Old School Fotos

A few weeks ago one of my friends at school asked me if I would be willing to help him out with his senior project for his photography minor. I told him yeah sure. The objective of his project is to photograph cyclist and their bicycles using a vintage camera. When I say vintage I mean vintage he used one of those cameras that you see in the movies where the photographer has to get under a black cape in order to focus the camera. It was a really interesting and cool shoot. The exposer time for each shoot was between 20-40 seconds that why I’m not smiling. I think that they turned out amazing.

Hope you enjoy!

Cheers.

So

Heber City Fairgrounds CX Race

Follow the link below to see the race coverage of my last cyclocross race. Unfortunately I had kind of a rough race due to the fact that I had my brand new tubular got cut open on a shard of glass on the first lap. Although it was freezing and I didn't ride to well I still had a great time and am looking forward to racing/organizing the Rexburg Cube III this coming saturday. Its going to be a long hard race full of single track, barriers, and maybe a little snow.


http://vimeo.com/31352803

http://vimeo.com/31848748

Videos

I woke up this morning to go for a bike ride and I looked at the thermometer and it read 20 degrees Fahrenheit. So instead of freezing on the bike for a few hours I decided to watch cycling videos and do my homework. These two videos are awesome.

Cheers

Recent Roll (Nature Park)

So today I was out testing out my new avid shorty ultimate brakes on my cross bike. While I was out riding I suddenly realize how beautiful the evening sunset was and decided to snap a few pictures. I found a really cool trail that runs along the river its pretty technical so I wasn’t able to go super fast. However, I was able to put my new brakes stopping ability to the test. There were a few times when I got too gutsy and had to lock up my wheels or go into the river. I have a unique setup on my brakes currently the front brake is setup for muddy conditions and the rear is setup for pure stopping ability. So far I’m a believer in these bad boys they did everything and more than what they were designed to do.

Here are a few pictures that I snapped while riding and a few from the last week or so. Sorry if the quality is kind of low they were taken while riding on my iPhone.

Cheers 

Moose Cross, Victor Idaho

Well normally I start to cringe at the though of the seasons changing. But this year I was stoked as I packed away my shorts and sandals and unpacked my jackets and winter gear I couldn’t help but think about cyclocross season. Ever since I went to Cross Vegas in 2007 I have wanted to get into to riding and racing cyclocross. Towards the end of last year I was hanging out in my Dads office when Bob stopped by to pay him a visit. I jumped at the opportunity and asked Bob to see if he still had any hookups with Torelli bicycles. His response changed my overall out look of cycling forever. Bob was able to get me a Torelli Zona cross frame. I spend the next 4 months saving my money to build it up. In Idaho cyclocross has grown into a pretty big sport, and according to the locals nothing screams CX season like Moose cross. Moose Cross is a two-day event that is held in Victor Idaho. A town so small that most people don’t know they driven through it. A few years ago the major (owner of a bike shop, and CX racer) petitioned the city for a plot of land to build a cyclocross race course. The city approved his petition and Moose Cross was born.

I had been preparing for this race for a few weeks, but its hard to prepare for something that you know nothing about. My friends told me that their was no way of describing a CX race and that there is nothing you can do to be prepared for the pain that is coming your way. Cyclocross isn’t like normal bike races these bike are the children of a road bike and mountain bike parents. Cyclocross bikes have beefier forks, knobby tires, and easier gear ratios. Unlike a road race CX races are on dirt roads and in the grass. The intensity of these races is much high immediately unlike most road races. There are many points in the race when you have to dismount from your bike and jump over barrier or run up mountains with your bike on your back. Cyclocross is pure sweet pain.

I had no clue what to expect instead of signing up for the beginner race I signed up for the Cat 4 race thinking that I would have no problem keeping up with the big boys. When the cannon went off the race started just as everyone said: in a full out sprint of chaos. We proceeded to race on one on the most painful terrain I have ever experienced in my life. After about 3 laps my whole body started to hurt and each time I was forced to jump of my bike and carry it over the barriers I had to remind myself that this was fun! Every time I passed the start/finish line I could hear my friends and family screaming at me to go faster but I simply couldn’t. At the end of the race I got off my bike and turned to a buddy of mine and said wow that really hurt! I was glad my Mum, grandparent, Ty, friends, and Miriam were there but I should apologize because I was looking anything but composed after that race I had snot running down my nose and could barely breath. But I finished and I loved it, but that joy was short lived because I was going to have to do it all over again the next day.

The next morning I showed up at the race feeling good and ready. The racecourse had changed and was going to involve 3 sections of barriers instead of 2 and we were going to spend more time on the grass and less time on the dirt course.  After pre-riding the course I felt like that type of course was much more my style. After the race started I stayed on pace and rode much better than I did the day before. Nonetheless the race was still crazy hard and intense but it was a ton of fun. I place in the top 10 the second day, which really made me happy considering that it was my first CX race ever. Now I’m hooked and can’t wait to get registered for another race. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Cheers and for those of you who have ever thought about trying cyclocross I would highly recommend it. It’s a great alternative to road biking and a great work out.

Some rad videos

I was surfing the net today and found these videos. Talk about bad luck!

Jordans Interbike Video

So my cousin Jordan flew down from Canada to go to interbike with me and my old man this year and he made a little montage of our trip check it out.

Cheers

Honey Stinger Products

Hey Guys, 

I have started to sell Honey Stinger Waffles and Chews. These waffles and chews are Lance Armstrong inspired which mean they will make you a better cyclist! However, I’m not promising that you will be able to win the TDF. These things are great and actually quite a tasty alternative form of nutrition for on the bike or off of it. The waffles are pure organic energy that comes in three different flavors vanilla, original (honey), and strawberry. I have tried all three and to be honest they are all really tasty. I’m also selling some of the Honey Stinger chews. These tasty gummy snacks come in two flavors Fruit Smoothie - A combination of cherry, mixed berry, and orange chews, and Cherry Blossom - Who doesn’t like cherries? They are tasty and after you indulge in some of these you won’t every be able to force down another gu, or gel again.

I’m selling the Waffles on eBay for about 25.00$ normally, however I’m offering them to my friends and family for a flat rate price of 20.00$ until Saturday night. The price of the chews are 22.00$ and will normally sell for about 27.00$. Each box of waffles includes 16 delicious waffles. A box of the organic chews includes 12 tasty gummy snacks. Normally a box of waffles/chews costs upwards of 35.00$ at your local bike shop.

Let me know if any of you are interested before Saturday night! Email me at tatelitchfield@gmail.com or shoot me a text or call me at 702-595-3063.

Please feel free to let your friends know as well; let them know that I’m doing it in order to pay for my education.

Interbike, Crossvegas, and the Flaming Lips

Hey everyone so I'm reporting on one of the best weeks I have had in a long time. This week September 12, 2011 through the 17^th was the worlds largest bicycle in where else but Las Vegas Nevada. My cousin Jordan flew in from Lethbridge Alberta, Canada to go to the show with me. He arrived Monday night after we picked him up from the airport we went over to “I Love Sushi” to show him how the Litchfield’s do FHE. On Tuesday morning we woke up early to a random surprise of crazy rain and thunderstorms showering the valley. Jordan and I decided that getting wet wasn’t going to prevent us from riding some of the industries top of the line bicycles. Jordan was in heaven we spent the whole morning riding bootleg canyon in one of the strangest rainstorms Vegas had ever seen. I rode an Ibis full carbon cx bike, and their carbon full suspension mountain bike, we also rode a gnarly GT downhill bike, and a sweet Santa Cruz 29’er. I rode several other bike but all things considered I thought that the Ibis Cross bike was the bike of the day for me. After a long day of riding and talking bikes we finished the day off with a tasty hamburger from In and Out.

            Later that evening Jordan and I went downtown to go to a club in the Palazzo Casio called the Lavo. Where we meet the original 7-11 cycling team for their new book signing. Because Jordan and I were some of the first people at the club we received free books, which we were able to get autographed by the entire team. It was awesome to see some of the greatest American cyclist and to shake their hands.  

The next day we went down to the actual indoor portion of the show. This year there were so many retailers at the show that it filled not just one floor but two. We stopped by at all of our favorite retailers to see what new products they had for 2012. It was fun but my highlight for the show was watching the indoor mini velodrom race between two pro cyclocross riders. As you can see from the video it was a lot of fun. By the end of a full day at interbike my feet were sore and my arms and shoulders were tired from carrying all of my swag.

Later that evening we went to watch Crossvegas, which is the largest cyclocross race in North America. Its always fun to be able to go and watch the industries best riders go head to head. This race pumped me up for my first cyclocross race in a month or so. All I can say is I had better start preparing myself because these races look like 45 minutes of pure hell.

And to top off my epic week on Saturday I meet up with Miriam, and her sister V Nasty, Nate, Josh, and Ty and James to go see one of the greatest concerts of my life THE FLAMING LIPS. The concert was at a venue called the Great Salt Air. Which is some random concert venue built in the 40’s outside of SLC located right on the the great salt lake. Before the show started our group of friends decided to go walk around on the salt flats and enjoy the sunset. After play around out there for a bit we started to walk back to the venue when in the distance I saw a man walking towards us with big hair and a two camera men following us. I remember think to myself could it be Wayne Cowyn (the lead singer of the flaming lips)? Sure enough it was! We hung out with him for a bit and watched the sunset behind the mountains. It was awesome the best part of the night was when Ty picked up an old nasty preserved fish and decided to chase Wayne with it. He thought it was funny and said we were cool kids. After our personal encounter with Wayne it was time for the opening band to play. When the Lips came on the crowd went wild it was more of some sort of party that involved everyone in the audience then it was a concert. Wayne came out in a blow up orbe and walked on the crowd on the first song. From then on anything was acceptable. The band was shooting tons and tons of confetti at the audience. The music was great the band played with tons of energy. The highlight of the concert was the last song entitled “Do you realize”. Hands down their most popular song. When they struck the first chord of the song everyone knew what was coming and got extremely excited. At the beginning of the song Ty lifted me up on to his shoulders. It was awesome because we were front row and Wayne and the other band members were smiling and loving it, but the security guards were screaming at me to get down. Ty reused to left me down right away. There was so much energy in the room that everyone in our group got crowd surfed. Miriam unfortunately left the show with a gnarly battle wound on her forehead. Apparently right before Ty and I lifted her up some girl scratched her on the forehead, giving her a nice sized cut. She survived and has no regrets.  All and all it was an awesome show and if you ever get the chance to see the Flaming Lips in concert you need to do it.

Sorry for the picture overload I don’t normally post this many.

Cheers Tate

Red Rocks

Hello Lurkers,

Sorry I haven't been keeping you guys updated on my life, guess I have been slacking and living the dream too much. Sometimes I forget how much you Lurkers like to know what Im up to!

So a few weeks ago Nate, Josh, Mir, and I decided to drive out to red rock to do a little rock climbing. Miriam had just gotten into Vegas from the ATL the night before in preparation for our upcoming trip to Peru. I told her that we were going to be leaving early the next morning she said "great so what time are we talking...7ish?" haha once I informed her that we were going to be leaving my house at 530 she didn't seemed so stoked until we rock to the park. For those of you who don't know Red Rock is national park that is located about 45 minutes outside of the city of sin. It is a truly epic place, fully of gnarly rock formations, colors, and good times. We arrived at the park unloaded the car and started the hike to the wall that we were going to be climbing. After setting up and double checking the ropes and knots, it was time to climb. Josh was the first on the wall, he scaled it with easy (as he was climbing I couldn't help but picture him as a big horned sheep prancing around on nothing more than a edge big enough for one of my fat fingers to grab). After Josh showed us whats up Nate and I tackled the wall. Once we finished it was time for Miriam to show us what she was capable of. She was a little hesitant at first but once she gained her confidence there was no stopping her! Except that one time when she tried to swing from one side of the wall to the other and ate her lunch. Despite a gnarly slash on her leg she was able to make it almost all the way to the top. She did great and looked like a natural. We spent the rest of the morning trying harder and more difficult routes until we were so tired we couldn't lift our arms. It was a great morning, perfect weather, and great company. Climbing has become my new addiction. Thanks again to Nate and Josh for the invite it was great.

Enjoi the pictures and thanks for reading.

Cheers

Flaming Lips

Hey everyone so yesterday I purchased tickets for the Flaming Lips concert in SLC on September 17th. Right before I bought them my mum said "Tate who are these people and why do you wanna see them so badly". So mum conceder this my formal response to your question. The Flaming Lips are considered on of the greatest bands to see live. They are full of energy and emotion (as you can see from their videos). One of the thing that Wayne Coyne I most known for is his orbit. In the middle of the concert he gets inside a giant inflatable orb and then proceeds to walk into the crowd in it. Everyone then holds him up in the air and he continues the show. Im super stoked and best of all I going with all my friends and family!

Thanks for reading,

Cheers

Allen Butler & Jackson Hole Criteriums

So yesterday July 9th I raced the Allen Butler memorial criterium in down town Idaho Falls Idaho. IT was a great race. Lots of spectators showed up they lined the streets to watch the race. I raced the cat 4 group which last 40 minutes. There were about 18-20 racers in my race. When the race started I took the lead expecting the pack to follow behind me. But after the first few laps I realized that I was solo and nobody was going to chase me down. After 3 laps of riding slow and easy the other racers realized that this was a race not a club ride and the pace picked up. Unfortunately with one lap two go the rider in front of me lost control and hit a curb forcing me to slow down. The riders behind me saw this and capitalized on the moment and managed to pass me. After regaining my momentum for the final sprint I ended up taking 4th place. Overall I was very happy with how I rode. Next time I need to spend less time on the front and more time conserving my energy.

Today July 10th I drove up to Jackson Hole Wyoming, to finish stage two of the crit series. I raced cat 4, I had a good game plan and stuck to it the whole race. With 10 minutes to go I got away in a break away and we managed to put 16 seconds on the chase group. With two laps to go we were feeling great and the end was in sight until. A racer in a t-shirt on a cx bike attempting to join our break away group got to close to me on a right hand turn and hit my saddle with his handle bars causing me to lose control and go down. I went down hard and slid for a good distance. Fortunately no damage was done to the bike, only to my body. After hitting the pavement I jumped up and got on my bike the chase group passed me and I sprinted as hard as I could to catch up with them. Even after my crash I managed to pass and beat the rider who took me out. It felt good haha. I finished the race in 10th place which is alright considering who the the race played out. 

 Overall I finished the series in 5th place for the cat 4 racers. I’m a little banged up but nothing serious it was an accident and unfortunately I was involved in it. No worries that bike racing. My form is good and I’m looking forward to racing on the 23rd in Utah. All I can say is that there is nothing cooler than being lead out by the race motorcycle signifying that you are the leader!  

Cheers Everyone

Le Tour de France

Hey everyone its been awhile since I have posted anything, but no worries Im back. I found this video and thought I would share it. This is bike racing and this is why im addicted to it. The madness and mayhem of a race is in describable. This month I will be doing 2-3 races. Ill have the race report up as soon as I can plus some pictures.

A week ago I rode the BYU-Idaho rode race. It was a nice rolling corse with a few really nice steady climbs. The race was 50 miles long and after about mile 8 my friend Clint and I decided to break away. We ended up riding the corse in 2 hours and 11 minutes. Its was a great ride really fast even though we had a gnarly headwind. Clint beat me in the final sprint by about half a second but oh well I cant complain about 2nd place.

Here are a few pictures that nate shoot of us as we were crossing the finish line.

This video I so funny! But there is a lot of truth behind it. I think that moral of the story is... If your going to ride a bike remember that you always need to be on the alert.

Cheers

The newest member of the family: Gizmo Dunkley-Litchfield Jr.

Apparently Tosh.o was searching the internet to find the cutest chinchilla. This is the winner: http://tosh.comedycentral.com/blog/2011/05/03/the-cutest-chinchilla-video-youll-ever-see/. I will admit that he is a very handsome chinchilla but nowhere near as cute as GIZMO. If only Nate and I had know about this competition we would have made a montage of Gizmo doing awesome things, like running in his hamster wheel that is about 3 times to small for his over weight body.

Anyways watch the video and then you can enjoy the pictures of Gizmo and his new family!

P.S. If anyone out there could make him a beanie so he can match us we would (the family) would be greatly appreciative. 

XOXO The family Dunkley-Litchfield