Kootenay Krusher 2013

Saturday was just the second time that I'd managed to get to the Kootenay Krusher, an endurance mountain bike race at the incredible Nipika Mountain Resort, to take photos of the action.

I had a great morning, alone in the woods, enjoying the fresh air, the quiet, the view, taking photos - and no bugs!

The View From Natural Bridge at Nipika

I was directed by one of the organizers to the Natural Bridge area. It was was great because I could take photos of both the oncoming riders, and catch them "in the scene", too!

Looking Down On The Natural Bridge

The only thing that I'd change about the day, would be that the lovely location wasn't at the top of a tough uphill section of the course! I'm sure more than a couple of the riders wanted to curse me as they broke over the top, only to see someone with a camera pointed at them, while they were still struggling to breathe, all red-faced, and battling to shift!

Just A Few Managed A Smile & A Wave

Next time, I'll try to find a technical downhill section to shoot at, guys!

To put the cherry on the top of my day, I saw a black bear with two adolescent cubs, one black, one cinnamon, on my way through Kootenay National Park! Made me realize how much I miss the front-country bears that we had around our Sea To Sky homes - not something that we experience here in the Columbia Valley.

To view the whole collection of photos from the Kootenay Krusher, go here, and to see more photos of the bear, go here. (Sorry, no photos of the cubs - they were too busy, heads-down, grazing on a sumptuous spread of delicious dandelions!)