Me photographing water coursed in Southern Arizona
Photo by Karl W Hoffman
The best part about going on photo projects with other photographers is getting some pictures of yourself. Always being the one with the camera, everyone with me has tons of photos. I have noticed that I don't get photos of myself very often.
After going on a photo project with Karl W Hoffman with Skull Creek Media, I was able to get some photos of myself reporting.
Karl is a photojournalist who has lived on the border for the last 6 years, photographing and documenting the activities there.
Me photographing water sources in Southern Arizona
Photo by Karl W Hoffman
The rules are simple. Run a mile on a track, starting each lap with a beer. Just don't lose your lunch or you will have to run a penalty lap. (Complete set of rules)
Last night at an undisclosed track in Tucson, different sports teams from the area competed in the annual secret event of the Beer Mile. The time was set beforehand. Waiting for a text message 30 minutes before the race, those entered in the race waited by their phones with fellow teammates to receive the location.
With the location set, racers get to the track and set up their transition areas, placing their beers in a line at an easy to reach spot on the track.
Dressed in costumes to intimidate the other competitors, 20 athletes stand at the starting line, armed with 3 beers at their feet while holding one steadily in their hand. Fingers idly wait on the pop top, just waiting to pull the trigger and start the race.
The official timer counts down. Three. Two. One. GO!
The sound of 20 cans opening together fills the air, then silence as the athletes begin to chug. Seconds pass and the first racers are off. With a toss of their empty can, they sprint into gear and charge around the dark track with something to prove.
Coming back into the transition area, the first racers reach for their second beer. Starting to feel the effects, some racers stall drinking so they don't lose it; avoiding the end penalty lap. The leaders are still looking at record setting pace.
As the third lap comes, racers start quickly adding penalty laps. Laying on the grass, the race track becomes for only the serious racers.
A triathlete finishes his last beer and run his last lap. In a full dead sprint, he is set to win by a long shot as long as he can keep it together. He crosses the finish line with an official time of 7:04. Second fastest time in Tucson according to the Beermile.com records book.
It was a challenging event with no right way to train for it. Look out for next years official Tucson Beer Mile charity fund raiser.
All competitors were 21 years old or older. Please drink responsibly. Always use a designated driver.
This weekend I raced in my first triathlon at the Lake Havasu Triathlon put on by Tucson Racing. There were close to 200 collegiate athletes from Arizona, Utah and Colorado competing in the olympic distance race; 1500 meter swim, 40 kilometer bike, and 10 kilometer run.
Good job to all the Tricats that competed this weekend.
For those of you that are looking for a great ride with some great people, look at the Tuesday Fair Wheel Ride. Every tuesday morning, a group of riders leave from University Boulevard in the morning and go 35 miles out to Gates Pass and back.
Riders abilities range from the fastest people in town to the average biker. As long as you are willing to ride, you will feel welcome when you show up. Just beware that if your not on top of your game, you might get run over when the pack picks up the pace so slower riders should hang back.
The ride leaves and heads west down University. At Main the ride turns left towards 6th street. From there they head west on 6th to Grande and head south until Ajo. This part of the ride is very relaxed and a good warm up pace. Turn right on Ajo and get ready to ride.
Once the ride reaches Ajo, it takes off and charges to Kinney Road. The front pack is hard to stay with. If you are able to stay with them its a great accomplishment for us average riders. I made it to the MCDonalds on the corner of Ajo and Kinney for the first time this week, after weeks of doing the ride.
Don't worry if you lose the main pack. You wont be the only one. There are tons of people that will be right behind you to finish the ride with.
Turn right at Kinney and head towards gates pass. The group heads to McCain Loop before going up and over Gates Pass.
The ride is a great way to start the day. Its usually around two hours to do the entire route. To join, be in front of Starbucks before the time it leaves, 7 a.m. right now but will change with the change in sunrise. Don't be intimidated by all the experience that surrounds you. Everyone has to start somewhere before they get good. Its a great way to learn from experience and get really fast.
Mt. Lemmon is world famous in the cycling community. Pro teams travel across the globe just to train on the Catalina Highway's steep, long roads. The road is 26 miles long with with over six thousand feet of elevation.
The weather is warm again and cycling season has never been better. This morning I left from La Buzz Caffe and headed up Mt. Lemmon. La Buzz Caffe is located at the base of Mt. Lemmon and is the last major parking lot before heading up the mountain.
From La Buzz Caffe, the road to the mountain is a few miles of false flats before reaching the mile marker zero, where it turns to a steady climb.
The first six miles to Molino Basin are the hardest. After passing Molino Basin, the road levels out more to make the length of the ride harder than the steepness of it. The hardest part of the ride is telling yourself to keep going for three to four hours to the top. There are several places to stop along the way, such as Windy Point.
To keep the body moving, there are scenic views of all Tucson from the high elevation. Just looking out over the flat desert.
Once at the top of Mt. Lemmon, there is a small village with a general store and the Cookie Cabin. Although its a little pricy, the Cookie Cabin has really good pizza and cookies. These are the only places on the mountain to get food and refill your water bottles.
The way back down is very fast. Riders hit speeds over 50 miles and hour coming down the mountain. Watch out for fallen rocks in the road and cars. It will be one of the few times that riders are moving faster than the cars.
Expect to take three or four hours for the climb, and an hour for the way down. Don't for get to bring extra water and food on this ride. There any available until reaching the village. Also make sure to bring warm clothes with you for the way back down. The wind gets very cold while coming down.
