The 3rd round of the enduro Kenda Cup was held at Vail Lake, Temecula. I'm going there for my own enjoyment, and after missing out on the first two events, I finally had an opportunity to capture some mountain biking races.
Like all events, I do my research on where the best locations to photograph. The main road up to the trails was called ambulance: a major fire road all riders take to top. Today I'll be capturing riders with the Canon 70-200 and my Canon R. The toughest part of the day was hiking up. It's exhausting, and at times like this I wish I had an e-bike or a gas powered vehicle to take me up. Never the less the views were amazing, and after all the rains we received in the past months California was finally lush.
Half way up the hike I hitched a ride with one of the medics to my first photograph location. Huge thanks to them! Anytime you're out shooting huge events I'd asking the employees if they would be kind enough to drive you to you photograph locations. They're usually pretty chill about it, but if not prepare to offer them payment.
The first enduro race started at 'Bull Frog', a high speed flow trail with technical descents. Upon arriving I scouted the location, and determined the best spot to capture 3-5 angles I think would look best. Compared to motorsports, I learned you only have a few good locations to post up and capture the riders as there is limited areas to move around. When I take photos I love to incorporate elements of the scenery. It helps tell the viewer where they are, and creates better visual story telling.
The photos above were all captured at one location, but varying in different angles and scenery.
I really enjoyed photographing the enduro race. I'm definitely looking forward to capturing more of these kinds of events. The upcoming races are going to held in Big Bear, CA, so I'd love to make it out there for a change of scenery. You can check out https://teambigbear.com/mtn-biking if you're interested in more info on how to get involved in mountain bike racing.
If you participated in the race this day you can purchase photos here: https://erikmotomn.smugmug.com/2023/Mountain-Biking-2023/Vailocity-Bike-Park-2023/Enduro
Check out more of my work on my Instagram @erikmotomn