Just Because

My fiance and I go to this Greek restaurant around the corner from our house. The food is pretty good- not award winning- and it's owned by an older Greek couple who just expanded the square footage to a little bigger than the original broom closet dimensions. It has some charm and the couple is honest and hard working. You can tell they've put their love in to it, and the place is starting to take shape. I say 90% since it's obvious they've done a lot of the decorating themselves. I'd say the atmosphere almost there, because the place definitely lacks a little refinement, with questionable decorations and furniture that makes it kind of quirky, but not in a cool, planned way. I'm sounding like a total highbrow asshole, so I'll move on.

Anyways, since I'm eating their food I have to try to pair up a typical beer. I've never heard of Aris, and chances are you haven't either. The funny thing is, the beer is so ordinary it won't be making any waves soon. I now can say, "been there, done that." No regrets. After all, it didn't bum me, and it's definitely better than doing without. When in Rome... I mean Greece.

Criterium Racing

Racing is an aspect of cycling that needs to be experienced and with road, "Crit" racing is short, intense and fairly common. Most people never get to participate and I believe really miss out on something truly special. With crit racing you are faced with every sort of physical and emotional challenge. Normally when you get on a bike, you are confronted with personal limitations of your body, or you educate yourself to understand the technologies present, or push your speed to see how far to the edge your bike handling skills are. But, nothing comes close to combining all these elements of our sport.

When you begin the start of a race, you are instantly faced with strategy, the limits of your physical fitness, patience, speed, crashes, love, hate, and fear all within a relatively short period of time. It tells you about yourself and you get to face your inner demons head on.  No wonder you see tempers fly, cries of joy and awkward laughter.

Bicycle races are popular all over the world, especially in Europe. There are variations, and the terrain can be different depending on the race site, but the essence is pretty much the same. The countries most devoted to bicycle crit racing include Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland, but places like Australia, the UK and the United States are growing in popularity. This makes finding one near you fairly easy. In fact, racing has gotten so popular in Southern California that you can find Crit races after work during the week in the summer. Unfortunately, even as a beginner you need a descent level of fitness and bike handling to give it a shot. Even with this, drafting, and learning how to be comfortable and conserving your energy for the appropriate time will take a bit of learning. So expect to be dropped your first few races, but hang in there. The rewards are great and the lessons learned will carry with you for the rest of your life. By the way, I'm the rider in the yellow Mavic shoes racing Masters in our local Great Park Series.

A Local Black Lager

I came across this Black Lager this last weekend. We had just done a group ride and settled in for a nice lunch that included some nice beers. I had just finished a nice Chimay White, but it was a bit strong and I was ready for something a bit lighter. The Santa Ana winds had brought warm weather to the area, and our late October ride was done in strikingly blue skies with mid-80 degree weather while others in the country stoked the fires and watched their front yards get blanketed in a white winter wonderland.

I talked to the waitress for some guidance although it became quickly apparent that she didn’t really seem to know much about beer, much less the ones they had, but she gave me some advice based on the feedback she was getting from other customers. She explained that this particular beer was brewed locally and pretty hard to find with only a couple of stores in the area that carry it.

I’m a little skeptical about Black Lagers, since my experience has been so radically different each time I’ve tried a new one. I’ve tasted a few that were heavy, bold and strong, then turned around and had light, sweet, and subtle ones. These Black Lagers are also known as “Schwarzbier” which is a German dark Lager beer. The main characteristic of this style of beer is its opaque, black color combined with a full, chocolatey or coffee flavor similar to stout or porter. These beers are bottom-fermented, though originally top-fermented yeast was used when brewing them.  The alcohol content usually ranges from 4.8% - 5%. The dark color comes from the dark malts used in brewing.

My first impression of this local interpretation was light and refreshing. Yeah, it had the coffee and chocolate hints, but it wasn’t too strong or heavy. It was just what the doctor ordered and prefect for this post ride. One thing though, it says "imported" on the label.I did my own investigation and the brewery is in Yorba Linda, which is about 30 minutes away. That holds up, but I also heard Tecate bought it, so maybe it's now brewed in Mexico. Hmmm. Anyways, recommended.

Whole Foods Just Opened Up Around the Corner

Okay, Whole Foods just opened a new location just around the corner from my house. They have all kinds of great things as you go from the entrance with the juice bar, and on to the deli, but the thing that stopped me in my tracks were the 2 beer aisles. Yep, not one, 2. I literally jaw dropped and stood there like a deer in headlights. Normally my offerings at the local Ralphs is limited to the big domestic brands, and even the semi-micro brewery offerings which usually include a Hefeweizen, a typical Pale Ale, an import selection like Heineken, and the Mexican imports like Pacifico or Corona, and how about throwing in a Stone IPA. I might get lucky and find an expensive Delirium Tremens 1/2 liter, or a Saporo, but that's about it.

I usually have to go to BevMo or somewhere out of the way for anything more. Until now. I have options and more options. I like Belgian Ales, and at Whole Foods, they have all sorts to choose from. Imports, and even domestic Belgians adorn the shelves just waiting for me to roll the dice. After picking this one, for no other reason than its cool packaging and completely random origin of Chicago, I paid the man and went home. It's not cheap, but I've only scratched the surface. Oh hell yeah. BTW, it was pretty good, but I've had better. I'll give it an 8.5 out of 10.

Post Ride Refreshments

Is there really anything better than a nice cold one after you've destroyed yourself with a good group of friends? There are times when you stay in a specific effort zone, then other times when you have the earbuds on and the miles tick away. Or how about the times when you count calories, go easy on the carbs, crosstrain, eat things resembling cardboard and go to sleep a bit hungry. Yeah, we sacrifice. But, when it's hot out, and you've just cranked out a few thousand calories of pain, there's nothing quite like a nice cold brown bottle to remind yourself that life is good.

New Fox Ad

Fox Racing decided to run one of their month's ads with a photo I did of Giant pro Andrew Neethling. The shot was the same day I did the images for the Fox mountain bike catalog. This particular action shot was done by setting up a couple of small strobes under the trees at the bottom of “Telonics” in Laguna Beach.

"Needles" is a really fast pro from South Africa and is hitting his stride on the World Cup circuit. He and Duncan Riffle were just railing this berm and getting their bikes nice and flat. The light was a bit tricky since it was scattered and broken up by the leaves and branches, so I needed to get a bit creative. I opted to use a straight lens in order to avoid the distortion created by using something a bit wider.

I always love shooting talented athletes and these guys really made it look easy. They hiked the same turn a few times until we got the shot I was looking for.

Giant Pros

I recently had the opportunity to work at Fox Racing on their 2012 Mountain Bike Catalog. During the process, we found that we were still missing a few key action shots that could show off their new pads/armor, along with some apparel. Fox has a sponsorship agreement with Giant bikes and it worked out that 2 of their top factory downhill team riders were available to shoot. With my background in photography, I put in an accepted bid and geared up for the shoot. Shooting mountain biking is no easy task and getting my gear to spots on the trails is always a challenge. As you can imagine, carrying around a full load of DSLR equipment, along with water and other essential items can really weigh you down. I feel like a pack mule chasing elite athletes with crazy VO2 max.

The riders were Duncan Riffle from Santa Barbara and Andrew "Needles" Needling from South Africa. After a few handshakes, I started to hike down one of the trails to scope out some areas along with the Team Manager of Fox and the main Senior Graphic Designer on the project. We chose to shoot in Laguna Beach for convenience with time and scenery. Since it was more about product, the background wasn't as important, although it couldn't hurt.

After setting up some shots with my camera along with some strobes I had set up, I started clicking away. These guys are young and fit with skills to back it up. It's amazing to see their comfort level and bike handling that just plain humbled me. These guys ride fast and look at things much different than the rest of us. They are also acutely aware of their gear and bike set up. They just carry so much speed and have such a smooth flow to their riding that is on a completely different level. I was also stoked to see their professionalism shine through and they never complained or had any attitude. It really was a joy to work with them. It's been a while since I've shot with downhill pros, and I can say I miss it. Oh, and these shots were just some of the ones we didn't use and are pretty raw without the retouching that is usually done with photos destined for use in advertising and marketing. An awesome shoot and some new friends made.