Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view
A few weeks back I went up to shoot at the cyclocross national trophy series round 1 at South Shields. A great event with a superb course.
Thomas Mein and Elena Day flew to solo victories in the opening round of the National Trophy Series in Gypsies Green, South Shields.
Here are a just a few of the 1000s taken. The rest can be found over on Roots and Rain where each image is tagged against the rider.
Continue readingA couple of weeks back I spent three days at Ard Rock Enduro 2023 in the Yorkshire Dales here in the UK. It was three days on the hillside taking photographs.
For those who don’t know the Ard Rock is the UK’s leading MTB event. The event includes world class riding, the UK’s biggest outdoor mountain bike expo, factory support, onsite camping, pump track, airbag, demo loops, kids skills track, street food, music and more.
Continue readingLast weekend was a scorcher. The best part of 1000 riders faced the heat and trails of the North Yorkshire Moors to compete at the Ard Moors enduro.
Ard Moors is a six stage enduro race up and down some of the best trails North East England has to offer.
I based myself at the top of stage six on both the practice and race days.
My images from the event have been uploaded to Roots and Rain.
Here in the UK the armed forces have a great competitive sporting programme that includes all areas of cycling.
This week I spent a few hours taking photos at the Army Cycling Enduro. This was a multiple stage mash up event with a great atmosphere.
I took over 1000 images and have uploaded them to Roots and Rain. Some can also be found on my Instagram account.
The Fred Whitton Challenge consists of a 112 mile sportive around the Lake District (UK).
The event starts at Grasmere and takes in the climbs of Kirkstone, Honister, Newlands, Whinlatter, Hardknott & Wrynose and Blea Tarn passes, the very top riders complete the route in just under six hours.
This is a very tough route and going on rider feedback the hardest one day ride in the UK, the event includes all the Lakeland passes and the 30% gradient of hardknott comes at 94 miles.
I lugged myself and camera gear to the top of Wrynose Pass and took photographs of the event. They can be found on Roots and Rain here.
The other weekend I spent some time in Northumberland taking some photographs at the Dirty Reiver gravel event. The event consists of three different routes a 65km, 130km and 200km ride.
The 200km event is one continuous loop with three feed stations at 52km, 103km and 154km approx. There is 3100m of ascent with cut-offs at 34km and 136km – more info in the relevant section.
The 130km event follows a similar route to the 200km with 2100m of ascent, feeds at 52km and 103km and a cut-off at 34km.
The 65km event has 1000m of ascent with a feed at 48km.
I took around 6000 photos and have uploaded them to Roots and Rain. A small section can be found on Instagram.
A Tribute To The G.O.A.T – Dane Jackson, Green River Race winner 2022.
Going to your first kayak event is very similar to going on your first club trip except a higher level of endurance is required.
After a short absence September saw the return of the Ard Moors Mountain Bike Enduro.
I was there at the top of stage 6. Here are a few shots from practice day. The rest of my images can be found here.
This year’s Boltby Bash Enduro had some epic action. As per 2019 Unsponsored was up at the top of stage 1 with a camera in hand.
Here are just a few of the 6k shots from the day 1.
Informal races on the Russell Fork were happening in the early 90’s with Joe Greiner, Brent Austin, Chris Hipgrave, Mike Clark, and a few others. In 1995, it became a timed event. Check out Dane Jackson’s run.
Unfortunately the Tyne Tour for 2020 didn’t happen last weekend due to the restictiction currently in place in England for Covid-19. The decision not to run the event was definitely the right one. I for one definitely missed seeing the action unfold from Rescue Rock on the North Tyne. For all those that also missed not being in the Tyne Valley last weekend here is a post with some images from the last few years.
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