I’m heading down to Austin early tomorrow morning for the Ride for the Roses. It’s a busy, jam-packed, long weekend. The Expo is Friday and Saturday, plus on Saturday there is a non-LAF related downtown Crit. It will be the first one in a long time that occurs during the RftR weekend.

When I was new at working with Threshold Sports, I went to Austin for the BMC/LAF Downtown Crit - I think it was in the evening, but I may have it confused with the Crit at the Cascade Classic in Bend. Anyway, it was a great little crit, with some tricky corners and everyone rode hell-bent-for leather, Texas-style. There was a great crowd turnout and I loved the excitement of a cycling race in downtown Austin. On Sixth Street, all the decks on the restaurants and bars were packed with fans watching the race.

I was just getting into cycling photography then, and I had some little point and shoot digital - actually I think it was a Sony FV505 or 717 - I have both. It had a nice little 10x optical zoom lens, but the shutter lag was so bad that I couldn’t catch any of the race unless someone was practically standing still.... I ended up with a pretty interesting collage of bright-colored blurs for race images....

Jonathan Devich was there, shooting the race, and he let me tag along as his “assistant”. I helped him carry his photo stuff and I was just in Hog Heaven to get to learn the techniques close-up. I was so envious of his cameras and glass. I knew that I had to “get me some”... Now I have tons of gear, but there is always some lens that I am just dying to buy... Thanks to the Cycling and Digital Gods for plastic cards...

OK, so I digressed.... So the Friday night Peloton Project shindig is gonna be great. However, it’s for the heavy duty, big-money fundraisers, and I never make that category. So I have to scrounge around to find an extra ticket to get there. I asked Higgs to give me some help, so I hope he has, or will....

Then I'll try to get some shots of the Saturday Crit - Mike Creed will be riding, so I'll get shots of him for this website. The Saturday night presentation with Lance and Sanjay Gupta will be real good, and then its getting up real early to get out to the RftR Ride area before the line of traffic is long, long, long. I’ve seen some people take a taxi out there, and I can just imagine the taxi driver gnashing his teeth in the long line wait....

I love Austin and the Sixth Street area. And, yes, I will go to Six, the place that Lance’s buddy, College, owns - along with a dozen investors, including Lance. It’s a very cool place to be....

The photo is from the 2004 Ride for the Roses - Will Farrell and Bob Roll were cruising along together....