Wolfpack Hustle Midnight Drag Race on the 6th Street Bridge
The Midnight Drag Race is an annual event put on by the Wolfpack Hustle folks. This was its biggest year ever, held on the 6th Street Bridge in Los Angeles, which soon will be torn down.
Best race faces of 2012
Here are some of my favorite racing photos of the past year.
Tela Crane, left, and Alissa Maglaty sprint to the finish at Elite Track Nationals.
Zak Kovalcik at Elite Track Nationals.
Katie Compton, left, and Cari Higgins in the Madison race at Elite Track Nationals.
Guy East and Austin Carroll in the Madison at Elite Track Nationals.
Dana Feiss racing the Keirin at Elite Track Nationals.
Matt Baranoski vs. Andy Lakatosh, one of the great battles at Elite Track Nationals.
Amgen Tour of California, downtown Los Angeles.
Girls field at Junior Track States.
Junior Track States. I’m amazed he kept racing.
Keith Ketterer breaks the world hour record.
Damian Alfonso at Paralympic Worlds, representing Cuba. Damian was severely injured retrieving a kite from power lines as a child. He is a very determined competitor.
The awesome Sarah Storey at Paralympic Worlds. She won gold in everything she entered.
Craig Maclean and and Anthony Kappes win the gold medal in the tandem sprint at Paralympic Worlds.
Greta Neimanas wins gold in the scratch race at Paralympic Worlds.
Tim McGee kills it at the Wolfpack Hustle 2nd Street Tunnel race.
Elite track nationals, Sunday
Here’s a photo gallery of the Sunday races from elite track nationals. Click on the photo and it will take you to the gallery on SmugMug.
This is one of my favorites of the day — T.J. Mathieson racing the kilo.
Wolfpack Hustle’s 2nd Street Tunnel bike drag race
Here’s Los Angeles’ historic 2nd Street Tunnel as I’d never seen it before. I drive through it every day and had never seen the dirty white tiles up close until Wolfpack Hustle held their first legal bike drag race there  last Saturday. Here are a few photos that give a sense of what a fun night it was.
First, here’s James Zaldua, the second-place finisher, at the end of the tunnel several hours before the racing started. James rides at the Encino and Carson velodromes.
A contingent of tall bikes raced against each other.
And here’s the winner, Tim McGee, who was training with the U.S. national development team earlier this year.
Olympians, revisited
Inspired by the Olympics, I re-edited a couple of photos from Elite Track Nationals. One is of sprinter Jimmy Watkins, now in London, and the other is of past U.S. Olympian Giddeon Massie.
LAVRA upgrade races
Andrew King and Mikael Weitze battled it out several times Saturday. Each race was very close. King won this sprint.
Portrait of Christopher Reed at the rail.
Big women’s field for a change.
Adams Avenue in the lead. Some riders came up from San Diego to race.
Ryan Barrett leads the group.
Favorite photos from SCNCA Junior State Track Championships
The kids who raced at the Southern California/Nevada championships last saturday at the Encino Velodrome showed a lot of speed, skill and heart. I picked these photos mainly for the “heart.”
Jules isn’t the biggest rider in his age group, but he is one of the fastest, and you can see how seriously he takes racing by the look on his face.
All I can say is, go girls, go!
Donavon went down hard on the cement track, but got up and kept racing.
Girl power!
LAVRA Friday night races and sprint exhibition
Community racers and elite riders from Team USA and Team Canada competed recently at Velo Sports Center in Carson. The elites put on a sprint exhibition for the spectators. When the results are posted, here’s where they will be.
Gillian Carleton
Jennifer Valente vs. Tela Crane
Jennifer Valente wins heat against Tela Crane.
Nate Koch vs. Sam Milroy
Gavin Hoover
Giddeon Massey beats T.J. Mathieson
Quinn Hatfield vs. Jack Lindquist
Here’s video of an exciting race between Quinn Hatfield, owner of one of the best restaurants in L.A. — Hatfield’s — and Jack Lindquist, an elite rider and host of my GoPro. They are riding a match sprint at the Encino Velodrome.
Favorite photos from LAVRA’s time trials
Here are some of my favorite photos from the racing last Saturday at the Velo Sports Center. The full set is at http://www.patbenson.smugmug.com
LAVRA Winter Classic
Here are some of my favorite photos from the Los Angeles Velodrome Racing Assn.’s Winter Classic.
First shot of the day.
Looks like some bumping is going on here.
This is World Famous Johnny Walsh, involved in the aforesaid bumping..
Tara McCormick
Kate Wilson
A rider congratulates Kevin Schiller on his win.
Jay Wolkof
Favorite photos from Paralympics Track Cycling World Championshps
The Paralympics Track Cycling World Championships was the first time I’d ever shot an international competition. It was exciting to see top athletes from around the world coming to our local velodrome to compete and set world records.
This first photo is of Damian Alfonso of Cuba, who was severely injured when he tried to retrieve a kite caught in power lines. He simply rests his arms on the handlebars.
This is Craig Griffin, coach of the U.S. Paralympic Team, urging on Aaron Jacob Trent.
The Chinese team was young and enthusiastic. The entire team came to the rail together to cheer on their teammate.
Lisa Turnbull pilots Karissa Whitsell for the United States.
A Chinese time trial silver medalist.
Laura Sobchik gave it everything she had in the 3-kilometer time trial. This was her first international competition.
The amazing Sarah Storey of Great Britain, who won gold in all of her individual events.
No.1
Mike Farrell walks to the start. The expression on his face tells it all.
Italian legend Roberto Chiappa pilots Andrea Palantrini.
Pete Billington and Chester Triplett.
Craig Maclean and Anthony Kappes set a world record.
A Spanish rider is comforted after he crashes in the team sprint.
After a few minutes he gets back to the start line and gets a talk from his coach.
Britain vs. Spain. Britain won the competition.
Team sprint podium
Greta Neimanas in the final sprint for gold in the scratch race.
Greta wins gold.
The Netherlands vs. Britain
Allison Jones muscles her bike around the track.
Allison Jones and Greta Neimanas medal on the first day.
Keith Ketterer breaks the hour record
Here are photos of Keith Ketterer’s hour record attempt Sunday. Keith set a new record of 45.0189 kilometers for the 55- to 59-year-old age group. Keith is my age — a huge inspiration. He already held the world record for 50- to 54-year-olds.
This is Madison racing
Madison races involve exchanges between two teammates. Watch Chris Reed and his partner, Mikael Weitze, compete in this exhibition race at the Home Depot Center Velodrome. Among the riders–Kate Wilson, the only woman in the field.
Join the race
There’s nothing like watching a race from the handlebars of someone else’s bike.
I just got a GoPro Hero 2 and mounted it on my teammate Chris Reed’s Tiemeyer for the points and Madison races Sunday at the Home Depot Center Velodrome.
This video puts you in the middle of the pack for the points race, but out of harm’s way. Watch out for the crash in the distance around 8:58.
The Olympics aren’t the only games in London this summer. The Paralympic Games follow the Olympics in August, featuring disabled athletes from around the world competing in 20 different sports.
Two Southern California cyclists are among those hoping to go the distance. But first, Greta Neimanas of Cardiff and Laura Sobchik of Santa Monica have to do well at the World Track Cycling Championships Feb. 9-12 at the Home Depot Center Velodrome in Carson.
In this video, Neimanas and Sobchik are training with Team USA for Track Worlds. They are riding fixed-gear bikes without brakes–that’s because if you tried braking on the Carson velodrome’s 45-degree banked track, you’d slide off. You’ll side off too if you go to slow. But when you go fast, you can feel the G forces pushing you up track.
Both Neimanas and Sobchik ride time trials–racing against the clock over fixed distances. A 500-meter race is two laps around the track, for example.
For Neimanas, who rides with a prosthetic arm, making it to London would be coming full circle. She won an essay contest and a trip to the Athens games in 2004. The first event she saw was track cycling.
“I thought people were absolutely nuts to race around the velodrome  on a bike with no brakes and one gear and super-skinny tires and 35-40 miles an hour,” she said. “And naturally I wanted to try it ”
Track Worlds is free to the public. For more information, click hereÂ
Best Race Faces of 2011
Here are some of my favorite photos of pain and determination from last year. Many are from Elite Track Nationals at the Home Depot Center Velodrome, where the intensity was amped up more than any other race of the season. Other photos are from Master’s States in San Diego, LAVRA and juniors races at the HDC Velodrome, and the Encino Velodrome.
Michael Blatchford vs. Giddeon Massie in the match sprint final
One of the most thrilling races at elite track nationals was the battle between reigning champion Giddeon Massie and Michael Blatchford, who came out of retirement this year. Both are Olympians who are likely to compete in London next year. Blatchford won the race for gold.
Paralympians at track nationals
This is a slideshow of photos I shot at track cycling nationals earlier this month at the Los Angeles Velodrome. Some of these athletes were selected to represent the United States next year at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, which will be held
Feb. 9-12 at the velodrome in Carson. About 230 athletes from 30 countries will compete. The World Cup is the final qualifying event for U.S. athletes to be nominated to the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Cycling Team, which will participate in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
My favorite image from elite track nationals
It’s been several weeks since the end of elite track nats and I’ve been meaning to do more with my best photos — it was a chore going through all 2,000 and getting 600 or so on my website. My eyes are still tired.
Here’s probably my favorite picture. It was one of the biggest moments at nationals–two-time Olympian Giddeon Massie edged Matt Baranoski at the line to win gold in the keirin. I got peak action in sharp focus when the riders were hitting 40 mph.
Here’s what Giddeon had to say about his come-from behind victory in an interview with the Orange County Register:
 “As I was making the turn on the final corner, I thought, “oh, this is going to be close,’ ” Massie said. “There were some very quick guys behind me so I didn’t want to hit it too soon, but I did end up going a little late. Luckily, I had a little bit left at the end to get the win.”
It was thrilling to watch.
He Is Austin Carroll
Austin Carroll gave me some great tips about how to boost my video views. But somehow inserting “hot chick” as keywords probably isn’t going to work for what I do. Here’s an interview with the master vlogger and elite cyclist himself.
Last race before Nats
I got a new 70-200 lens that I needed to figure out before Nationals next week. The Los Angeles Velodrome is usually dim for the local races, which makes it hard to shoot with longer focal lengths. Luckily, most of the lights were on for this race, so I got to dial in some of my settings. Here are some of the shots.
It was a long day at the velodrome
I got to the Los Angeles Velodrome before 9 Saturday for the LAVRA time trials and omnium and didn’t leave till 8. That’s a lot of getting up and down. I could barely walk the next two days, my quads were so sore. I need to build up my photo muscles before elite nats, which goes on for several days. The racing was especially fun because the athletes are tuning up for nats too, and some came from as far as San Jose, San Diego and Arizona. It was especially nice seeing Beth Newell, who rode strong in the men’s field, and Austin Carroll, who won the omnium.
Here are some of my favorite photos:
IT IS ABOUT THE BIKE 