5:10 PM MTB World's Day 4

Day 4 of world's would see the biggest swings in weather. As long as I waited 10 minutes I knew it would change. Early on it was cold and foggy. This made it hard to get out of the gondola and go find a spot to shoot the last DH practice.

After a few laps of the gondola I did get out and started to get excited about what the day may bring. Loose super muddy leg out turns.







Further down the course wasn't quite so sloppy, but is certainly was still slippery. Mitch Delfs was using every inch of this berm and nearly slid off.







Steve Peat looked super smooth and relaxed.







After practice I decided to to stay near the bottom and was surprised when the spot I chose was missing a large pack of photogs. Of course they showed up eventually but I had my plan and stuck to it. Harriet Rucknagel looked great through this rock garden.

4:42 PM MTB World's Day 3

Waking up on day 3 I knew it was going to be a challenge. The rain had arrived. Driving to the venue I kept thinking "shoot moody." Once at the Giant pit's Adam Craig showed me the "doppler radar" on his computer and I relaxed a bit. The rain wasn't going to last long- so I'd get epic mud shots and classic XC pain without having to deal with nasty downpours. It did mean that the mechanics were busy adjusting away from dry tires conditions to wet condition tires.

It also meant that every XC bike got a brand new set of brake pads.







Once the racing started I ended up in what was the most crowded portion of the course for both fans and photographers. I was determined to shoot there, but once I got in my planned spot I wanted out. Too many other photogs right with me and I wanted something that would stand out. When former world champ Gunn-Rita Flesjas Dahle of Norway came running down the rock garden I knew I had a chance at something. It was incredible watching the women run down this. I have no idea how no one broke any ankles.







I got out of there as quickly as possible and set up on the longest climb of the course. After shooting some normal stuff I went tight again.







For the men's race I hiked to a few different spots and again settled in on shooting some real tight action. This was what was considered the high part of the course and offered some technical single track. Many rode, and many didn't. there is something awesome about watching the best pro mtb racers in the world get off the bike and run!

4:14 PM MTB World's Day 2

Day 2 for me at World's saw a completely different morning. By this time I was caught up on sleep and ready for a big day. Rain was supposed to be on the way and my shoot schedule included DH practice and the men's U23 race. I already had some ideas for DH practice but had yet to even see the XC course. Good thing I was going to have 30 minutes in between to figure out what I was doing.

Shot within 20 feet of the lit up Brad Benedict shot from the day before was this shot of Fabien Pedemanaud. I really wanted to shoot here more, and maybe light it up- but I kept on moving because XC was starting soon.







After grabbing some lunch I hiked the back portion of the XC course and picked two spots. One I could work with multiple lenses, flashes, and angles, and another I had to run through the forest that I could grab two different looks at. Late in the race I settled in on one of my current favorite looks and was pleased with this shot of eventual winner Mathias Flückiger giving it hard.







Once I was happy with some of my face shots I got a little lower for some leg and chain wheel shots. I'm pretty into these right now especially if legs are dirty or bleeding.








After the race I hiked the remainder of the course to prep for Saturday's XC racing schedule. The course was pretty cool. Would have been nice to get a chance to ride it. Trees, roots, rocks.

2:42 PM MTB World's Day 1

After a mix-up with my passport I arrived in Monte Sainte Anne for the World Mountain Bike Championships about 8 hours behind schedule. No worries though. Went straight up the hill for my first course walk and in my typical fashion I tried avoiding what everyone else was shooting (crazy dust.) Somehow I found the only berm on the course with hero dirt and got the shot of Sam Blenkinsop above.

I hadn't been to Monte Sainte Anne before and practice was short so I played things out pretty quickly and when no-one else was set-up in this tree'd section I pulled out some strobes and lit up Brad Benedict for his trip through the woods.







Next up I ventured way down the course and got kind of hung up in the main rock garden area. A bunch of other photo nerds were there. Lights were everywhere and the video nerds were setting up rigs. I got suckered and set-up, then decided to take my chances and shoot real tight with strobes and show the dust I was avoiding before.







I stayed in the same spot through most of the timed runs and just shot different angles. Here's Kyle Strait making a hard right to turn left.








The last shot on day 1 is Steve Peat. No he's not doing trials in the middle of his timed run.