Sunday, June 01, 2014

Bitter disappointment

I set off this morning in search of the route that the cyclists would take on the Alacrana bike ride. Not far down the hill from our house, there is a path that comes down to the road and then climbs upwards to La Pedrera. Markers along the path indicated this was the route the riders would take and there were marshalls who told me at what time they were due.

KW7D2461 I decided to walk up the path to find a good position where I could see the riders approach around a bend and be ready to get some action pictures. I deliberately choose a spot where the background did not include the road and houses because I wanted a picture that looked as though I was far from anywhere.

The riders would be coming up the hill which was perfect. I imagined they would be up on their pedals by the time they reached me and would be hammering hard on them to climb the gradient. With sweat on their brows, pain on their faces and mouths wide open gasping air, there was a chance of some really good pictures.

The early light drizzle had turned to rain but I had my coat on and it was keeping both me and my camera dry. I’d set my camera to manual so that I could select both a fast shutter speed and a reasonable aperture. ISO was set to Auto so it could take care of the exposure - everything was ready.

After about half an hour, I heard an ambulance siren which I thought could mean there had been an accident further back on the route but I was still convinced that the majority of riders would make it to where I stood.

Thirty minutes later, three riders came down the hill in what I knew was the wrong direction. I took that to mean that all was over and that the Pedrera section of the route had been cancelled. When I reached the main road and the barriers had been taken away, I knew I was right.

So instead of some good action photos, what you get is a photo of the path on a very wet Sunday morning.

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