Penn Ice-Cycle Loppet 2009

These are the last set of images I'll be posting from the City of Lakes Loppet. The photos below are from the Penn Ice-Cycle Loppet (a series of bike races on ice with studded tires). I photographed the final heat which took place in the lagoon between Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles. The race was a half hour long...



After a while I started shooting into the sun which made exposure challenging but I was able to catch the flying snow this way...



Same thing here but kind of blurry...



This one is blurry too but check out the size of the lens in the background...



A couple of the racers lost their position do to a flat tire. Poor guy...



You wouldn't know it by looking at these photos but there were a lot of spectators around enjoying the race. It seemed like a good turnout this year. Lots of fun.

Skijoring Loppet 2009

The City of Lakes Loppet was this weekend and I photographed several of the races. These images are from the Skijoring Loppet. Skijoring is a relatively new and rapidly growing sport combining cross country skiing and dog sledding. I used a photography technique called panning to get these images...



Getting the skier and the dog in the same frame was a challenge...



because sometimes they were moving at different speeds...



My personal favorite. These two were going the same speed, FAST...



Slow and steady wins the race...

Luminary Loppet 2009

The City of Lakes Loppet was this weekend and the Luminary Loppet was one of the cross country races that I photographed. I took these photos on Lakes of the Isles...

U.S. Pond Hockey Championships 2009

The U.S. Pond Hockey Championships were held on Lake Nokomis again this year and just like last year, the temperature was below zero. Add a nice steady wind into the mix and you are looking at a wind chill of 20 below zero. These are not ideal conditions for photography but I still managed to get some good photos.

No zambonis in Pond Hockey so the players have to shovel between games...



This is what the pond hockey goals look like...



and this is what four players battling for one puck looks like...



Look at the expression on this guys face. There's a guy who want to win...



Soooo cold...



Yet so much fun...



I'm sure sales of hot cocoa were good this weekend...



Cocoa wasn't the only thing giving off steam...









In some ways the players have it easy in this kind of weather. After all, they are working hard. So what about the fans? I saw several people wrapped up in blankets...



Even dogs were wearing boots...



There's no fat lady so it's all over when the guy with the bullhorn says so...



Time for a breather...



More vapor enters the air...





and some posing...



Then it's off to the parking lot until next year...



I love Minnesota because temperatures like this never seem to stop people from having a good time. I know I did!

I shot all of this years photos with an 85mm prime on a Rebel XTi.

Click here to see the rest of my photos from this years tournament.
Click here to see my photos from 2008.
Click here to see my photos from 2007.
My photos from 2006 weren't all that great, soooo no need to link those :-)

Polar Bear Plunge 2008

I went to Lake Calhoun on Saturday to check out the second annual Polar Bear Plunge. It's an ongoing benefit spanning several lakes to raise money for Special Olympics Minnesota...



Minneapolis Mayor, R.T. Rybak (left), gets ready to take the plunge...



And they're off...



The plungers were made up of teams. This group was dressed like SNL characters. Very nice...



The Roller Girls were there too...



Can you say style points...



I think this girl was actually smiling...



Don't forget the Jameson (right)...



Brrr...



So cold...



Batman seems confident about a first place plunge...



Dressed for success (middle)...



Are you cold yet? How about now...



The water was 4 feet deep so there was always a helping hand waiting to pull people out...



Brrr. That's all I have to say. Brrrrrrrr...



Click here to see the rest of my photos from the plunge.