Mountain Biking Pictures
Photo: The Transition Between Winter and Spring Riding
I came across this image by Neverness in the Bike198 Flickr group and it showed exactly the riding we are dealing with in the southeast US right now. As winter transitions into spring, we finally get the warm weather riding we have been waiting on. Typically, this is met with some wet trails as the forest recuperates from the winter freeze and the rains hydrate plate life.
As we are all stoked to get out riding in a couple of the prime days of the year (cool air, sunny skys and low humidity), we have to make our trail choices carefully to watch for muddy conditions. Finally…spring has sprung and it is time to get back into the season of shredding.
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Want to take better mountain biking pictures? Check out this three part series by Keith Pytlinski.
Just when you think you have seen everything…
Just when you think you have seen everything, a picture like this pops up on the web. I have heard of sticks getting caught in wheels, wild life taking out riders and even squirrels finding their way into brake rotors – but a snake around your bike has to be the wildest on trail animal encounter I have ever seen.
Can you seriously imagine a 15+ foot snake (guessing by the picture) taking ahold of your ride on the trail?! It also takes a serious pair to grab the snake and work it back off the bike. The entire scene is just mind boggling.
What would you do if a snake grabbed your frame?
Photo of the Week: Pick A Line
This week’s photo comes from milton1055 from the Bike198 Flickr group. The reason I picked it was because it illustrates one of my favorite parts of mountain biking…sessioning an area of trail. In this image, the group is standing around while watching another rider pick his line over a technical section of trail (with cameras in hand in case it is cleared…or maybe better…wrecked!).
For me, this image captures everything that is great about mountain biking. Friends, social, challenge, outdoors…it all combines to give us our fix as we head out on the trail for the weekend. Setting up like this is also something I wish we did more of in our riding group. These sorts of challenges make you a better rider.
Pick the Line
Looking for the line. Horsethief bench.
Join the Bike198 Flickr Group and start submitting your photos. They show up in the sidebar of the site and sometimes get featured in articles like these.
Want to take better mountain biking pictures? Check out this three part series by Keith Pytlinski.
Photo of the Week: Gear
This image by Shane Matthews at JSM_photography features a set of gloves, helmet, shoes, pack and bike all thrown together after a bike ride.
There is nothing quite like the feeling of a satisfying mountain bike ride. You get to the end…spent…ready to sit down and enjoy being outdoors away from the rat race. Every now and then, it is good to throw the gear off and enjoy the support of a tree for a little bit. It reminds us to slow down and enjoy the surroundings.
Today
A little set of Pics I felt compelled to take after a great 9 mile ride on some sweet singletrack!
Join the Bike198 Flickr Group and start submitting your photos. They show up in the sidebar of the site and sometimes get featured in articles like these.
Want to take better mountain biking pictures? Check out this three part series by Keith Pytlinski.
- How To Shoot Mountain Bike Photography – Part 1
- How To Shoot Mountain Bike Photography – Part 2
- How To Shoot Mountain Bike Photography – Part 3
Photo of the Week: All Aboard – Winter Mountain Bike Racing
This week, we are taking a look at an image by Joe Cattoni (regularjoe on Flickr | RegularJoe Photography). It is an image of racers at the Snake Creek Time Trial that really illustrates the grind of winter mountain bike racing in my mind. Mud, cold weather and brutal trail all in the pursuit of the best time over 17 or 34 miles. The Snake Creek Time Trail series is known to completely ruin people as they push themselves to the limit in less than ideal conditions.
All Aboard
Snake Creek Gap Time Trial | Dalton, GA
Join the Bike198 Flickr Group and start submitting your photos. They show up in the sidebar of the site and sometimes get featured in articles like these.
Want to take better mountain biking pictures? Check out this three part series by Keith Pytlinski.
Photo of the Week: Breath Taking
I was scrolling through the Bike198 Flickr Group this morning and this picture by PierreMeyer.pictures completely caught my eye. In the southeast US, scenery like this is hard to come by. We are usually swallowed up by dense foliage, so even when there is a chance to see across the range…it is blocked by the forest beside the trail.
Images like this really make me wonder how the guys out west and in certain areas of Europe don’t just wreck on every ride looking at everything but the trail. Simply beautiful…
Join the Bike198 Flickr Group and start submitting your photos. They show up in the sidebar of the site and sometimes get featured in articles like these.
Want to take better mountain biking pictures? Check out this three part series by Keith Pytlinski.
Photo of the Week: Bringing in the New Year with Cold Air
I was looking through the Bike198 Flickr group for the photo of the week and this shot by willsimmons really caught my eye. The editing and scene really conveyed the cold, gray atmosphere that is winter riding. I reminded me of starting off on ice covered forest service roads waiting on the sun to come out and cut the dry air. Even when the sun crests, there is a gray outlay to the land as all color has fallen to the ground for the season. All that is left is dirt, wood and the sound of rubber ripping through frost covered trail.
There is a calmness that can be found as you prepare for the next section of trail while watching steam rise from your shoulders and your warm breath fogging up the cold air. One deep breath…and you drop in with your lungs finding dense air and visibility for miles…
Photo of the Week: Railing
Panning shots are not easy to capture. When I saw this image by Chromatic Dramatic go by the Bike198 Flickr stream, it really caught my eye for that reason. This is also a great example of railing a berm with your eyes pointed in the right direction…where you want to go and not where you are.
There are few feelings in mountain biking that rival pinning a turn perfectly. When you hit it just right, you leave the turn with more momentum than you came in with and you are setup for the next one with ease. It keeps you wanting to hit each turn faster and smoother until you eventually blow through one and start back from zero.
Jacob Hunter – Thredbo Downhill – Round 1 Gravity Cup – Seeding
My favourite pic from the day. Nailed the type of shot I was after.
Seeding of Round 1 of the 2011 MTB Australia Gravity Cup, Thredbo, NSW, Australia
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Join the Bike198 Flickr Group and start submitting your photos. They show up in the sidebar of the site and sometimes get featured in articles like these.
Want to take better mountain biking pictures? Check out this three part series by Keith Pytlinski.
Photo of the Week: Majestic Moab Scenery
You can’t help but just stare at this photo taken by rovingmagpie in the Bike198 Flickr group.
When I look at other riders images online…I like the scene to take me away to another trail and away from the rat race of the day. This image caught my eye because it does just that.
I was fascinated watching the bikers; all skill levels and degrees of expenditure were represented. We’ve logged many thousands of miles on road bikes but only tried mountain bikes once. Not the best experience, I think we should try it again sometime.
Moab’s Slickrock Trail has been on our to-do list for a while but with it’s worldwide reputation as a mountain bike Mecca, it’s mobbed with bikers in season. Dodging flying motorcycles and MTB’s is not much fun for hikers and it’s their trail anyway, so we’ve stayed away. But there we were, off season this time, so we gave it a try.
It was fan-freakin-tastic, and that’s by Moab’s already high standards. There were just enough bikers to add interest and with the snowy mountains as backdrop to the slickrock, it was a visual paradise. I wound up with so many photos I liked that I had trouble culling out the losers. Winding up with about twenty photos you like from one day of hiking? That’s a good day!
Join the Bike198 Flickr Group and start submitting your photos. They show up in the sidebar of the site and sometimes get featured in articles like these.
Want to take better mountain biking pictures? Check out this three part series by Keith Pytlinski.
Photo of the Week: Backwoods Mountain Biking
When I saw this image by Will Simmons in the Bike198 Flickr pool, I knew it had to be shared.
One of the things I love about mountain biking the most, you can not get from any other cycling discipline…the ability to completely escape the reality in which we live. When you get out into the deep woods, it is just you, the bike and nature as you try to conquer your assumptions of what you consider doable and normal. There is no traffic, no job, no lines to stand in, no people to worry about. Even if the trail is not far off from the road, just a simple wall of trees blocking the sound of busy life outside the forest can make it seem like you are in another world.
There is a calming effect that sets in with each pedal stroke as you plan the next attack on the trail. Nothing else matters. There are no distractions. There is only one goal. To extract the most you can out of the experience to keep the memory alive until the next ride.
Afan and Brechfa – Wales 2011
A weekend riding Afan and Brechfa trails – good times
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Join the Bike198 Flickr Group and start submitting your photos. They show up in the sidebar of the site and sometimes get featured in articles like these.
Want to take better mountain biking pictures? Check out this three part series by Keith Pytlinski.
MTB Photo of the Week: Crisp Fall Riding
When I saw this image by couloir stream by on the Bike198 Flickr Group, it reminded me of the fall riding we are getting into currently in the SE. While many of you are already seeing snow in the northern sections of the globe, this time of year brings our riding into the night and cold, crisp morning. We have to break out the long sleeve jerseys, base layers and other winter riding clothes as we watch our warm breath shock the cold air. When winter riding hits, a gloomy gray casts over the trail and creates a unique scene that will be the backdrop for many rides in and out of ice, snow and sunny cold afternoons.
The black and white setting of this image with the trees as the frame really brought our minds to where riding will be taking us over the next couple of months.
Join the Bike198 Flickr Group and start submitting your photos. They show up in the sidebar of the site and sometimes get featured in articles like these.
Want to take better mountain biking pictures? Check out this three part series by Keith Pytlinski.
MTB Photo of the Week: Fall Mountain Biking Is Here
This weeks MTB photo of the week comes from Will Simmons. As soon as I saw it in the left sidebar, I knew it had to be posted.
We are finally getting out of the 100+ temps and high humidity of summer to be greeted by sunny and 60 fall weather mountain biking. The dirt will be in perfect shape, the leaves will be changing in the southeastern US and mountain biking will be in its prime before the start of winter. With the shorter daylight hours, sunrise riding is more of a doable option without having to get up crazy early and the light bounces off of the color nature provides during this time of year. Out of all of the riding seasons, this has to be my favorite.
How am I going to kick off the fall riding season? By hitting up Pisgah National Forest this weekend in North Carolina. It’s time to shred…
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