On Location

(Tandem competitiors Vicki and Mark point "in phase" at the start line of Wilderness 101. )

I worked with Wes this weekend on a story for Dirtrag magazine during the Wilderness 101 near State College, PA. He had pitched the idea of doing a story about tandem teams who race monster off-road events.

We could not hit the road until 11:30 pm Friday night. The plan was to sleep and drive in shifts, but really neither of us got sleep. We arrived 10 minutes before the 7 am start, and I was already feeling like I could puke. I figured it would be easy to get through a day of being the photographer's helper and doing a couple of interviews. However, I think a racer on that start line possessed my body, because from the gun I had the sensation of suffering through an endurance event for the next 12 hours.

Wes set up cameras and lights at the 25 mile point and at the 75 mile point. After both tandem teams passed those points, we drove to the finish line to set up a portrait studio there, similar to his street studios that he set up in Richmond. He made sure I grabbed Danielle Musto at the finish, mostly because he wanted photos of her with the Slingshot. I was happy to invite her for photos not for her bike, but for her resume. She finished 3rd at Elite Nationals 24-hour mtb last weekend, and she will represent USA at Worlds 24 hour.

(Wes will be posting much better photos, but here is my take on Danielle at Wilderness 101 finish.)