3

Got the bump to Cat3...Tour of America's Dairyland wrapped nicely with 3 top ten's on the road events and a bunch finish after a solid 50 minutes on the front on my first crit...overall ended up 3rd for the 4/5's (despite the online erroroneous results).

Next up...more dirt...Wisconsin Singlespeed Championships at Levis tomorrow...can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday...ride some of the State's best singletrack with my two bros leadin' the charge....

PDX CX dirt gettin' closer with every passing event...and the SV is coming together....

ROAD grime

The Tour of America's Dairyland...our 'tour' on the road. Three road races and a downtown crit for our FUEL team of Mike and I...missed ya Joe and thanks for the pulls Sam on the Greenbush route! Damn fun few weeks....lots of miles on the front and enough results to move again...this time from cat 4>3. It's all on track for a good CX season in PDX.

Why wouldn't ya ride this one? Ride down the middle of Downer and Lake Drive, Belgium beer gardens, fan lined streets, cupcakes at registration, and a full support tent by our sponsor? Come on....it's Summer! RIDE HARD!

DIRT HURTS

the BATTLEFIELD

and the BOOT CAMP

Got Milk

The pavement was familiar due to the snowy day stomping grounds from back in the day, but it didn't take the edge off of the 44miler that we rolled into early on Thursday morning...day one of the Tour that Mike and I thought would be a nice prelude to Saturday's dirt bike rally.

A third of the way into the first of two laps on the proposed 2016 Olympic course Pinnacle road and it's sharp little climb splintered the field to pieces while the continuing rollers took our lead group to 10, then five. Through the feed station the UW masher lifted the pace and went off the of front....a gap worth closing so a quick acceleration joined me to his wheel and a look under my shoulder confirmed this was our chance to go.

Lap two was just the two of us...working, talking, riding...hitting it hard to stay away from any chasers, but soft enough to enjoy the amazing landscape that makes Wisco so epic. Around and up again and as the road tipped to the sky, the days of pushing up to Skyline back in Portland paid off as nothing separated the SV from the tape...three for three on the road..time for a bump perhaps?

Actually...time for alot of bumps...simply time for the dirt....there will be plenty to chase out there....864 is ready....

The Homeland

PDX departure was the hardest part, and now that the Midwestern sky welcomes me back, the racing schedule tightens and the fun begins...three paved and two dirt bike events on the agenda...the first being the proposed 2016 Olympic road event in Blue Mounds...the Ventoux of the Midwest? We'll see how it goes up...

Fuel Vs. The Volcano

Tuesday night spin down to Sellwood and back...maybe it was the headwind, or perhaps the rubbing brakepad, or maybe I was just sucking...anyways, felt like the owner of this 'was sweet' Merlin XLM must feel on the daily trips to the park...longhaulin' em down to the jungle gym! Beats collecting dust in the garage I suppose.

Wed morning rain made the 1st of the Tabor Series races less than inviting...a few Chemex pots of Fuel/Alterra fresh from Milwaukee and the clearing afternoon skies changed that...kissed the bub goodnight and pedaled over to see how the scene was shaping up...8 laps for the cat 4's and we were off.

What a venue for a Wednesday night bike race...epic. Lucky to live in Portland. The SV rolled smoothly...METAL seems to be feeling better than plastic these days.
With one to go and Kic on the sidelines, the mountain biker instinct and the anxiety of waiting allowed the twitch free for a test....how bad could one lap feel anyways? Nothing compared to a night at the Beech back in Wisco or what the real men were to feel as they climbed the Geant de Provence the next day....quick look back and no one was there..so head down and drill it solo lappin' to the tape..

WISCO GREEN BUDS

Quick weekend blastoff to Wisco....got the machines dialed at GARAGE864 and the new DeSalvo Ti29SS was ready to roll.
WORS XC#2-Crystal Lake Classic up in Rhinelander...an 11 mile loop of the sweetest Wisco singletrack that the preride felt that the 36x18 would feel about right...virgin lineup in the Elite field meant that the chase was sure to be fast and furious (fun as shit riding with ya James)...when the dust settled...the FUEL brothery lineup rolled home in sync...seconds apart after the 2.5 hour epic. Way too much fun...like a cagefight at a birthday party...thank god that the Blatz were flowin'...thanks Polska bros.

Beechwood Tuesday...gettin' in the thick green backwoods with the buds...3 laps to keep 'em in tune as the campfire and the homebrews keep it real.
Joe on the cam landing me on the site...nailing it home. Can hardly wait til next time...the road and the kid fill the gaps...jc

Perspective

KING SNOW MAGAZINE just posted an interview I did with them recently...check it out here. A slice of my history and some snaps. Thanks for reading.

seasonal change

GO!

black & WHITE

Got the opportunity to shoot a portrait session with Shaun White for the Burton 2010 Consumer Catalog which will drop sometime in early autumn. Impromptu two light setup with Moran on the assist.

transfer mag australia

Portfolio that Jess and I put together for a launch of a new Australian Snowboard Mag called Transfer....check it out online here....

words here....

Distant Worlds

My mate Joshua recently sent me this shot from one of his job sites in Sydney...gorgeous morning looking North over the Harbor complete with Opera House and The Bridge. I can't stop looking at it.

This was my first shot the other morning. Stepped out of the A-Star and into the depths of the Chilkats about 33miles outta Haines, Alaska.

Tsirku Glacier, Haines, Alaska

iHeli

Jake Burton shoot at the uber-ritzy Mike Wiegele Heli...what camera did I shoot? My phone.

basement puddles

another trainer...still can't get there from here. snow falling outside with boards not bikes the means. Time and a place for everything i tell myself and the buzzer rounding out the time here says. trying to get them spinning when the rest are already on the road. the training wheels are gonna get swapped soon...it'll all fall into place eventually...

Spring Break

COMMUTE

Morning commute to work, AK style. No traffic, no cell phone, no Sarah Palin, no bullshit. Juneau to Haines sold out flight...all five seats that is. Flew over the Kensington Gold Project which currently employs about 200 Haines locals. Work is good. Settling into Haines life and watching the snow fall lightly this morning out of my window.

Pocket Wizard Tech

I just got an email from my editor Ed Blomfield over at the UK based mag

letting me know that they've run a shot of mine for their Spring Issue cover...a pipe shot of Kazu Kokubo from NZ. Here it is:

Yeah, looks nice and clean, and gotta love the pink.

Anyways, shots like this, and many others that end up filling the pages of mags like Whitelines, TWS get me excited about a new product that I'm receiving today from PocketWizard , the new MiniTT1 and the FlexTT5. Check it. New feature is called HyperSync and it allows faster flash syncing without cutting power at all.

Hopefully this will make shots like this one a bit better...by allowing a faster shutter speed sync, hopefully the motion and ghosting will be minimized. Yeah, we've been able to do this by cheating a faster shutter speed (1/320th, 1/400th) and dealing with the clipping on the unimportant part of the frame, but hopefully this legit system will be a bit cleaner.

ORD

Sighting in Chicago O'hare.

COMMITTED

Jess Mooney Photo Essay

MFM, Sandy, Oregon, July 2008

Laura Hadar, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 2008

DCP, Squamish, B.C., Canada, February 2008

Danny Davis, Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA., April 2008

I recently assisted Jess Mooney on a series of portraits of professional snowboarders that had been sidelined for a portion of the Winter 2008 snow season due to injury...'broken' was collection and although it was slotted for a multi-page layout in the current Volume of TWS, things changed and it was killed.  I really like the shots and wanted to post them to get them out there....here's a sample.  They will also be appearing in European Method Magazine.

This is Only a Test

Comp Collage...ain't no show happening...jc

SNAPS

MY SNOW LIFE

Learning to Fly

January prep begins..on the snow road..1am, Zurich, Switzerland

WINTER STARTS NOW

'09 Anticipation

AG campaign samples by CURTES

Recent Burton Work I Like

EURO DISNEY

New work published in some of Europe's finest....find 'em if you can.  Germany's PLEASURE Photo Annual and Switzerland's 7thSky Jeff Curtes Portfolio....

(Pleasure "moods" opener by Jess Mooney)

IN CORPORATE

From Cover to Cover

2008 International shred mag cover stack 

Six to Spare

Never enough.  Glass to flat, sprint home, show up late, miss the start, chase, fail, get in the way of the fast guys, sit up, dig in, self pull number plate, drink beer. 

Woulda been a better day to have a kid.

Sunrise solo uphill arm wrestle to get it all back in order. 

(++++8leggeddinner thanks++++)

Sea Change

The calm before storm...learning to appreciate the hours spent admiring the coast, the warm water, the new landscape...all things above and beyond the 5-hour morning rides through the Australian Bush backroads that seem to get in the way of the elusive crit sprint victory...

Ten days and counting to the main event....it's getting hot in here..drumroll please....

PHOTO PRACTICE

Check it...I got involved in a creative photo project that my Photo Agency Aurora Photos launched for it's 15th Anniversary.  Goes like this...one photographer takes a shot, posts it to a site, and then the next chosen photographer has 48 hours to react to that shot by producing 3 images (of which one is chosen by Aurora) that relates in some way to the photograph that preceeds them.  

How one image relates to the other will be dependent on the perspective and creativity of the photographer making photos.  Sky's the limit. Kinda like H-O-R-S-E for photographers.  

My name is up.  The shot that I had to react to is above...take a look at the site (www.aurora15.com)to follow the ribbon of shots and see what I've come up with.

ROLL MODELS

++++++++++All things inspirational. T6 doing it their way...diving into the shallow pool head first,blood ripping with the passion and excitement of a newborn, learning and growing and loving it all the way.  Making a difference from the inside out. Lalonde on a mission. Never resting, a constant pedal to the metal. Creative fire burning and the legs raging. A lesson in living life as each day is the last.  And brother Joe, for pushing through life's curveballs, staring the future in the face and never throwing in the towel.  The pursuit of faster, harder, stronger, and better..all with a style that none if it really matters if you ain't having fun.  Fast and furious, these guys are the driving force of learning the left side of the crowded road at 5am Down Under, breathing deeply as life's miracle is around the bend, and gaining knowledge and confidence that doing it my way is the way. Congrats boys...and thanks for the pull.

DONE

H O M E

L.A. under a blood R.E.D. sky

Client:  R.E.D. 2010 Print Advertising Campaign

Location:  Smashbox Studio #3A, Los Angeles, California

Talent:  Davis, Pearce, Piiroinen, Aguirre, Teter

Creative:  Soldier Design (Bobby, Cassandra, Ryan)

Production:  Jen Budner (hair/makeup), Adam Moran (Photo Asst), Reid Sterrett(R.E.D.), Susie Flores (Burton Team Manager on location)

Just completed the Hollywood shoot for Burton's R.E.D. 2010 Ad Campaign...a one day blitz collaboration with Soldier's crew on  their progressive creative concepts.  Big production and fantastic location and process, many thanks to all involved for making the journey from Sydney a huge and efficient success.  Look for the ads to drop in the near future.  --CURTES

BROKEN, BEAT & SCARRED

MonsterSquad handles the airport pickup while the eagerly anticipated Portland rendezvous weekend of friends bikes and home blazes into BLACK WEDNESDAY as the revelation of what is left behind and what is gone....the SuperflySS, the Trek, and enough carbon to fetch a hefty amount on the street, not to mention shred sticks and gear to really make someone's Winter smooth...all raped with nothing left but the dirt on the ground from the last mtb sprint.  Shock that can only be leveled by lining up for the first of two 45 minute mad dashes in the dustbowl Indian summer heat at the Veloshop's rampage and the Barlow Battle.

"thirty seconds single speeders..................."

With no prep for the dirt besides the left-justified Australian roads and three cocktails to lesson the blow of the 13 hour flight home,  a quick preride in denim on the dusted off Vanilla1SS had me scrambling for gear change again and again.  Flat fast start as the time off the bike tells me to settle in and relax about 10th wheel going over the first barricade bridge combo, the mistake that put me upside down in a mass pileup seconds later as the leaders disappear into the wisconsin-like singletrack.

The majority of the race spent relearning the technique and handling of the bike, the ‘MTB it ain't‘ and cockpitting from the hoods sent me into the rough time and time again.  With 5 to go, the sexiness of the Vanilla steel smoothed out my sloppiness and the form started to return, the chase closed the gap as the death magnetic blazed on inside.  Three to go and they were in sight, and within seconds the catch was made.  We rolled the 3 pack sharing the load and with half a lap just outta the ditch to go, the Signal went and he wasn't to be caught…Pete having the legs and the gear to hold off our frenzied spin-fested podium trio.

Another hauntingly hot hot heat day at Barlow High...confidence in the bike put me on the frontrow and the ultralight 34x16 kept me there as yesterday's effort turned to the pain.  A dry fast and incredibly fun course as everyone was out to enjoy the sun…the railroad tied run-up a crowd favorite as the cowbells echoed through the forest...the exact spot where the rooted NW tundra grabbed my ankle and took it sideways around twenty five minutes into the now strung out SS showdown.  Survival mode kicked in and as the power faded, the desire and knowledge that this was my only slice of PDX CX DIRT for the 2008 season carried me home in for a 5 spot.  

(snagged snaps:  oregonvelo and pdxcross.com)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

THE NETWORK

===================SYDNEY==========================================

DIRT ENVY

CROSS SEASON AROUND THE CORNER AND NOT A PATCH OF MUD TO BE FOUND. THE LEFT SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY IN SYDNEY SLOWLY WELCOMING ME HOME.  THE NEW WHITE BIKE ROLLING SMOOTHLY THROUGH THE LABYRINTH WHILE THE GEARED ROADIE FINDS DAYLIGHT AT THE FRONT OF THE MASS BUNCHES.  SLOWLY SETTLING IN, BUT IT STILL AIN'T PDX DIRT.

gut tear

walking in the landscape

...the foam earplugs do their best...dulling the roar to an obscurity that makes it all feel like outerspace. lost in my own world, add two parts jet fuel and I'm gone. duct tape magic secures me to the heli and the riding continues to rage below. winter is here, snow as deep and pure as anyone needs or can even appreciate.  beyond priveledged.  the vastness of the peaks extend to the waters edge of the west coast, just visible as we take a peek at m.ward, the roller super booter of dreams. not today unfortunately, the wind got the gold medal and beat us there.  there will be more days, that's for sure.  --jc

FK DROPPING BOMBS DOWN UNDER

burton NZ 2010

WINTER is BACK:  summer came to a screeching halt as the annual BURTON DEALER CATALOG SHOOT commenced.... crews gathering where the snow lays.  for me, three weeks in methven, new zealand to shoot with the best....group one:  terje haakonsen, nicolas muller, and frederik kalbermatten.  

time travel

pdx--->sf--->sydney--->christchurchNZ--->20080731-20080827--->burton--->winter

PDX MTB STXC

O   N   E

going back to WORS