I shot these covers for Bicycling Magazine back in December as part of a women's feature story which you'll find in the current (March 2012 issue) - The Perfect Ride.

(L to R) Lisa, Loren, Amber and Emilia head South along the coast

Carlsbad sits on the shore of the Pacific 30 miles North of San Diego and a stones throw from the sprawling marine base at Camp Pendleton. The requisite coastal confluence of hotels, condos, surf shops, galleries, and restaurants isn't much to look at but then the real inspiration is West out over the Pacific to where the sun bids a crimson farewell each evening.

I've been here for a week photographing the new Specialized Lululemon womens team which survived the puzzling demise of the greater HTC mission. I've been getting to know a wonderful group of riders from the experienced Ina-Yoko Teutenberg, who hopes to add an Olympic Gold in this her final year of competition, to the wide-eyed enthusiasm of novice pro Loren Rowney.

Ina taking in the sunset at Oceanside Pier

A few of the girls are fighting colds as they enter the second half of a spirited two-week camp. Those who are healthy completed back to back 160 and 200 km days, building that all-important training base and forging the bonds of friendship and trust that will see them through a long 2012 campaign.

The team's Amiras match the new kit

There's a lot to like in the mix of talent and personality on this team. Evelyn Stevens, the reigning U.S. TT champ and dynamo meshes well with the irrepressible Ally Stacher (who may have the longest legs on the planet). Former world TT champ Amber Neben projects a calm professionalism alongside the fun-loving, ready-to-cause-havoc-and-live-to-blog-about-it Chloe Hosking. My fellow Canadian and Olympic heroine Clara Hughes is an inspired addition by team director Kristy Scrymgeour. Clara's instinct for winning and making things happen can't help but improve the team. Expect the unexpected and Clara to drop the hammer more than once this season especially if the racing lacks panache.

The kit has an almost Moiré effect under certain lighting conditions

The German contingent of IYT and Charlotte Becker is bolstered with the addition of compatriots Trixi Worrack and Lisa Brennauer. Charlotte (Lotta), a former German National Road champ will be policing the peloton before returning to her job as a German police officer when her cycling is complete (and riding her beloved horses again). It doesn't take much coaxing to bring out a mischievous smile in Trixi (who can eat like a wood chipper after a long ride) or an explosive laugh from doe-eyed Lisa Brennaeur. Just ask them to take part in a foot race on the beach and have Chloe leave the blocks early (and purposely I might add).

British sprinter Katie Colclough has one of the best game faces I've ever seen. A porcelain beauty stare that hides the slightest hint of suffering or pain. She blasted down the road side-by-side with Ina all the while looking like she was sitting for a portrait. I've got a feeling we will see some good road results coming from this track star.

Yesterday I watched Ellen Van Dijk spend 15 minutes adjusting her bars a total of 1mm. Ellen likes precision... after completing today's 200 km she blasted three circuits around the hotel parking lot to ensure she logged an exact 6 hrs 30 minutes on the bike. She clicked her Garmin and smiled, mission accomplished. Emilia Fahlin may look like a swan, but the National Champions stripes tell a harder story of power and speed. Make no doubt, under the helmet, behind the shades and the glinting diamond studs she's thinking about laying a beating on you

Quite the light show at sunset

And then there's Ina. As they say "She's worth the price of admission". Dubbed the "worst boy in the neighborhood" as a kid, Ina's the irresistible force on the team, always ready with a great story, a cutting remark and the best comeback lines. When she laughs she throws her head back and lets loose a volley of sound which invariably sets everyone else on the team off. While they're joining in, Ina's already got the next line cued up... and so it goes. At dinner Clara sits across the table enjoying it all and says repeatedly "Oh, Ina!"

While the team is stellar I've been generally unimpressed with the roads down here. Too much traffic. With the exception of Sleeping Indian Road we've found little pavement I'd ever choose to ride (assuming this back ever lets me do some real riding again, yes it's still bad). Tomorrow, weather permitting, we're hoping to shoot a stretch of quiet road that Aaron Vogel and Dave Christensen scouted today. Fingers crossed it will likely be my last day with the girls before heading home to San Jose. I hope our paths cross again this season; it's been a lot of fun.

Utah is actually green (my first visit) and they've built some amazing bike paths that even our hard-core group doesn't mind riding on the way from Richfield to Panguitch. Meandering alongside the river through a steep canyon, the Candy Mountain express bike trail was one of several highlights of the day. After our arrival in Panguitch, Chris, Dan and John decided that the 80 miles wasn't enough so they rode the twenty five miles up to Bryce canyon. Chris of course rode all the way back for a nice 50-mile add to his day's mileage. He joined Rebecca and Greg Martin who'd been shuttled up to the top for some sightseeing before the descent through Red Rock canyon and a brief rain shower.

The day ended with me going way off road in search of a beautiful sunset. Tomorrow (today as I write this) is going to be a big day and the weather may not cooperate. We had some thunder and rain around 4 am.

The group was in good spirits today. Traffic was light through the first half of the stage leaving plenty of time for Nic and Kim to sprint for a time bonus (Kim got him). To keep the average speed up friends like Rebecca Rusch were happy to provide a little push when needed.

When it was all over, Specialized's Chris D'Alusio spent 45 minutes fixing a Di2 wiring problem on his bike... then jumped at the suggestion to shake it out by riding up into the hills. Let's just say that "road" is a state of mind... 2,000 feet of climbing on steep, rutted, rock strewn dirt took us both by surprise. Chris because he was climbing it on a road bike and me because the rental minivan I'm driving doesn't have ATV handling. Two flats and a slashed rear tire finally put an end to the adventure, but it was amazing to watch how much punishment a road bike can take. Back at the hotel I had to rinse away a ton of red dust with the consistency of talcum powder to make the vehicle safe for photography again. Twenty minutes after the descent the front brakes produced billows of steam when hit by the hose. Google mountain road to Fish Lake for a look at the crazy ski hill out of Richfield.

The 2011 Edition of Specialized's Ride to Vegas (and interbike) explores a new route from Salt Lake City. Day one saw the riders tackle a 110-mile stage over the scenic Mt. Nebo loop before a sketchy gravelled descent into Nephi Utah. The climb is beautiful and probably never gets steeper than 8 or 9% but it goes on for a grueling 20 miles. The group certainly earned their Western Spirit dinner today.

Thanks go out to Brian at the post and Franco for giving me good-natured encouragement to get some long overdue content on the site. If the schedule holds for the next five days and I have a reliable web connection I'll keep the dailies coming.

Well I can't think of a better venue for my first "show" than the Rapha Cycle Club in San Francisco. Thanks to Slate Olson and Club Manager Lee Jakobs the installation, featuring images from the Tour de France, Paris Roubaix, and the Tour of California, will be up from July 2-31st. I hope you stop by and see the show. Individual custom prints (17 x 22) of all show images are available for purchase for $150, order at the club. Larger prints will be available, when the scissor lift gets the new large format printer through the office window behind me ;-)

VeloDramatic Image from this Spring's Paris Roubaix week is running in a Specialized ad in Road, VeloNews and other publications this month. Click for a larger view.

Perhaps it's ironic that this year's ToC finally gave the veteran Mr. Horner his day in the sun... when so much of the race seemed to celebrate the younger end of the peloton. Peter Sagan, Ben Swift, Ben King, Tejay Van Garderen, Matt Goss; all under 25, certainly took their turns at the front. Ben King in particular was approachable and friendly with fans before every stage, I think he's got star potential and the crowds were enthusiastic everywhere he went.

Cycling becomes a strange spectator sport when most of the crowd have ridden their bikes up a mountain. Yesterday's stage from Claremont to Mt. Baldy simultaneously demonstrated our devotion and short attention span re the great sport. On the good side, I was amazed at the effort everyone made on those super steep ramps to ride to the top. About a mile below the summit with a view of a two stretches of road I spent three hours bantering with the ascending peloton of fans. In spite of their suffering, everyone was quick with a smile (I'll have a big gallery of shots up on Zenfolio in a couple of days... you may be there); I loved that.

I didn't love the fact that the same crowd started down the mountain on bikes before the race had finished. Hundreds started the descent while there were still 40 riders coming up the mountain. Not only did this make for a very dangerous situation, but the fans missed half of the opportunity to watch the PROs. Had they been a little more patient they would have seen their favorite riders speeding down the mountain, instead of getting in their way.

Watching the pros descend, knee against top tube, is just a thrilling as watching them come up. I saw them all come down and predictably, stage winner Levi Leipheimer was last. Nobody else was paying any attention. I find that strange.

Yesterday's moto feast had a cost... a two hour drive back to Seaside to pick up the car left me too tired to head towards Solvang last night. Instead I grabbed a hotel room in Seaside and drove the three and a half hours to Solvang this morning, arriving just 20 minutes before the TT start.

I had no time to check the course or to figure out how to get away from the busiest streets in town where clean backgrounds were in short supply, and where one photographer appeared just as the final five riders were coming through my position, using pocket wizards on the same channel as my flash (hence he fired my flash with his camera). Ordinarily I'd have told him to "jog" back to his original position down the street where he'd been working with no effect on my gear, but rather than have that conversation I just picked up my rig and walked away. I should have stayed, it was just getting dialed and the last few riders was no time to move.

It's funny to contrast the two days. Yesterday I was on the inside and couldn't have been closer to the race. Today I was on the outside, quite literally I never stepped foot inside the barriers. Weird. Normally I enjoy shooting TTs because you can really work on a particular shot given multiple, evenly spaced subjects rocketing by. Not today. All that driving had me a little punchy.

As soon as Horner crossed the line I made for the car and headed towards Claremont. Four hours later, through slinky-like LA traffic I made it to a hotel, my first decent dinner of a fast-food week and the shortest editing session of the Tour so far.

Wish I could say I'll be on a moto tomorrow for what will be the definitive highlight of this year's race, but it's not in the cards. Next year I'm coming credential loaded for bear; you heard it hear first. Instead it's a shuttle to Baldy's crown straight from the start. With some sleep I'll make the best of it. Two stages to go.