The Radavist

The last time I was at the Red Hook Crit, it was a small, intimate race through the dark, cobbled streets of Red Hook, Brooklyn. And even though I’ve paid close attention to the past two year’s event, I was not prepared to be greeted with a large, well-lit, legitimate closed course criterium. 20 laps of fast-paced track bike racing greeted me, complete with the standard spills and thrills. I feel like this year, more than before, the community as a whole embraced the event, sparking riders to travel from SF, LA and even as far as Italy and Spain. With Dan Chabanov defending his title, his competition came mostly from the legs of Mash‘s Rainier. With one lap to go, Dan’s solo gap was enough to seal his victory and Rainier took a solid second place. See the full results here.

It was the first time I’ve ever shot an event like this at night, so I wanted to try a few ideas out in field and for the most part, I’m pleased with the outcome.

Cinelli USA helped fund my trip out to the 2012 Red Hook Crit and below are select photos I shot for them.

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I just got in from the 2012 Red Hook Crit Dinner Celebration and I’m a little drunk, very tired and anxious for what tomorrow night will bring. The general vibe at this year’s dinner was quite intimate, drawing in a small crowd of racers, media, supporters and NYC locals. A dinner was served, drinks were poured and I got to see some familiar faces. Cinelli unveiled the 2012 Red Hook Crit Vigorelli, Giro displayed their prizes and other brands showed off their contributions. It was a great night.

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In the waining hours of daylight today, I met up with long-time friend Dan Chabanov. In the past few years, I’ve watched and admired Dan’s progress as he’s grown to what I’ll call a professional cyclist (read: PRO). While he competes actively in the road circuits, Dan’s most known for being an ATMO racer. His past season for Richard Sachs earned him much-deserved respect in the cross circuits and I felt like, the whole time, I was living through reading his race reports on Bonedeth.

A few months back, Adam of Stanridge Speed offered to send Dan a Highstreet Low Pro to race at the 2012 Red Hook Crit. Knowing that Dan is of “racer pedigree”, Adam knew if he got his bike under his, well, uhh, taint?, he’d receive some great PR&D, as well as exposure. Let’s face it, the Red Hook Crit is the premiere track bike crit and Dan is indeed #fixiefamous. I shot this bike in very little light and complete darkness, all handheld, at apertures I’ve learned to avoid, so please excuse the shallow depth of field.

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Since PiNP is a one-man show, it’s tough to make it out to every single event. Over the years, I’ve gotten to know a lot of inspiring and talented individuals through the bike scene. Many of which are photographers who’ve inspired me to continue pressing forward with the site. So when I relaunched PiNP with new galleries and photosets, I wanted to reach out to my peers and ask them to contribute content. While I’m not ready to start handing over guest accounts, one of the ways I’m implementing this material is through Recent Roll posts: looking through their lenses.

The first Lens post is from Crihs and his experience at the 2012 NAHBS Mash Team TT race. Below are a series of photographs compiled while he raced. All photos by Chris Thormann.

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