I have been nominated to post a riding/racing photo every day for 10 days.

Bike Photo Day 8: Maah Daah Hey, Medora, North Dakota August 7, 2014

Today’s photo brings us to North Dakota.  North Dakota doesn’t normally bring to mind epic mountain biking but the Maa Daah Hey is its crown jewel.  It is a 96-mile singletrack trail in the most picturesque part of western North Dakota. The ride sweeps over rolling buttes and grasslands with majestic plateaus, jagged peaks and valleys, large expanses of prairie and rivers that intertwine to make the trail one of the best in the Midwest.

This particular trip was the vision of Salsa Cycles’ brand manager Justin Julian.  Justin dreamed up the idea for he and his best friend to ride five trails in five states in five days.  Sounds impressive?  Well add into the mix that all of this was accomplished using motorcycles as the mode of transportation between trails.  Seeing two guys on BMW motorcycles cruising down the highway each with a mountain bike hanging off the back definitely draws a lot of looks.

This particular section of trail is called Devil’s Pass.  Being out there, miles from anywhere I could only but think of the pioneers who must have passed through this area hoping that their wagons and horses would not get stuck in the mud.

Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Focal Length: 25mm
Shutter Speed: 1/320
Aperture: f/8
ISO: 320

To read and see more about the adventure visit Salsa Cycle's 5 Trails, 5 States, 5 Days. 

I have been nominated to post a riding/racing photo every day for 10 days.

Bike Photo Day 7: West Yellowstone, Montana July 15, 2015

The future of Haraldson family cycling is clearly evident in this photo of my oldest daughter Ella practicing her skinny skills on a homemade teeter on a trip to visit their Aunt and Uncle at West Yellowstone this past summer.  Specific riding clothing?  Who cares I’ll just wear my footies!

To see my daughter’s find such great enjoyment in riding their bikes gives me a great sense of joy.  To see them graduate from one bike to the next, learning hand brakes, shifting, how to use suspension to pop their front wheel up, the fearlessness in attacking an obstacle.  Ella’s first 10 mile ride, Cora’s first time coasting down the driveway on her Strider, Lili’s first trip in the iBert on the Big Dummy.  Don’t get me wrong we have had our moments.  Like the time Ella decided to ride down the hill by our house, myself watching her go only to finally think to myself I wonder if she knows how to stop….only to see her crash moments later into the curb and fly over the handlebars.  Yeah it took a little convincing to get back on the bike after that one.

I hope that the passion for cycling will also be ingrained in all three of them and that they too have a lifelong passion for riding.

Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Focal Length: 50mm
Shutter Speed: 1/250
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 500

I have been nominated to post a riding/racing photo every day for 10 days.

Bike Photo Day 6: Afton, Minnesota October 15, 2006

I choose this picture for today as it represents the first time, as best I can recollect, I was paid to have one of my photos published in a mountain bike magazine.

I sent in a wide variety of images to Dirt Rag magazine on a whim and was pleasantly surprised when they reached out to me to say they wanted to use one my images for the final page of the publication in a section they call Last Chance For Gas.  I still get a kick out of seeing my images in publications and displaying my photos for others is one of my big motivation to take photos.  There are so many times when it would be a lot easier, maybe even more fun, to just leave the camera bag at home and get out and rip the trails but seeing others enjoy and share my photos with their friends makes the pain in my back from the carrying that damn heavy bag a little more tolerable.

Camera: Canon 20D
Focal Length: 130mm
Shutter Speed: 1/3200
Aperture: f/3.2
ISO: 200

With temperatures being unseasonably high for February Team Hop Wheels took the streets of Saint Paul for a relaxed group ride.  Photos through the eyes of Ella Haraldson (and the occasional friend).