Grosse Ile Duathlon Photo Album (link)

I used two cameras: A Canon Rebel Xsi and a Canon EOS 20D interchanging three different lenses.

I can't say enough about these incredibly rugged Canons, especially the bargain priced Rebel Xsi. By the end of the day both my cameras were soaking wet. Neither malfunctioned. I ruin at least one camera a year due to water, droppage, sand or what have you- but it is seldom a Canon. I've had one Canon break, an EOS 10D with a couple hundred thousand photos run through it. I had it repaired at Adray's for $150. It broke when I shoved a compact flash card in too hard and bent the pin connectors. Considering the hell I put my cameras through, using them in salt spray on the ocean, shooting in Antarctica on a zodiac at -28 degrees, carrying them on mountaineering expeditions, shooting in Africa where electricity and battery charging is hit-or-miss, getting lashed in a sand storm in the Sahara, they survive admirably.

Shooting from a helicopter- especially a light helicopter in a driving rain storm with the door off- is, well, fun...

When I was shooting the photo of race winner Matt West coming out of the nature preserve we were hovering about 50 feet over the end of the runway and I was leaning as far out of the aircraft as possible. A strong gust caught us and a Robinson R22 is a small helicopter. I nearly fell out, my seat belt kept me from going out the door. When we flew to the section of the island where West River road comes back toward the airport we found ourselves in very low cloud cover about 500 yards from two high smoke stacks on a steel factory across the river from Grosse Ile. Then the radio announced another pilot descending toward Grosse Ile. It was a little sketchy there for a moment so we descended to 50 feet over the river and flew back to the airport. As soon as we crossed back onto the island we could fly as high as 200-400 feet and still be below the clouds. The fellow flying did an nice job- those little helicopters are tough to fly in gusty conditions. It was big fun.

Edited by Thomas Demerly 2008-09-14 3:38 PM

OK, I posted the photos to an album here. Thanks for the help.





















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GI8.jpg (65KB - 25 downloads)
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 This was a great race, had a lot of fun in the rain. The run covered all types of terrain, dirt, field, trail and cement. Running and riding on the runway was very unique. The support was fantastic. Was nice to ride all the way around the Island, traffic was minimal and well covered by the local authorities. Highly recommened.

Thanks for coming out- good to see you there and thanks for braving the weather.

More photos- complete album below (click albums)





































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GI28.jpg (69KB - 24 downloads)
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GI12.jpg (59KB - 27 downloads)
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GI19.jpg (53KB - 29 downloads)

I'm so bummed we couldn't make it! My husband and I trained with Meggan K quite a bit last year. Don't people know that they shouldn't plan their weddings during the racing season??? I think I would have preferred doing a Du rather than being a bridesmaid for my sis-in- law this past weekend!