Waterloo, Wisconsin
Imagine you find yourself standing on the starting line of a UCI World Cup Cyclocross race inches away from the best racers in the world. What would you do?
I took a selfie! I’ll admit not very professional by some standards but by mine it was the only thing to do.
Of course I took pictures of Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel along with others but I just had to savor the moment and pop that selfie thanks to the media pass I was given by Trek Cycling communications director Tim Vanderjeugd.
In fact much of my beer filled, heat stroke, cyclocross racing, celebrity spotting, drawing extravaganza weekend at the Trek CX Cup in Waterloo, Wisconsin was due in part to my good friends at Trek Bicycles and Trek Travel. I even attached my Cycling Art Pavilion tent to the Trek Travel tent near the Lakefront Brewery tent. Life is good.
You see the deal works like this, I draw pictures of what I see, which isn’t always what the photographers see, and I post them on social media. I tag everything so @TrekCXCup and @trektravel see them and then they can either repost them or just like and share them.
I’m a “Cycling Alternative Media Provider” CAMP for short.
Yep, I just made that up but I like it.
When I travel to an event like this or the Tour de France – I don’t usually draw a picture that looks like the photos that are reporting on the race. I draw what they don’t always capture – a feeling or an idea. Sometimes funny, sometimes insightful but I hope always entertaining. That’s my job. Entertaining and inspiring cycling fans as I Chase the Peloton!
As for this weekend’s celebrity spotting in Waterloo – Sven Nys, Jens Voigt, Katie Compton, Katerina Nash, Emma White and “The” Gary Fisher, were all on hand and very accessible to fans. Cyclocross is like that. Not like the big fence they have at the Tour de France. Here at Trek CX Cup, Waterloo you can walk right up to your favorite pro and just say “hi”!
If you’ve never been to a live cycling event, I would urge you to get out of your comfort zone and go to one. If you missed the Trek CX Cup you missed a world-class event but local CX races are everywhere these days – go watch. Better yet, go race. Maybe I’ll draw your picture.
Cowbells forever!
