mavic | Robert Jenkins Photo

I love bicycle racing, LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!! Whether it is road bikes, cross bikes, or mountain bikes I can’t get enough of it. My most favorite kind of racing is Criterium races. For those of you who don’t know what a “Crit” (the slang term for a criterium race) is let me explain. Take 50 or so cyclist put them on a closed mile or so flat course with four or more corners and let them ride as fast as they can for an hour. What a crit really is an hour of calculated chaos. Its guys and gals rubbing elbows and bumping tires trying to get to the front, the most safe part of the peloton. Crits are an absolute blast to watch, if I have nails let by the end of the race I am lucky. Watching the riders barrel themselves into turns at 25+ miles an hour with the chance of going down and strapping carbon and skin across the pavement definitely lends for some anxiousness. Not only are crits fun to watch but they are a blast to photograph, luckily living in New England there is a pretty good series of crit races all summer long. After work on Wednesday I grabbed my camera and shot down to Beverly, MA for the annual Beverly Gran Prix. After taking a few wrong turns and dealing with slow moving traffic 55 mins later I finally made it to the race venue. As I made my way to the track I could hear the sounds of shifting derailleurs and carbon aero wheels cutting through the air. I knew it was going to be a fun evening. The Beverly track was one of the more crazy crits I have been to. With some very fast and very narrow 90 degree turns there would be a high chance for some crashes. Sure enough on the second lap of the pro mens race there was a big crash in turn one. As a cyclist the sound of carbon/aluminum grinding across the pavement is never a good sound to hear, all you can do is cross your fingers and hope whomever it is makes it out alright.

Interms of photos this place was epic. The light was so perfect! the setting sun was back lighting one fast stretch of road allowing me to capture the athletes in perfect last light conditions. Beverly Gran Prix was and amazing race to both watch and capture, I can’t wait for next year. Check out the photos below and let me know what you think.