This past weekend I traveled to Eastern Oregon to photograph the Sisters Stampede, a family-friendly XC mountain bike race with levels suitable for all abilities and ages. This fantastic sports event is put on each year in Sisters, Oregon, over Memorial Day weekend, organized by Mike Ripley of Mudslinger Events and hosted at FivePine Lodge (an event sponsor).
This event has such a fun characteristic with the horse lead out on the long course starts. There are two galloping horse starts, one for the men and then for the women. Unfortunately this year, one of the front-positioned women turned to follow the horse just as he was peeling off the presentation path to let the riders by, this caused a 6+ bike pile-up right off the bat. It sounded terrible! I believe all but the main woman continued onto the race (her helmet got cracked and was advised not to continue). I believe that most of the women in the pileup still placed on the podium! Impressive!
Long Course at 16-Miles on technical terrain
After the long course started, I dashed off into the hills to get to my position around mile sixteen at the top of the hill. It’s a grueling little area with some technical rocks and small stumps to navigate. I have around 500 images from this spot with only a couple misfires so I did capture quite a lot of the men and a portion of the women’s long course bikers. The gallery (link at top) is sectioned off and labeled to make it easier to find your photos. Scroll through this preview, but to see the full gallery visit the link at the top of this post (this blog post gallery is just a portion of the images).
Kids Fun Ride Race
Oh my goodness I could talk about how cute the kids race was alllll daaaay loooong. I’m not even sure you have to be a parent to adore this part of the event, it’s just hands-down adorable. I find it pretty fun to watch these parents who have already done their big races, root on their mini-me’s and get them in the game. There was only one small spill that I could tell, but they got back up and pedaled to the finish!
What’s included in the FREE Photography?
I am a promotional event photographer. I am hired by the event organizer to capture a collection to showcase the event for social media and web. This means that my job at the event is to photograph the vibe and experience, capture the race starts and the majority of the lead pack of bikers in action on the trail in the elite and adventure divisions, and lastly to showcase sponsor roles. I am a one-woman team and as much as I’d like to, cannot promise a shot of every rider on-course. For this reason, I provide the shots of yourself completely free to download (you can order prints from the gallery too). You’ll find in the photography coverage:
Photography is owned by me and may only be used for personal use only. Personal usage rights allow downloading, ordering prints, sharing on social media as much as you like. I’d appreciate a little love on social media if you could tag @FrizzStudio on Instagram. 🙂 You can read your full photo rights here on my Copyright Page.
The Sponsors: Biking, Beer & Food!
My husband and I dined at Three Creeks Brewing, Co. for about 75% of our weekend visit. I love a good burger (and mine is always lettuce wrapped). Our burgers were hands-down one of the best medium-rare burgers we have had (along with excellent customer service). Three Creeks Brewing was a Sisters Stampede event sponsor. They are located at the Three Pines resort area. Three Creeks Brewing staff were on-site providing post-event beer and meals for bikers and families attending the event.
Blazin Saddles Bike Shop (love the name!) is another Sisters Stampede event sponsor pharmacieinde.com/. An excellent bike shop located in downtown and locally owned. Shop owner, Casey and his Mom, lead out the kids fun ride and offered support for struggling riders along the way. They have a really awesome crew and had some bikers on the course as well.
More information about the Sisters Stampede
It was spawned from the inception of a new, revised network of trails in the Sisters, Oregon area called the Peterson Ridge trail. The trails were built by the Sisters Trail Alliance, who are passionate about making this beautiful area accessible to cyclists, runners, and hikers. COTA (Central Oregon Trail Alliance) also plays a big part in the area helping to develop trails for mountain bikers made by mountain bikers.
— History and more info of Sisters Stamped, read more…
If you’re new to mountain biking or you’re a seasoned biker, this event is for you. Mike at Mudslingers has made sure this is a family friendly, all-ages, all-levels event. It’s the perfect weekend getaway to the absolutely stunning area of Eastern Oregon. Sisters beholds a quaint, small-town atmosphere to stroll around downtown enjoying local eats, artwork and other fun shops to explore. The customer service and people in this town are simply 5-star. Smith Rock is within a 30-minute drive and an absolute must to check out if you’re already in the area. It’s a great way to spend a family weekend in a beautiful area of Oregon!
Mudslinger Events specializes in putting on great events in the Pacific Northwest including Mountain biking, Road and Trail Running under the Oregon Trail Runs Brand . Their events are held in the beautiful and diverse Willamette Valley, Central and Southern Oregon and uses the best combination of trails and routes possible. Go and sign up for one!
Dear Molly, This is a very different yet interesting event you seem to have covered. Loved the way you have covered the event through the rigorous terrain and the path in which the bikers have taken their troll. Thank you for sharing your complete experience in covering such a unique event all along and your view on the same in such valour.