Night riding Salt Lake City Utah

We recently came into a little warming trend after some cooler Fall weather so I brought out the night light (helmet mount) and discovered a scenic little section of the BST above Salt Lake. These were my finds.

There are numerous spots like this to view the valley, but this one had all the elements I was looking for this evening, single track, sexy curves, mountainess views and city lights! I was hoping to get a little further across the trail but that was it for a 30 second exposure.

Without another rider I was hoping to create a shadow of myself with the glow of my head lamp somewhere in front of me. The sexy curve was real nice too. Funny thing happened while I was making these, the editor of CyclingUtah magazine was up there on a night ride himself and asked what I was doing? He asked if I could send him over a sample or two and perhaps he would run it in their POD (photo of the day). Never know who you'll meet on the trail.

Dirt biking Stansbury Utah

Got to explore the mountain range on the other side of Salt Lake (west) otherwise known as Stansbury. This is where Deseret Peak is located and offers some amazing views back towards the great Salt Lake. The Stansbury Front trail was our in and I'm glad we chose the dirt bikes for this trip, because the climbs and the size of the rocks in the trail would not have been enjoyable on the pedal bikes.

The landscape changed a lot over the course of 20+ miles (out and back) but this section called for a snack break.

No one but me noticed this quick view of Deseret Peak on the way up this rocky section so I made our tour guide (Joe) and my wife ride it together on the way back down. The parking for the trail head is up the canyon another mile and from there you can summit in less then 4 miles (one way) to Deseret Peak.

Heading back down valley you get a back side view of the mountain range where the Bingham Copper mine sits and the southern tip of the great Salt Lake with the town of Tooele in the valley below. That's pronounced To-ill-uh (Tooele) : )

Wasatch Bike Park jump session

The new Wasatch Bike Park (indoor mountain bike park) that just opened here in Salt Lake City just added an air bag (stunt couch). Last night was the first night open to the public, so I set up a couple strobes and watched the talent get down.

The Founder Justin Randle has done an exceptional job with a great warehouse space not far from downtown Salt Lake. The wasatchbikepark.com is located at 815 W 2400 S and is making improvements daily. First off the entry has ample room for hanging out with bike rentals from scott-sports.com and harobikes.com along with gear from foxhead.com. The main room is the pump park with a technical area off to the left.

 These guys were working the whoops section of the pump park.

The largest room is considered the cross country room. This area houses the "stunt couch" or air bag for now.

 Yep, you can practice anything you like here!

I plan to be working on my fantasy jumps all Winter long.

I chose to cast a shadow on the back wall while using at least 2 strobes, so the set up was quite simple. I had one strobe on a small stand lighting the ramp from behind riders right and also creating a rim light from below while casting the "phantom" shadow with my second strobe camera right (CR).

Slight movements by either my main light or me and I could alter the shadow distance dramatically for different effects.

Lots of different kids here working on new tricks to take to the dirt.

Eventually, some pro riders dropped in and the back flip attempts became more frequent for the regular folk..

 This young guy was pretty fearless and I'm sure is hitting this wooden wall bigger then I will.

It really looks easy when you see it in person, but I know better.

Even though I caught him in an awkward moment, he did land this upright. That's the cool thing about still capture is "it's not always what it seems".

A couple more "backy" attempts.

You may have noticed that my main light was visible here in the center, perhaps for a commercial edit I would have tried to hide it behind one of the riders on the left.

This guy took home the biggest air of the night. As you can see he out jumped my "shadow caster" too.

He's back at it, but with someone else's bike. He'll be landing them soon.......

Thanks again to the guys and girl who helped make the first night a great success.

Tomahawk Wisconsin in a day and a half.

I recently got my first taste of pure Wisconsin hospitality while visiting the other "land of thousands of lakes". I was greeted with warm temperatures (lots of hugs) and clear skies for my first of two nights on the shores of Lake Alice just outside of Tomahawk Wisconsin. Our gracious hosts JoAnn and George Nelson (my wife's sister) already had the fire pit locked and loaded, so we all sat under the stars after a light dinner and reacquainting.

It wouldn't be a cabin on the lake without a way or two to access all the great fishing one expects from this world class "Muskie" territory.

While the weather was still on our side and breakfast was checked off the list, it was time to see the lake.

Colors were definitely picking up around the lake but it was also very uncrowded as one might expect in the last few days of September.

My wife enjoyed many great moments with her mother Ann (90 years old) on the boat ride and the weather couldn't have been better.

George Nelson, the man behind the helm kept us filled with great views and some epic fish stories all day long.

We milked this boat ride all the way into a lakeside dinner stop and then we finished under a waxing crescent moon over glass like conditions for my last night out.

Of course, any tour wouldn't be complete without a ride on a 2 wheeler. Fortunately our hosts had a couple of nice rides for my wife and I to enjoy but there was a bonus bike also. This was a  vintage Schwinn 3 speed cruiser in fine working order.

One hot lap through the actual town of Tomahawk for some urban color and I was on my way back to the Rhinelander aeroport, as it was already starting to snow back home in the Wasatch mountains of SLC.