Big Portage Lake
Waterloo State Park
Grass Lake, Michigan

I had been in the area this past spring to shoot the Waterloo Gravel Race. It was before the place was in full bloom, which I got to experience yesterday. Big Portage Lake is clear, clean and shallow. I heard no complaints though because it was warm, like bath water. Since I was shooting alone for this one, I couldn’t get too far away from the finish line. I have ridden the gravel course before and can testify that it’s a challenge. During this race, I walked a mile on the hiking path, deep into the woods, and it was tough.

Outside of its natural beauty, the best for me was the overall race vibe. The East side put forth a lot of good athletes, and many of those have been at it for a long time. They’ve also embraced an entire team of people coming over from the West side to take the reign of a race they’ve been doing for a long time.

Good food. Strong athletes. New faces. Fun race committee. The perfect combination for a great day!

More over on smugmug.