As most of you know this year I had the privilege to work with the Kenda Pro Cycling P/B GEARGRINDER team at their team camp. Chad Thompson the founder and Manager of the team, AKA “BossMan”, contacted me earlier in the year asking if I could come to the team camp. I wanted to go to last years team camp but the timing was not right. This year however the timing was perfect. Kenda Pro Cycling (KPC) also was coming off a fantastic year and even better off season with some major signings, sponsor additions and invitation to the Amgen Tour of California. After working out the details I was set to come down on Tuesday the 22nd of February. The camp was located just outside of Orlando Florida in Clermont Florida. Team Manager Chad and Director Frankie Andreu (Yes former Tour de France rider and TV commentator for Versus!) decided Florida would be the best location for great weather this early in the year. They were right, it was fantastic. I spent most of the day on Wednesday shooting photos from the team car. Riders would ride up get a few shots then join the group. The end of the ride ended up being repeats climbing up Sugarloaf, the 2nd highest peak in Florida, yes I did say Peak and Florida in the same sentence. Thursday we shot photos on the TT bikes. The riders would pass by multiple times to get different shots. We also did individual head shots on Thursday, some of those images are already up on the team site. My hotel room ended up being my studio with two backdrops. I had to stand on my bed to get one of the shots. I appreciated my roommate, rider Bobby Sweeting, not giving me a hard time for the mess in the room. 
Also shooting stills there was another photographer and Creative Director for Masi Bikes – Pete Demos and Team Cinematographer filming interviews and the rides, Iain Paterson. As soon as his videos are available I will link them here. It was great to work with other creative personalities. Each night Pete, Iain and I were able to go with the team to the Team dinners. It was great siting around the table listening to the stories of races, racers and excitement of this coming year. Again these guys/this team is going places!! Friday we shot the team photos, I also went out for a ride myself. Saturday was very relaxed. I went for a ride with the guys that morning- it was “coffee shop ride”, which to them means get lost for about 23 miles till we find a coffee shop on a smart phone, then ride 5 miles back. I did hit the Chick-fil-a instead for a milkshake. I spent the rest of the day going through the about 3000 images or so that I had shot the past few days. I wanted to make sure that Each rider would have not only head shots but a few images of them riding in the various places. Saturday night I was able to show some of the images in a sideshow for the team. I spent the rest of the evening after dinner finishing editing and burning a few disks for Chad. I finally went to bed around 2:30am. Only to get up at 3:15am to get a few of the guys to the airport around 4:30am. After dropping them off and a quick return to the hotel, I headed back up to Atlanta. It was a nice long 7hour ride where I had the opportunity to try one of the products from a new major sponsors of the team, 5-Hour Energy. I have to give a shout out to a couple of sponsors! All of the sponsors who were there were very helpful and really show commitment to this program. Mario Mazza, a rider and sponsor (Mazza Vineyards) and is guy that makes things happen. He was a huge help. Chris from Mercury Bikes! Some amazing wheels! Phil from MASI bikes. Paul Weaver from GEARGRINDER– I now am lusting over their Podium Kits. Gustavo from VeloShine, great handy product for cleaning bikes. Geoff Godsey, a rider, even though he is not a sponsor, the team supports his work with Children‘s and Texas Tough. Another reason to watch this team, their involvement with Texas Tough and supporting Children’s Medical Center. And last Matt from Matteo Studios,who was not there, but he is the Creative Director for the Team. He takes all my images and freshens them up so that they can be on the website and in ads.
The new official name of the team is Kenda / 5-Hour Energy Pro Cycling p/b GEARGRINDER. Keep in contact with the team via the Facebook site. The leadership and commitment to this team from its sponsors and staff really shows. Will Swan and Paul Rytlewski (the Mechanics), Janis Burns (Soigneur and best lunch wraps ever!), Bruce Thompson, and Mario Mazza- all of them made this week a success. It was great to work with such an amazing bunch. I had a great time.
To see more images from the Kenda/5-hour Energy P/B GEARGRINDER Team Camp Click this Link!!
Check out a few of the images I shot on my Facebook site, or on the B.D.Andrews Website.
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