Seafair is mainly about the airshow for me. However, there is a lot more to it than that and the hydroplane races have long been a key part of proceedings. I didn’t worry too much about the races as I was only planning on getting to the lake in time for the flying. I did have an easy journey and got to the lakeshore earlier than expected and there appeared to be some qualifying underway on the water. I was not well positioned to see the course, but I could still see them as they ran around the southern part of the track. Consequently, I got a few shots and here are some pretty serious look hydroplanes.
Tag Archives: Sports
Rowing Near the Locks
A cold but sunny winter’s day at the locks in Ballard did not make me think that being on the water would be fun. However, someone clearly had a different idea. While I was walking around looking at the boats and the wildlife, a guy was out sculling in his boat. He came quite close to the overflow from the sluice gates and had to work to position himself with the flow and turbulence from the water as it headed towards the sound. It seemed like a very cold time to be out there, but I guess he was enjoying himself?
Drag Racing
I have had the chance to photograph a variety of motorsports over the years but I recently got a chance to try something new. I went to see some drag racing at Pacific Raceways in Kent, south of where we live. I have seen drag racing on TV in the past but have not ever been in person. I was covering this for Speed and Sport Journal, a website run by my friend Joel in Chicago. I won’t rewrite the piece I put together for him but will, instead, include the link here to that work.
https://www.speedandsportjournal.com/flav-r-pac-nhra-northwest-nationals/
The focus on that article was not on the results and individual performances but instead what the experience was like going to my first drag racing. It was a very intense thing to be so close to. Incredibly loud and physically imposing stuff and quite unlike anything I had done before and that includes standing beside fast jets as they take off. Joel used a number of my images for the article so here I shall include some that didn’t make it in but that I liked for whatever reasons my brain may have.
Friday Night at the Velodrome
I persuaded Nancy that a fun Friday evening could be had in Marymoor Park if we went to watch some track cycle racing. Not sure how I managed that, but the food trucks and beer garden might have swung it for me. Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome is located in the park and is the last velodrome available in the Pacific Northwest of the US. It attracts lots of riders as a result. It is ages since I last went to a velodrome to watch racing, so I was looking forward to it. The Nationals were on in California, so some of the regular racers were away but there were still plenty of competitors out.
I shall share some examples of the wider view of the arena, the competitors and the spectators for now. Some more racing specific shots will come in a separate post. It was a great evening with lovely weather (and great food and beer), and I think we both enjoyed it. The racing was well structured to keep it entertaining, and they even had races for the kids. The star of that show was a kid with a big wheel! It was all I could do not to reference respecting my “authoritie”.
The Start of a New Stadium
NFL fans in a couple of cities are still mourning the loss of their teams to Los Angeles. With the Rams and the Chargers both now based in LA, a new stadium is being built to accommodate them. Meanwhile, they are playing in existing stadiums. The new stadium, when it is finished, will be one of the most extravagant designs and will be used for other tasks including the future Olympics. Right now, construction work is underway. I saw the work site from my plane as I came in to LAX but didn’t have the camera to hand. However, when flying above LAX in the helicopter, I was able to get some shots at a bit of a distance of the work in progress.
Ah, An Esprit!
Since I didn’t grow up in the US, a lot of the older cars in museums are not ones that I knew about as a kid. However, a Lotus Esprit is one right out of my childhood. I fell in love with this car as a result of The Spy Who Loved Me when Bond’s Esprit morphed into a submarine. From then on, I dreamed of owning this car. The America’s Car Museum has an example of the pre-turbo Esprit in its collection and, while it certainly is dated by the styling, I still think it is a great looking car. Just don’t pay attention to the switches and knobs pinched from the parts bins of the major car manufacturers of the time!
Last Skiing of the Season
For the serious skier, nothing should get in the way of your sport – not even a lack of snow. We were in Squaw Valley at the end of the skiing season. The weather was lovely and warm with loads of sun. Shorts and t-shirts were the order of the day for many. However, in the final days of the skiing season, there was still snow on the higher parts of the mountains. We took a trip to High peak on the aerial tram and the last two days of skiing were being exploited by the faithful.
People rode to the top and then walked across the rock to get to the edge of the snow. The snow certainly wasn’t looking too great and the gentler slopes required more effort to get moving. However, you could then get across to other lifts and get higher up on the slopes. There were a lot of people making use of the few runs and lifts still open. I guess they will have to wait until the snows return so the last moments must be worth it. Watching them tromping through the town in their ski gear when others were strolling in warm weather clothes was pretty funny to see.
Chicago Fire
Another throwback sports event today. The Chicago Fire MLS team opened their stadium at Toyota Park shortly after we moved to the city. We only went to watch one game so I don’t have a whole bunch of pictures of them playing. I did not know what their policy was for cameras being allowed in to the stadium so I took a long zoom in case they didn’t object. It turned out they really didn’t care at all!
I was watching the game rather than trying to cover it so I didn’t take a lot of shots. However, I did happen to have the camera up a couple of times when the play got exciting and these shots were the best that I got.
Gas Pumps
If you are going to have a museum to cars, why not include a tribute to the thing that makes them go? While fuel itself is not terribly suitable for an exhibit, the pumps that provide it prove to be a surprisingly good idea. Blackhawk Automotive Museum has a bunch of different gas pumps from through the years on display. They are all restored to pristine condition and probably look far better than they did when they were new.
The pumps cover a number of years and a variety of gas companies. The evolution of the pump designs is quite clear as you go through the years. I am not sure I fully understand how they worked but they seem to have involved filling up a clear vessel at the top of the pump with fuel. This filling process allowed you to work out exactly how much fuel was to be provided. Then, when the amount was worked out, the hose would allow you to drain the fuel down to the vehicle.
The early versions seem to be quite simple in layout and, as the years pass, the systems seem to become a bit more complex. A modern pump is way more complex but also severely lacking when it comes to styling. These old pumps look like they had some artists involved in styling them and the colors of the companies were similarly intricate. I guess that is how things worked in those days. Now efficiency, maintainability and functionality will win out over style.
Aston Martins
Aston Martin is not a company that has varied the styling of its cars significantly over the years. There are several shapes that have formed the basis of their designs but they have been quite effective at making the most of a concept. This is not a criticism in any way. There are few cars from the company that I haven’t liked although some have worked better for me than others. However, when compared to other marques that have had a wide variety of styles and designs in a given timeframe, Aston has been quite simple with its approach.
Consequently, it isn’t tricky to recognize the Astons on display at Blackhawk. The models on show are some older types but they are some good looking machines. One of them is a racing model which has a slightly more aggressive look to it. They had variations on the green that Aston is known for. I suspect a couple of my family members would like to have seen them!