake I could see huge rollers crashing into the shoreline. I began getting pretty excited. I'm not embarrassed to say that I began beeping my horn and pumping my fists. In surfer vernacular, I was "stoked"!

I was offered the necessary equipment to try this sport for myself. But... my desire to shoot and do the job well combined with the fear of what -6 (that's a minus in front of the six) would feel like outside of my cozy 7 layers of clothing kept me from getting into the water. I'm only a little ashamed. I wish it had been 30 degrees. I could handle that. So for now my dream of riding a freshwater wave remains unfulfilled.

I'll post images and a link to the story when it runs. Till then, stay warm and out of the water- unless you have a 6mm wetsuit and brass b@lls.

Jingle Cross Rock - 2008

I spent this last weekend in Iowa City, Iowa racing with my team. It was the 5th annual Jingle Cross Rock Cyclocross Race. This is the biggest, baddest CX race in the midwest and it pulled racers from as far away as California.

We rented a minivan and drove down in style. Stayed at a really fancy hotel and ate delicious food all weekend. We also raced on a splendid course. It was tough, but really fun and challenging. I raced out of my category - for reasons we'll not mention here - and felt good about where I finished in the pack.

I will be posting a re-cap on another site, so I will leave a link when that is live. For now, here are a few images of the good times. Never thought I'd find myself looking forward to visiting Iowa, but from now on I will!

The next generation

Racing at LGR VeloCX race - just rode over the barrier.(Photo: Bruce A - Skinnyski.com)


I went to bed smiling last night, because I was thinking about what today held for me. This morning it happened and I am very proud of it- not in an arrogant way, but rather with a satisfied feeling of accomplishment.

My son, 7, has ridden his bike to school before (4.25 mi) which I thought was pretty neat. It has always been his idea, I'v never pushed him to do it. Since winter has settled in, we have not ridden to school in quite a while. He asked me if we could again. I thought that's cute, but not really feasible. I offered to pull him in the trailer, bundled in a down sleeping bag. He liked the idea, but really wanted to ride. I gave it some thought and figured we could try it. Worst case is he gets cold and miserable and we don't do it again.

So last night I found some of my riding gear that he could use (balaclava), and readied a few items for our ride. As I tucked myself in, I smiled, thinking of his little excited face.

So, we struck out this morning. It was 22 degrees when we left. He was wearing a few warm layers and snow boots, little fingerless biking gloves under his mittens and his full face BMX helmet. We packed a Thermos of hot tea for a mid-ride break. The trip went well. He never complained and got excited when we saw his bus headed the same direction- his buddy Peter, waving from inside.

I ride a lot of places rather than drive. It saves money/gas/emissions - keeping me fit to boot. Seeing him get that, and enjoy a bike as transportation is enough to make this dad smile. I have hope for the bike revolution to become a little more permanent. If he can go 4 miles in 20' temps, think of how many others could do that(adults, I'm looking at you). I'm willing to wager he'll be more alert in school today too. I'll have to ask his teacher. If you see us pedaling around NE Minneapolis this winter, give us a toot.

Blackpowder Deer Hunting

A few weeks ago I spent a warm fall day in the woods with a group of deer hunters. This is the 2nd time I've had an assignment to follow a deer hunting party. This was a little different though, as the guys were using blackpowder, flintlock muskets like they used back in the 18th century. The rifles are long, skinny and generally ornately decorated. They use a peice of flint to ignite the powder- that you have to measure and load into the gun yourself. They also use hand-poured lead balls ( instead of the classic bullet shape ) and cotton ticking between the ball and the powder. In some cases material from abandoned horned nests will be used as wadding. No kidding.

It takes a special kind of hunter to want to use a blackpowder gun for hunting. They can be pretty accurate, but are not nearly as convenient as modern rifles. Any moisture will potentially dampen the powder and either fire with a delay, or not at all. Odds of a downed deer are decreased a bit for sure. But the guys I followed were tired of hunting being so easy and wanted to notch the challenge up a bit.

If you'd like to read and see more, take a look at the NY Times article HERE.

There is a slideshow of images, so don't miss that. It shows the details of the hunt from a rifle firing down to the (often) antiquated dress of the hunters. Check out the beautiful guns too.

Afton Cyclocross Racing

I covered another race this last weekend. Actually got to race this one, and it was fun. Afton is a local ski hill, so any event there is bound to contain some elevation. Race course planners sent we unfortunate racers up a rather large "run-up". A run-up is essentially what it sounds like. You run up it, rather than ride. You are carrying your bike slung across your shoulder. Pain soon follows. Most run-ups are short little interruptions to a bike race, but this was a monster. It was about 75 feet of 25% grade hill. It was also thick, wet grass. Sounds like fun, eh?

Here's the write-up/images on Generation Oudoors: CLICK ME

More Cyclocross racing & Generation Outdoors

I was approached by the guys who operate Generation Outdoors, a new outdoor news, review, social site thing. They wanted to get my help to cover outdoorsy happenings in the area. So, I went to the Hudson Big Ring Flyers Cyclocross race and shot some of the action and did a short write-up. In my quest for total coverage, I was forced to dodge high-speed racers and scale 8' chain-link fences. My kind of job!

Go have a look.

Black Elm Custom Furniture

It's no secret that I love well designed, unique furniture and architecture and the companies that are passionately committed to them. So, it brings me joy to tell you about another company I've had the pleasure to work with. Black Elm Woodworking is a Minneapolis based custom wood working shop.

Owner, Kris, has a knack for building ridiculously well crafted furniture. In a era where most furniture is a glorified cardboard monstrosity, or 72 piece afternoon assembly project, Black Elm represents the antithesis. Each piece is custom, made of 100% hardwood and highly detailed.

Have a look around his site and if you appreciate well made, distinctive furniture, give Kris a call. I think you will find his prices are modest for the level of work he's doing.

Freeriding Pt. 2

One year ago I spent a day shooting freeriding at Dave B's place (which he calls Snake Trails) Somerset, Wisconsin. I'll save the elementary explanation of what freeriding is. Have a look at the photos, visit the link above and most of all enjoy living vicariously thorough the guys in the photos.

Ely, MN - the Boundary Waters Canoe Area

I've wanted to go to Ely, MN since I was 18 years old- long before I wanted to be a photographer. I had read the article on Jim Brandenburg's photo project where he took one photo a day for a period of (I believe) 80 days. They images were fantastic, and I developed a new idea of what great outdoor/nature images should look like. This far away (I was in N.C.) place called Ely fascinated me.

Fast forward a bit to this summer when I got the call to visit Ely, MN and photograph it for a section that the New York Times calls " Havens". Havens is essentially a post card look at a town, highlighting its best features and characteristics. I spent two days climbing bluffs, riding in motorboats, etc to get the shots I needed. I got a lot of nice images. It is a beautiful community. In the end the Times ran one image. This is the whole reason I started this blog was to show some of the images that never get published. So here are a few from that trip that have never made it off my computer until now.

Here's the accompanying article by Greg Breining if you'd like to read about the place.