Glennon Simmons's Photoblog

2010 Mellow Johnny's Classic Photos - Pro Men

2010-05-31T18:32:00.007-05:00

I looked up the name Juan Pelota on the internet earlier in the week expecting to learn about some famous warrior politician from Texas history. Instead I learned how to say ball in Espanol.

2010 Mellow Johnny's Classic Photos

2010-05-31T17:49:00.004-05:00

Georgia Gould, breaded in dust, powers up the final climb with 1km to go to take the win at the 2010 Mellow Johnny’s Classic. Gould represented the USA during the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing and is currently the female leader of the 2010 USA Cycling Pro XCT series.

In memoriam: Dave Boyd

2008-09-06T13:20:00.008-05:00

http://www.glennonsimmons.com/gallery/dave-boyd/

The link above is a gallery of some of my favorite photos of Dave taken over the past year. He invited me to travel with him and Team MOAT to Montana for Primal Quest as their photographer. It was an experience I will never forget. Dave has impacted my life in a profound way and I'm deeply sorry that he's gone. He will forever remain an inspiration to us all.

http://www.alamosanews.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=9247&page=72

Primal Quest day 8: The finish

2008-07-01T21:07:00.007-05:00

June 30, 2008 12:43pm

MOAT finishes Primal Quest Montana greeted by family, friends, the press and Don Mann. The team covered more than 512 miles in less than 8 days despite three injuries and the wrong sized shoe. Leslie Reuter suffered from tendinitis, Shaun Bain had a severely bruised upper thigh from hitting a rock while river boarding, and Nathan Winkelmann had Iliotibial Band Friction Syndrom, a painful knee injury that was aggravated by the motion of pedaling. All have blisters, cuts and bruises. Despite this MOAT finished 5th against some of the best teams in the world. Congratulations!

Dave Boyd is interviewed just after crossing the finish line.
Nathan Winkelmann looks on with Don Mann and friends reflected in his sunglasses. The team recounted stories from the trail to Don and the press.
MOAT poses for a team picture with JP and Sydney, the two most important members of the support crew. Leslie's children where present for the duration of the race, and I have to say were the most helpful, best behaved kids anyone could hope for. They deserve special honors, as well as the rest of the support crew: Rick Sanders, Noel Reuter and Larry Winkelmann. It took everyone to make this the success that it was.

Footnote:
I will be conducting interviews with the team over the next few days and the trip home. I'm hoping to put together an audio slide show with some of the best images from the race. Look for it in the very near future. Thanks.
-Glennon

Primal Quest day 5: The Bridger Range

2008-07-01T20:23:00.012-05:00

06.27.08

On day 5, I intended to set out with the team to follow Team MOAT on the traverse of the Bridger Range. I'll just say that I'm an experienced backpacker with MANY miles of back country travel logged in both the US and Canada. I was as prepared as any human being could be, and this is what I came to Montana to shoot. I spent considerable time prepping my gear. I would only carry one camera, the Canon 5D, and two lenses, a 16-35mm and a 70-200mm. The rest of my pack was loaded with provisions and safety gear for a night in the wilderness, including a 15 degree bag and bivy, headlamp, food and water, etc. I did not expect to be able to keep up with the team for the duration of the trek, but rather just enough to get the photos. I was ready. There was some controversy about how I would hook back up with the RV and the support crew. I basically said don't worry about it. I'll get a ride into Boseman and rent a car for myself.

At the moment of truth, when my boots were about to hit the trail, the team vetoed my tagging along. I was not only disappointed, but heartbroken. As for the reasons, Dave explained that I could be perceived as assisting the team, which would result in a disqualification. This was a risk he could not take. I suspected that this was an excuse to not have to take responsibility if something went wrong, or to protect me from myself. Who knows? I had no choice but to honor his request.

Needlesstosay, my moral was at a low.

Primal Quest Day 4

2008-07-01T18:00:00.003-05:00

06.26.08

The team had dropped their bikes at another unassisted TA for an extended trek through the Crazy Mountains, or the Crazy Woman Mountains, or 'The Crazies' if you are a local. Apparently it is named after a woman who went insane and lived somewhere in the mountains after her family was killed in the western settlement movement. The Crazy Woman Mountains is the English version of a Crow Indian name. It is unclear to me from the Wiki article whether the woman was a Crow Indian or a settler.

I hung around the RV most of the day. I had no way of knowing exactly where the team was going to pop out of the woods, and I was getting a little distressed at all of the waiting around. Around sunset the team rolls in with grins on their faces. Dave Boyd has a hole in his shoe. Dave's own size 14 and Nathan's size 11.5 had been placed in his pack for pickup at the unassisted TA, and he had no choice but to make it work for the extended trek through The Crazies. He had to cut a hole in tip and remove the insole so that his foot fit, and luckily it did. The shoes themselves were identical in every way, expect for the size. Looking at the shoes on Dave's feet there was an obvious difference, but when they were placed in the pack it was not so clear. It is also unclear who was responsible - it could have been any one of the three of us. Because I had been providing assistance, generally handing things to people when asked or microwaving things - all seemingly trivial tasks - I did not feel that my actions had significant consequences. This was clearly not the case. MOAT and all the other teams racing Primal Quest teams are only as good as their support. Support crews are critical, rate limiting, equally important as the racers themselves.

Dave did not seem bothered by the incident. He even said, seriously or sarcastically, that the smaller shoe was lighter and it felt good - the only harm done was ruining the shoe. Obviously this could have been a disaster. From this moment forward I did not provide any direct support and focused solely on photography. However, because of my lack of autonomy, opportunities were far and few between....frustration levels were starting to build.

........

Footnote:

Yesterday, or maybe it was the day before, while riding with Rick to the next TA I saw a little bird attacking a hawk. I watched it for a while out of window of the SUV. I turned to him and described what I saw. Without saying a word he reached over and flipped down my visor so that I was looking at myself in the mirror. This pretty much sums up our relationship. I can blame this friction on lack of sleep, but most likely even in the best of circumstances our personality types are not terribly compatible. To make matters worse there was a conflict of interest between me and the support crew. My goal was to get images of the team, especially action photos, where the crew was entirely focused on providing support. This included transporting critical gear, feeding and providing a comfortable place for the team to sleep and helping with strategy decisions. Obviously there was a hierarchy of priorities. However, I was supposed to have had access to a vehicle in order to be able to work independently and to prevent any conflicts of interest - this was not made available to me. The second vehicle instead was solely an additional support vehicle. To make a long story short without going into too much detail, I felt very limited in my abilities to follow the team.

Primal Quest Day 4: Dealing with pain.

2008-07-01T17:59:00.005-05:00

Just before midnight the team rolled into the TA. This would have been the end of the kayak on the Yellowstone but it was canceled due to high waters full of debris. Huge trees were drifting by at surprising speed in the current. It was dangerous for anyone to be on the water. The big joke is that the race is turning into a duathlon. At this point it is pretty much just biking and trekking. But biking is good for MOAT. It plays to their strengths.

The medics at Primal Quest are top notch. AJ Johnson, an active military doctor with tour in Iraq and Afghanistan under his belt, took a look at Nathan's knee and diagnosed his injury. Wink suffered ITB Syndrome, or Iliotibial Band Friction Syndrom, for all you medical professionals out there. Any other doctor would have probably said, stop doing what is injuring you. Stop paddling, riding, trekking - racing. But this is Primal Quest and dealing with pain is definitely part of game. Almost all of the teams that I have seen have at least one member with an injury. Most are limping around.

Johnson injected the site of inflammation on Nathan's knee with lidocaine and sent him on his way. This was to relieve the pain for about three hours, enough to get him through the next twenty or so miles of biking to the trek. The repetitive motion of pedaling was particularly painful, and it is the kind of motion that can't be adjusted to relieve the pain. At least on the trek he could change his gate to relieve the stress on the IT Band. Nathan was a trooper and was the first one ready to leave the TA. Despite this injury, MOAT's biking edge did not seem to be noticeably dulled.

Primal Quest Day 3

2008-07-01T17:16:00.006-05:00

06.25.08
We waited at the transition area on the banks of the Yellowstone River wondering how MOAT survived through a night of lighting storms and rain. Bikes and food were dropped at an unassisted TA. In the morning Rick Sanders and I drove back toward the bike drop to find MOAT so that I could get some bike photos. We were also worried about Shaun's condition because he had injured his right leg during the river boarding the day before and no one was truly aware of how serious it was. The all night trekking could have pushed their limits too far with an injured team-mate.

We made it all the way back to the bike drop and waited for a bit. We got excited when we saw who we thought was MOAT in the distance. At that point one of the TA officials said that the team would be DQ'ed if we were there when the team arrived. Why? Because we were giving them moral support. What BS! We didn't argue and left immediately.

We cruised down the road and I had Rick drop me off to snap a few photos as they made their way down the dirt road. As it turns out the team was not MOAT.

Rick got a call from Noel Reuter, Leslie's husband, letting him know that MOAT had reached the bike drop. We were somewhere near the town of Emigrant eating hamburgers. Rick wasn't comfortable with going back after the TA official's reaction, so I got no shots of MOAT on the bike until they were at the TA next to the Yellowstone.

The paddle on the Yellowstone was canceled due to high waters and it was replaced with additional mountain biking. This was good for MOAT, who are very strong on the bike.

Shaun was hurting, as we expected. But he was able to tough it out.

Noel had picked up some buffalo burgers and the team got some well deserved hot food before heading out on another long bike leg.

Primal Quest day 2 continued: It's all about the feet.

2008-07-01T11:26:00.006-05:00

It pays to be efficient. Leslie Reuter relaxes and examines maps. She was ALWAYS the first member of Team MOAT ready to go.

It's all about the feet.
Members of Team MOAT are luck to have Dave Boyd, MD. He keeps the team's feet in race ready condition.

Dave Boyd chows down

Primal Quest day 2: An epic day on the water

2008-07-01T11:18:00.002-05:00

The next TA was a beautiful site along the Gallatin River. The transition area was a dark zone, meaning racers could not embark on the paddle after dark. This was for safety reasons. It is hard enough to see in the dark, let alone rescue a drowning paddler. It was near midnight when Team Nike arrived, and they were instantly swarmed by the press and fans. The other teams straggled in throughout the night. No teams were able to leave on the paddle on day 1. The river was open again at ~5am, and teams that arrived earlier got more sleep than their slower counterparts, meaning they were better prepared for battling the swollen Gallatin.

5:15 am. MOAT is already in dry suits topping off their 'rubber duckies.'

Leslie Reuter and Shaun Bain pilot their ducky through class 4 rapids. What you are not seeing is MOAT's other half, Nathan Winkelmann and Dave Boyd, capsize just out of frame.

Dave had burped most of the air out of his dry suit right before getting underway to make it more comfortable, and this gave him dangerously poor buoyancy in the raging water.

Nathan clings to the boat with Dave somewhere behind.

The two managed to get back in the ducky and stay in the fight. At the next TA MOAT transitioned to river boards for the white water swim.
All agreed that this portion of the race was more like an adventure vacation. Don't believe me, just look at Nathan's face!
Leslie Reuter catches air.

A photographer captures an image of Leslie Reuter as she exits from river boarding.
Leslie and Nathan walk down the road to get ready for a long leg of mountain trekking.

Primal Quest day 1

2008-07-01T11:04:00.000-05:00

Day 1:

The start of the race. A thick fog covered Lone Mountain at 9am, obscuring Lone Peak from view. At 11,166 feet, it is the tallest peak in the panorama, and on top are the first checkpoints of Primal Quest Montana. My Texas legs and lungs were not quite ready for the climb. There are more than 3500 feet between the start at Big Sky Mountain Village (~7500 feet) and the summit. My goal was to station myself just below the first check point, and well above the snowline, to get shots of the racers ascending. I hiked directly up the head walls of a ski slope along the Swift Current lift. When my legs started post-holing in the snow I donned snowshoes and continued up the mountain. Nothing about what I was doing was graceful. It was only the second time ever wearing snowshoes plus I was sucking wind bad. I kept reminding myself, I’m a photographer not a racer, but no one was going to delay the start so that I could get into position. I pressed on.

At a little past 10 AM the race started with a blast, literally. 25lbs of explosives wear detonated near the top of the mountain close to my position. It felt and sounded like it was right on top of me. That was my cue to station myself and wait. I focused down the mountain anticipating a herd of racers in blue jerseys to come charging up the slope to me. The fog was burning off and a coyote scampered across a nearby ridge line. Forty-five minutes after the start of Primal Quest Montana, I was alone. I call down to the support crew and question my route– they should have been here by now. I walk about 25 yards farther up the slope, up to where it is so steep that it is more climbing than walking, and there is an endless stream of racers as far as I can see just on the other side of a snow bank that looks impossible to cross. They came up behind where I was positioned…MOAT was just slightly above me.

Dave Boyd called out to me and I captured a couple photos before they powered on up and entered a field of talus.

I noticed that none of them had on their snow shoes, but I did, and they were acting like greased up skis on the steep slope. Any slip and I would have unintentionally glissaded all the way down the mountain, eating a few trees on the way down. It was very difficult to stay in position let alone make forward progress, especially with cameras dangling around my neck. I crawled, no swam, through the snow to the trail the racers were on, but by that time MOAT was out of sight.

I did get a few shots of another Texas team, the Werewolves of Austin (and Houston), with Ashley Edwards leading the way.

I also got a couple shots of Team HART.

I hiked back down and caught up with MOAT at the transition area.

The transition was fast, one of the fastest of the race, and I tried to keep up with them to get a few more shots before MOAT disappeared into the wilderness. JP, Leslie's son, ran along with me. My tank was empty long before his was and it was all I could do to keep him from following them...

Primal Quest photos

2008-06-29T13:27:00.006-05:00

I've been trying to upload images for several days with no luck...I'm spoiled with a fast internet connection back in Austin. Here are the photos that I have been able to throw into an album. When I return to Texas I'll upload the rest with captions. For now, enjoy these...

Plotting points

2008-06-23T00:05:00.004-05:00

Sunday 06.22.08

The race is tomorrow. Today, all the Primal Quest teams met and Don Mann described what they all got themselves into. A Google map flyover of the entire course was shown while dramatic music played. The room cheered when the course would find its way onto the summit of some ominous distant mountain peak or snake its way along a ridgeline. Team captains picked up their maps and booklet of check points and guidelines and were sent off to plot the locations of the check points.

The hotel room is a well oiled machine. While the team works at plotting and strategizing, the support crew is also busy. If it were not for them, the race would not be possible. Leslie’s husband Noel sews patches onto MOAT’s Primal Quest jerseys while their kids played quietly on the computer. Rick Sanders takes notes to prepare for the road ahead – getting the RV and critical gear to each transition area. I take pictures and blog, but otherwise try to stay out of the way. I’ve also been responsible for sending out e-mails and updating forums…Hopefully a lot of folks are following MOAT’s adventure!

As for photography, Primal Quest is officially NOT helping the press outside of Will Ramos’s photography team and the TV crew. This is for liability reasons. They can’t send me off to where the ‘good shots’ are because they could be sending me to my death. That means that I can get directions to the transition areas only, and I will not be given transportation. So if I want to get to the summit of a mountain, I’ll have to snowshoe up there while the official photogs will get a snow mobile ride. I’ll do my best and we’ll see what happens.

The unfortunate side-effect of being in the field is that internet access will be sporadic at best. Posts may be shorter, but I’ll try to keep the pictures coming.

The big show starts tomorrow at 10am, so wish us all luck!

Team MOAT hard at work plotting points.
The Primal Quest race course consists of 33 checkpoints spanning 500+ miles and over 100, 000 ft of elevation gain.
Noel Reuter sews the team and sponsor's patches on their jerseys.

Rick Sanders takes notes as the team discusses routes. He will be responsible for transporting critical equipment to transition areas requiring hundreds of miles of driving.

Skills tests and Moose Drool

2008-06-22T16:54:00.005-05:00

Saturday 6.21.08

Life in an RV is kind of like living on a submarine: cramped, stinky and full of dudes. No one took a shower until arrival at the Big Sky Resort . It was nice to get all cleaned up and to finally get a good night sleep after all of the driving.

Everyone woke up refreshed and the mission for the team was to get the various skills tests out of the way. The first of which was a swim using body boards and fins. The water tests were performed in a small lake by the hotel that is fed from snow melt. The water was COLD. MOAT donned dry suits for all of the water activities, struggling to put on unfamiliar gear for the first time. After a lot of grunts and groans, MOAT headed down to the water. They were made to swim across the lake and back, and then float in the water for a few minutes. The swim was followed by paddle tests in both high-side (white water boats) and Necky kayaks. They had to turn the boat 360 degrees left then right, then flip the boat in the cold water and re-enter. In the Necky Kayak they had to perform both a self and t-rescue.

Lines were starting to form for the other skills tests including: climbing, mountain biking and gear checks, plus a medical check. The team broke off to get these knocked out, and I went to the airport in Bozeman to pick up Noel Reuter, Leslie’s husband. Noel Reuter and Rick Sanders are providing support for MOAT during the race.

The highlight of the day was a bike trip to Half Moon Saloon for dinner. This was intended to be a relaxing fun ride, not a training ride by any means. I hit many firsts on the way down the mountain to the Restaurant. I have never been winded on a downhill before. I have never maxed out my gears, never understood what drafting feels like, and I have never hit 50 miles an hour on a mountain bike. Ok, it was actually 47.8mph (77kph), but that’s damn fast! I pedaled my True Fabrications 29’er as hard as I could to keep up with MOAT, who didn’t even seem to be pedaling. As soon as I fell off of Leslie’s wheel, a major gap formed that I had a hard time closing. Dave was telling me later that it was all about the tires – my big knobbies were no match for their low rolling resistance treads on the descent. As soon as the ground leveled, they pulled away. Nathan dropped back and towed me up with a bungee attached to my stem. He pulled me with such force and acceleration that it was like I had just added an invisible motor to my bike. I caught back up and we hit some sweet and way too short single-track while it lasted.

Dinner was ok – the view was just terrible, sitting out on this patio deck with the raging Gallatin River in the foreground, mountains in the background – just awful!. Everyone was carb loading ordering pasta with chicken on top, and a few of us had ‘Moose Drool’, a dark beer a bit lighter than a Guinness. Very tasty.

After Dinner Dave, Nathan and I rode off in search of more single-track, but discovered that it ended shortly after we picked it up on the way down. Noel had driven the van to meet us, and he shuttled us all back up the mountain (Thankfully – I don’t think I had that climb in me!).

On the way up we had been passed by several exotic cars with “bullrun.com” on the back. Bull Run is a rally race from Calgary to Arizona, and there was a check point at our hotel. Apparently a female team had been arrested going 130mph, and we did see a cop parked on the side of the mountain. It was entertaining, and we heard loud engines racing up the mountain late into the night. Hopefully everyone slept well.

In Route to Primal Quest: Day 3

2008-06-21T09:42:00.004-05:00

Friday June 20, 2008

I woke up refreshed with a night of good sleep in the bank. It got cold at altitude, but this always seems to help me slumber. This is in stark contrast to the previous night when an intense thunderstorm pounded us and made me all too aware that I was in an RV.
Dave is already driving when I wake up and Shaun and Wink are still asleep. We have long since left Colorado and are cutting through the planes of Southern Wyoming. Dave entertains me with stories about racing. He tells me about jumping crevasses in Greenland and terrestrial leaches in Tasmania that are skinny enough to crawl under the cuffs of your cinched down rain pants and gorge on blood until they are so fat they can’t get out. He told me about bagging 14’ers in Colorado – a favorite past time. We discuss the run down the mountain from the day before and he tells me that this is one of the best skills to have when peak bagging. “Sometimes you have to get off the mountain in a hurry,” Boyd explained. Boyd is not bragging or trying to impress me in anyway. This is just his life.

Once we started getting into mountains, somewhere just south of Grand Teton National Park, the snow was all around us. There were big patches, fields and piles of it everywhere. Everyone was itching to stretch their legs and this was an excuse to take a break and try out our snow shoes. As always they are ready to roll long before I am. I can barely get my shoe in this neoprene booty and I have some issues ‘clipping in.’ Once straightened out we’re running down a hill of snow covered in brush, heading to a huge field of snow below us that stretched for hundreds of yards. It was pristine except for lines of deer tracks vectoring off this way and that. The snowshoes do help. I was amazed that without them my leg would post-hole down in the snow. They do have a drawback in that they shower the wearer with snow when moving faster than a walk, or maybe it was just that this was my first time ever and I have no technique. We were all wearing shorts and my legs were frozen from the snow flying up and impacting me, then sliding down my leg into my booties soaking my feet. Maybe I was doing it wrong…Not sure. Probably.
Once back at the RV everyone’s moral was high. We were all glued to the horizon as the Tetons came into view. We headed straight into the park, where I’m proud to say that my National Parks Pass has now paid for itself. We all had our eyes peeled for wildlife in Yellowstone. I had all of my photo gear at the ready in case of the chance bear sighting, but we only got a few Bison in the distance as we were leaving the park.
We made a brief stop at a grocery store to stock up on race provisions (and photographer provisions). I looked on with bewilderment at what they chose to buy. Basically they cleared out the candy isle and the Little Debbies, chosing hardly any complex carbohydrates. I asked Dave about this later and he showed me the calorie content of a Little Debbie apple pie compared to a Gu gel. The little Debbie won by about 300 calories. During a race of this magnitude, the calorie count is what important.

We finally arrive at Big Sky Resort in the early evening. As the guys get their gear organized, I went off to check in and get my press pass. I met with Will Ramos and some of the other media people. It is unclear how much support I’m going to have from Primal Quest at this point. I’m only going to be given the position of the transitions and no info about ‘good spots’ due to liability. That’s a bummer. I was really hoping for more support. But I’m a resourceful guy who knows how to read a topo. Hopefully I’ll come back with something unique every day.

In Route to Primal Quest: Day 2

2008-06-21T00:57:00.007-05:00

June 19, 2008

We got up early today and hit the road with the goal of putting in as many miles toward Montana as possible. So the day was spent on the road, but we made time for an evening hike as a reward for a lot of hard driving. We bagged Horsetooth Mountain, a 7,255 feet peak in Fort Collins, Colorado. It was a pretty easy trail with a bit of scrambling required to get on the summit. I struggled to keep up with the MOAT trio of Dave Boyd, Shaun Bain and Nathan Winkelmann. They had their Primal Quest gear on their backs, including snow shoes. I carried all of my photo equipment up the mountain to get a feel for carrying it during the race. I was lugging a Canon 5D with a 16-35mm lens, my 30D with a 70-200mm on it and a 300mm f2.8 in my pack. I quickly fell behind, but instead of watching MOAT ascend the mountain without me, they took my gear and we continued up together – still at a fast pace. Without the heavy photo gear I was able to keep pace and get a few pics too because I kept the 5d in my hand. I took my pack and gear back for a run down the mountain. I kept up briefly, but they pulled ahead in no time. I stopped only briefly to take a couple pictures, but I made the run, although slower than MOAT. We hit the road immediately and found a nice spot around ~10, 000 feet to spend the night.

Dave Boyd's tears cure cancer, too bad he never cries.

Nathan Winkelmann empties a sock at the sumit of Horsetooth Mountain

Check out info on Team MOAT on a new social networking site called PEAK.com. You can find Team MOAT's profile at www.peak.com/teammoat

Don't forget to follow them on Primal Quest's website: http://www.ecoprimalquest.com/ They will be carrying a satellite tracking device that will transmit real-time location data to the PQ website. You should be able to follow them on a Google map.

On the road to Primal Quest!

2008-06-19T00:15:00.003-05:00

Somewhere past Fort Worth it hits me. I’m on my way to Primal Quest. I'll be posting images and words as time and Internet connections permit.

Goodbye Experimental Science Building.

2008-06-17T05:37:00.005-05:00

The old Experimental Sciences Building opened in 1952 and razed in 2008 to make way for the Norman Hackerman Building on the corner of 24th and speedway.

http://web5.cns.utexas.edu/news/2009/01/new-science-building/

Scientology Protest

2008-06-17T05:20:00.009-05:00

Photos from Terra Firma Promo's Muleshoe Bend Adventure Race

2008-06-17T04:45:00.006-05:00

My windows after the storm back on May 15, 2008

2008-06-07T19:32:00.002-05:00

I would have posted these earlier, but I couldn't find the CF card they were on...

Chuck Palahniuk in Austin

2008-06-05T23:06:00.007-05:00

Chuck Palahniuk describes himself as a lint trap for bizarre stories. He told a few of these in Austin yesterday while promoting his new book, Snuff. Attendees of the event were also treated to a reading of a new unpublished short story called Loser and a look at the trailer for the upcoming movie Choke based on his novel.

During an interview with Sean O'Neal (editor of The Onion A.V. Club) he was asked if he was a nihilist writing horrific stories purely for shock value. He strongly denied this and even went so far as to call himself a romantic. But maybe I missed something, like a hint of sarcasm in this statement. The description of the new book Snuff expresses my skepticism. But regardless of his motivation, his novels are fun reads and I’m sure I’ll tear through this latest one by the end of the weekend.

Cover: RTN June 2008

2008-06-04T19:30:00.001-05:00

USARA Sprint Adventure Race National Championships

2008-05-21T11:31:00.001-05:00

Saliva Can Help Diagnose Heart Attack

2008-04-23T12:38:00.006-05:00

Exciting things have been going on in my professional life, and the research that I’m directly involved in has been featured widely in the news for a device that will aid heart attack diagnosis.

Read the press release:
http://www.utexas.edu/news/2008/04/16/nano_bio_chip/
Read the statesman article:
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/18/0418saliva.html

UT Race Weekend

2008-04-06T21:37:00.011-05:00

Racing around the Blue Bonnets

Jordan Smothermon cornering

John Hatlelid cornering

Frank Palmieri gets cheers

MSU rider at the front of the peloton

John Hatlelid on the attack

one to go

a little encouragement from the fans

Jordan Smothermon on the final push

Jordan Smothermon focused

Victory!

Lance photos and story published in Dirt Rag #134

2008-04-01T23:06:00.012-05:00

Lance Armstrong showed up at the Miles of Discomfort mountain bike marathon race back in January. I took the opportunity to snap a few photos and write a quick blurb about the experience, which Dirt Rag published in their readings section this month. So check out Dirt Rag #134 on sale at your local book store or bike shop.

I thought this was noteworthy because it marks my first paid publication in a major magazine!

Saved by PS clone tool

2008-04-01T22:43:00.009-05:00

The extreme amount of sensor dust shown in the second image was as a result of swapping between a wide and telephoto lens on a dusty trail in Big Bend National Park. Removing the dust in Photoshop was an undertaking.

Terra Firma Promo's Eco-Lonestar Adventure Race

2008-03-11T00:39:00.011-05:00

Behind the lens: Elizabeth Kruetz

2008-02-04T12:58:00.002-06:00

This is a little dated now, but I found it interesting.

Canon Professional Network has a short bio of Elizabeth Kruetz. You can follow the link to read the article.
http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/btl/kreutz.do

The Dirty Dozen 12-hour MTB Race

2008-02-03T22:57:00.000-06:00

Backpacking the Outer Mountain Loop

2008-02-01T20:10:00.000-06:00

I started off 2008 with a backpacking trip at Big Bend National Park. I did the Outer Mountain Loop, a 30 mile route incorporating both alpine and desert terrain. This backpacking route is one of the most strenuous in the park and is impossible in summer due to heat and lack of water. Opportunities for landscape photography were everywhere, but I was specifically looking to shoot wildlife. There was plenty of water at Dodson Creek and a confirmed bear sighting in the vicinity fueled my motivation.

As it would figure, I spent a lot of time taking pics of deer and not hiking on the first two days. On the morning of day three, I had only made 10 miles progress and had to make a decision to either turn around or hike 20 miles to complete the route, with extreme elevation change for Texas as an additional challenge. I chose the latter. I stowed my boat anchor of a camera in my pack so that I could maximize my progress, and at sunset I still had about three hours of hiking to go. Within two miles of the visitor center, and very exhausted, I encountered a mountain lion on the trail. Its eyes glowed yellow in the light of my headlamp and it let out the deepest growl before running off straight up the hill to the next switchback. I clanked my trekking poles at it and it continued on. The mountain lion sighting is permanently recorded in my mind with a sharpness that no camera on earth could produce. On the way out of the park I did get an image that I'm fairly proud of. It's no mountain lion or bear, but there's always next time.

Photos from Duncan Park

2008-02-01T17:44:00.001-06:00

I recently discovered Duncan Park in downtown Austin and tried my hand at shooting Dirt Jumping. I used two 580EX flashes to light the scene with decent results for a first time. This may open up a new niche for me within the world of cycling.

Dirt jumping action at Duncan Park in Austin, TX.

Chris Hale on the berm at Duncan Park. Check out his website: www.chris-hale.net.

David Ray hitting the dirt jumps in Duncan Park. He's traveling across the country on a BMX bike, but has gotten stuck in Austin for the time being. He started out in Monterey, CA and hopes to end up on the east coast on what he describes as a philosophical journey.

Viddy my glazz-balls my brothers...

2008-02-01T12:54:00.000-06:00

These images were taken with a specialized NAVIS (NIDEK Advanced Vision Information System) camera at Texas State Optical just after Christmas. I decided to post these images because, sadly, they are the only digital images that I have purchased from another photographer in 2007. (Although I did buy books by photographers - does that count?). This procedure is, at least for me, replacing the chemical dilation procedure that allows the eye doctor to look at the back of my eye. I think it is superior because it is a permanent record of my eye's health and is so much less invasive. The procedure is especially important for extremely near sighted people like myself who are suseptible to retinal detachment, and did I mention it is so much less invasive? I'm proud to announce that my glazz-balls, the most important items in my photographic gearbag, are A-OK.

"It’s funny how the colours of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen." - Alex, from A Clockwork Orange.

A legend in his spare time

2008-01-28T14:49:00.000-06:00

By now everyone knows that Lance Armstrong raced the Miles of Discomfort Marathon Mountain Bike Race in Comfort last Saturday. Ranch manager Jimmy Dreiss explained that Lance was just out for fun and didn't want a lot of media attention. So there was no press release, and it was kept under wraps. Only the Comfort paper was invited. Apparently Lance is cross training and just starting to prepare for the Leadville 100, a 50 mile (each way) out and back mountain bike race in Leadville, Colorado, which starts and finishes at 10, 200ft with over 14,000ft of elevation gain. If true, Lance has a long way to go because his performance was less than stellar. He DNF’d near the feed zone on the last loop due to cramping. But don’t jump to any conclusions about his fitness level or dedication.

“His not top shape is better than most,” said Adam Salladin, owner of Hill Country Bicycle Works, title sponsor of the 2008 Texas Cross Country State Mountain Bike Series.

Lance raced the 2007 NYC Marathon in November, completing it in 2:46:43 and 698th place overall. This qualified the seven time Tour de France champion for the 2008 Boston Marathon on April 21, which he has already registered for.

Salladin did a pre-ride of the course with Lance on the Monday and caught up with him just before his DNF. He offered some incite into Lance’s performance. “He had a bike with ultra light carbon fiber water bottle cages, which ejected his bottles on the first rocky downhill. Lance did the whole race without water.”

Nathan Winkelmann (Woodlands Cycling Club) won the Miles of Discomfort race with a time of 4:06:32, followed by Tristan Uhl (Team Hotel San Jose) and Francisco Serrano (Promosports).

Nathan Winkelmann was asked what it was like to race with the seven time Tour de France champ. “Pretty Surreal,” said Wink “You see him on TV, OLN…you read about him…7 times…, then he’s standing right next to you at a local TMBRA race. That’s pretty rad.” I asked Nathan why he thought Lance DNF’d. “It was pretty tough out there.” He went on to elaborate how he didn’t think Lance was used to riding a little 26’’ mountain bike.

There may be some truth to that. People typically underestimate how different mountain biking is from road racing. Then again, this is Lance Armstrong we’re talking about. He’s no newbie on a bike, including the type with knobby tires. He won the Dirty Duathlon after his fourth tour in 2002, and he wasn’t doing too badly at Comfort until close to the end.

Regardless of the DNF, Adam Salladin was impressed with how personable Lance was and thrilled that he was out there. I think that goes for everyone. I was glad to shake his hand. Rumors are already starting to fly that he has a scheduling conflict with the Leadville 100. At this point it’s a big wait and see. Let’s hope that he shows up at more local TMBRA races in the mean time.

Knight's tale: Horns beat the General

2008-01-28T10:52:00.001-06:00

Here are a few photos from the UT vs. Texas Tech game Saturday, January 27, 2008. I shot this as my second 'try-out' assignment for the Daily Texan.

Check out the article here:
http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2008/01/28/Sports/Knights.Tale.Horns.Beat.The.General-3171302.shtml

Here's a multimedia presentation put together using my photos and Ryan Killian's voice.

UT Woman vs. Oklahoma State University - Daily Texan Tryout #1

2008-01-23T23:59:00.000-06:00

The Webberville Open Race crash sequence...

2007-12-11T00:59:00.001-06:00

Bryan Fawley and Andrew Dahlheim were neck and neck for the entire open race. Fawley took the lead on the bell lap, but Dahlheim stayed on his back wheel. Andrew took a bad line as they passed through a deeply rutted sand volley ball court and he face planted in full view of spectators. Normally this kind of thing happens when I’m not quite ready, but this time I got lucky and captured the entire sequence.

Webberville Cyclocross Men's Open Race Pics

2007-12-11T00:53:00.000-06:00

Pflugerville Grand Prix Cross 2

2007-12-11T00:47:00.000-06:00

Now for the carnage...

Pflugerville Grand Prix Cross

2007-12-11T00:42:00.000-06:00

Andrew Stackhouse departing, but the Dirt Derby will live on...

2007-12-07T20:14:00.001-06:00

Andrew Stackhouse, founder of the Dirt Derby.

The Chariot Race, a one lap sprint. Racers start clipped in and ready to go.

A Sun and Ski Sports Bike Mechanic keeps racers rolling at the Dirt Derby.
John Hatlelid leaps the plank barriers. I love it when a plan comes together. Two Canon 580EX strobes are better than one.

I shot the 12.04 Dirt Derby after two canceled Derby's in a row. Rain apparently turns the Austin / Del Valle Motorcross Park into a clay nightmare unsuitable for riding. I was hoping to start work on a multimedia project featuring sights and sounds from the Dirt Derby, including an interview with founder Andrew Stackhouse, but the last two canceled events made this difficult. This past Tuesday marked Stack's final Derby before his much dreaded move to DC. Everyone is broke up about it, but no worries, the greatest show on dirt will go on. He has turned over the reigns to a very competent crew of cycling enthusiasts that will carry the torch with pride. Plus he'll be keeping an eye on things from DC. To make a long story short, I did get the interview and enough sound bites to carry my project forward. Look for it to be posted her in a week or so.

Thanksgiving Holiday on Grandpa's Farm

2007-11-27T04:18:00.000-06:00

Despite the near hair eating incident, Maddie and Case's Best are still friends. I should note that no children or horses were injured in the making of this portrait.

Porky the Yorkie

2007-11-27T04:06:00.000-06:00

Portrait: Daniel Carruthers

2007-11-16T00:52:00.000-06:00

Daniel Carruthers is 80% deaf in both ears and would not be able to hear without a high powered hearing aid. In 2006 Carruthers took the bronze medal in the World Deaf Championships in San Francisco representing New Zealand. I had the privilege of shooting his portrait before his return to New Zealand last week.

A few more photos from the Dirt Derby

2007-11-16T00:16:00.001-06:00

11.14.07 Dirt Derby

2007-11-15T23:58:00.000-06:00

The Dirt Derby is a regular stop for me on Tuesday evening. I highly recommend you check out this event if you are at all interested in racing mountain bikes or cyclocross. It is a casual way to get started racing on a safe course right here in town. I arrived in time for the beginner race this time (by rushing straight from work without dinner) only to discover that my batteries were dead. I will get the beginners one of these days.

I've been trying to help out Stack put together images to please the sponsors, so you will notice banners in a lot of my shots. One of the biggest sponsors of the Dirt Derby is Verge Sport. They make custom cycling clothing and you can check out their website for more info, www.vergesport.com. Supporting the sponsors supports the Derby, so show them some love.

singlespeed.hu

2007-11-08T21:06:00.000-06:00

Check this out! This Hungarian website singlespeed.hu used one of my pics as their banner. They credit me in their blog, but did not contact me for permission. I've tried to translate the page to English with no luck. I have no idea what they are saying, but I'm assuming it is good. I can't decide if I'm irritated or flattered.

http://www.singlespeed.hu/

The Racing Post November 2007

2007-11-01T16:48:00.001-05:00

10.30.07 Dirt Derby Halloween Extravaganza!

2007-11-01T11:01:00.000-05:00

Sweatin’ Burnt Orange Bike Tour

2007-11-01T02:17:00.000-05:00

Back on October 28th I shot the Sweatin’ Burnt Orange Bike Tour. I put almost 180 miles on my vehicle chasing the leaders and going back and forth between Luckenbach and Blanco for the stragglers . Austin Grossman was my driver for part of the journey. I had high expectations only to discover my vehicle was a terrible shooting platform. My strategy of sitting backwards, leaning against the dash and hanging out the window only resulted in a lot of shots with my Yellow Xterra in the frame. To make matters worse, I kept knocking the shifter to neutral in my contorting for optimal shooting position. I was in the back of the CAT 3 race official truck for the Hotter'N Hell Hundred, which resulted in a disproportionate number of butt shots. So shooting from a vehicle is good in theory, but there is a learning curve. Hopefully next time it will go better, and I'll probably choose a jeep or a truck as a shooting platform.

A few more pics from the Dirt Derby

2007-10-24T19:04:00.001-05:00

The 10.23.07 Dirt Derby Photos are up!

2007-10-24T01:11:00.001-05:00

The Greatest Show on Dirt!

2007-10-23T10:27:00.000-05:00

The VERGE Dirt Derby is currently the top feature on MBCX.com.

The full article is here:
http://www.mbcx.com/news/article.php?id=332

Terra Firma Adventure Race 1

2007-10-17T16:00:00.000-05:00

Terra Firma Adventure Race 2

2007-10-17T15:59:00.000-05:00

Terra Firma Adventure Race 3

2007-10-17T15:58:00.000-05:00

Terra Firma Adventure Race 4

2007-10-17T15:57:00.001-05:00

Terra Firma Adventure Race 5

2007-10-17T15:56:00.001-05:00

Terra Firma Adventure Race 6

2007-10-17T15:55:00.000-05:00

Image Published on Source Endurance Website

2007-10-13T02:34:00.000-05:00

http://www.source-e.net/

09.23.07 Fat Chuck's Revenge IV Collegiate Race

2007-09-23T23:39:00.001-05:00

2007 TMBRA Huntsville Classic Mountain Bike Race Photos

2007-09-18T05:33:00.001-05:00

The Huntsville Classic is the second race in the TMBRA 2007 Texas Fall Cup Mountain Bike Series. The course is fast, generally nontechnical and flat with the exception of a few rooty descents and some sandy sections. Therefore, the course strongly favors mountain bike riders who also train on the road.

Bryan Fawley (Kenda/Titus/X-Fusion) once again dominated the men’s pro, but finished a mere second ahead of Will Black (Colonels Bicycles). Nathan Winkelmann (Woodlands Cycling Club) took third.

Eric Breckinridge (Texas State), took the Collegiate Men’s A Race, followed by TAMU racers Devin Carroll and Chad Haga. Kathleen Weber (TAMU) was the fastest collegiate female, followed by team-mate Abby Richmond and Texas State racer, Jen Perez.

The results are posted on usacycling.org.

The Austin Triathlon

2007-09-12T23:10:00.000-05:00

Despite being exhausted from shooting at Camp Eagle, I made it out to The Austin Triathlon for a short time on Labor Day...I didn't take too many photos, but I managed to catch the leaders cycling and running.

Brandon Marsh, the men's pro winner, has a commanding lead during the bike leg of the Austin Triathlon.

The next racer to reach the capital was Todd Gerlach, who fell to 7th later in the race.

I changed positions from the Congress Ave. to a feed station on Cesar Chavez and captured another image of Brandon Marsh.

Michelle Leblanc placed second overall, finishing in 2:09:49.2.

Brandon Marsh on the run. He finished in 1:56:52.5.

Kelly Handel, the female pro winner, exits a feed station. Most of the water ended up on her head rather than in her mouth.

A feed station at Jack and Adams Bicycles. Wet sponges and live music seemed to be as welcome as cups of water.

Camp Eagle Classic Mountain Bike Festival

2007-09-10T07:23:00.000-05:00

I spent the weekend traveling with the UT Cycling Team at the first NORBA / Collegiate MTB Race of the season, The Camp Eagle Classic Mountain Bike Festival. I'm not eligible to race myself (part-time student), so I'm acting as the team photographer...Oh, and I forgot to mention that I’m currently bikeless, so I can't race NORBA either. This is hopefully very temporary.

The Camp Eagle event featured a Super D Race and Time Trial Saturday, and an amazing XC race on Sunday morning. A brief but heavy rain storm Saturday afternoon turned the course into soup, but races went forward. The photos below are an ensemble from all of the various races and categories. Enjoy. Questions and comments are welcome.

NORBA and Collegiate results are posted here.

Road Trip. Scott Walker and Austin Grossman stretch their legs on the way to Camp Eagle Friday, August 31, 2007.

Tents were pitched by car headlight. I don't think anyone in our group (including me) had a flashlight or headlamp. An IPOD puts out a surprising amount of light for in the tent chores.

Tent city: Our tents ranged from the 1-man solo variety to an 8-man monster equipped with a queen size inflatable mattress.

Friday night was surprisingly cold, which I spent huddled in the fetal position trying to stay warm. I left my down sleeping bag at home, thinking the liner would be all that I needed. Needlesstosay, it didn’t quite cut it.

Morning of Sept 1, 2007: We woke up at 7am for Last minute race registration followed by Quaker Instant Oat Meal for breakfast. I haven’t had this stuff since I was a kid.

As for the image above, this was my first view of Camp Eagle - ever. The light could not have been more perfect pouring in over the cliffs to reveal the Nueces River and rolling hills dotted with trees.

Scott Walker checks the course map for the Super D race Saturday morning. This is one of my favorite photos from the trip. The board made a perfect reflector putting light on Scott's face which would have otherwise been lost in shadow.

No Super D would be complete without a fair bit of carnage. I found just the right spot. It was a perfect mix of loose gravel and maximum declivity. Call it intuition. Almost all the rock biting happened about 5-feet from where I was standing.

Females were not immune.

Expert trials rider Stanislav Selejov demonstrates his mad skillz.

Stanislav Selejov rocks the arena. And no, I'm not underneath him. To get this image I'm reaching my camera under his bike.

kid racers.

Eric Breckinridge (Texas State) crashes through mud puddle in the collegiate time trial. Eric dominated with a time of 3min 50sec.

Camp Eagle Media guru Zack Martin films John Hatlelid (UT) in route to the feed station. John didn't finish the race because of a mechanical problem with this front brakes.

Scott Walker and Chris Collins discuss the ‘mud situation’ just prior to the time trial.

Around 3pm or so and heavy rain and lightening storm blew in. I dove in my tent to ride it out. Lucky everyone left their rain fly on. The rain was just enough to make the ground very muddy, to the point to were at least four people were rumored to have snapped a derailleur. The collegiate racers gathered and voted by large majority not to race. No one wanted to risk their bike (or person) with the big XC race still pending in the morning. When the Adult / Junior Team Time Trial went off without a hitch, most were guilted back into riding.

Parting Shot. Bryan Fawley (Titus) dominated taking both the Super D and the XC race. The shot above was taken at the berm. He looks the part of a world class XC racer!

More photos can be found at http://www.glennon.smugmug.com/. I mainly covered the collegiate racers, but I have MANY more photos. E-mail me if you want to see if I have your image at photo@glennonsimmons.com. I will need your name, bib number, and category.

Rain can't stop Run Far Racing Services Tuesday Time Trial

2007-08-22T13:46:00.000-05:00

Run Far Racing Services hosted a Time Trial on Tuesday as part of the 2007 Monthly Bike Time Trial Series. The event is a ‘timed workout environment.' It is not an official race.

Fifty-one cyclists participated despite a brief but heavy rain just prior the 6pm start.

David Hoffman, UT Biochemistry Professor, described the course on South Mopac as a ‘good-honest 8-miles.’ He verified the distance using Google Maps. His time was 15 seconds off his personal best at 18 minutes 8 seconds.

“Considering it was hot and the wind was blowing the wrong way, I’ll take it,” said Hoffman. “That was a good ride for me.”

Run Far Racing Services provides a timing device (ChampionChip) that is worn around the ankle.

The clock is started and stopped when a racer rides over a mat producing an electromagnetic field. The chip sends a unique code to a computer for processing and storage that allows the rider to be tracked. Racers can purchase a chip, including strap, for $30 dollars or rent one for $5. The time trial is free to riders who have already purchased this device, which can also be used at events utilizing the same timing system.

Starting in August, the time trial is being held twice a month, on the first and third Tuesday. The start is on South Mopac, just south of La Crosse Ave. Registration is at The Veloway beginning at 5:30pm. Timing typically runs from 6 to 7pm.

Run Far Racing Services will host the final event of the 2007 series on September 18th. They will provide drinks and snacks and give away awards to the fastest male and female of the season, the overall winners, and the most improved.

For more details go to the event website: http://run-far.com/Depts/RFBikeTT.htm. More information about the chip can be found at http://www.championchipus.com/.