Of course, our Bob was really working and not spectating. He tells me that he was holding the Lynx capture button at the time.
A superb finishing shot from British Cycling's Larry Hickmott. I'm sure Larry won't mind it being reproduced for our benefit here as it's a very limited circulation and I freely acknowledge his copyright.
Another Larry Hickmott picture (left) shows the length we sometimes have to go to in getting things right. In this image from the Jack Grainger Road Race Bob decided to take matters into his own hands.
Bob's comments: "I asked the rider why he put the number on the right side, he said he had seen another rider with his on that side!" If riders had a brain they would be deadly. Still think all riders should be chipped at the start of a season - it would help solve the transponder situation. Well why not? It's good enough for my dog.
The room was high up at the back of the main stand and you can tell from the size of lenses that it was a long way from the track! At the time they were in the process of changing from 'wet film' to digital, and most of us will recognise the two OPS2 cameras. The one at the top is Omega's Hawkeye camera which had been installed for evaluation. The OPS2 units did not use film processors as we used to have - instead, the films were removed in the dark and taken to an adjacent dark room for developing. There they printed positives for the stewards. The stewards room itself was also close by and here they had a monitor for looking at the output from Hawkeye.
Now the OPS2s have been scrapped and replaced by more Hawkeyes. Incidentally, the cameras are only on one side of the track. In cases where horses are obscured by those nearest the camera, they have a vertical mirror on the finishing post which shows a reflection of horses on that side. You may have seen it on horse races in this country.
On the left is one of his first outings whilst he was still evaluating the setup. At the time neither Bob or myself had used them so Tom was the guinea-pig for the experiment. After this experience he reckoned that the time saved was well worth it and summed it all up as "sheer bliss".
His enthusiastic comments won over me and Bob, so much so that we couldn't wait for BC to buy them for us all. I still think that the layout at this finish looks a bit like Steptoe's yard with all the old scaffolding laid out to stop people encroaching on the tripod area. This is still an issue that we have yet to resolve properly.
Darley Moor (left). This is a great location because we can place the camera inside the circuit's timing/judges cabin. Whenever I tried this I used one of the big tripods which we had left over from the old cameras. Because it was set further back I think I was getting reflections off the window and I wasn't at all happy with the result.
So much so that I went back
to setting the tower up!
However Bob says good pictures were obtained using the table top tripod shown, so that should be a helpful tip for the future.
When we are out on the road we work in the back of the van. It's a bit cramped at times but it works.
Tom's van at the Fred Cowley RR is shown on the right and helps give an idea of the setup. It's one of the old Transits and looks a bit neater than mine!
Athough we usually work out of the van, there are occasions when we can set our equipment up elsewhere.
In this case Bob was able to work in the blue vehicle in the background, which I believe was the presentation area.
 Talking of atmosphere, the picture (above) from Larry Hickmott was taken at the Newport Nocturne event. it's a great image from an event which has been running for very many years, and one which I have never even been to.
Especially interesting from our point of view is the rider on the right using Bob's camera tripod to get a flying start! If you find out who he is Bob we will pay him a visit and break his arms.
"Found this bike shop when we went for a walk on the first day of our hols in Akyaka in south west Turkey. We think they still do rod brakes!"
I think it's the Turkish Technical Services team shown having a well-earned siesta. Do they have siestas in Turkey, and are the bikes fitted with transponders?
Here's our shiny new motors lined up at Manchester Velodrome before we got our grubby little mitts on them.
This picture (right) shows the vehicles with their new branding. It would be great to get them all together again (with drivers) for a proper team photo.
Not content with his prolific photographic output to these pages, Bob has branched out a bit.
On the left
is one of his pictures entered in a photo competition for the front
cover of a local magazine. It was taken about 3 years ago in the
grounds of Staunton Harold Hall, a National Trust site just up the
road from his home. It's a great
picture which has lost some of its' sharpness because I had to reduce
the original size quite a lot. Apparently Bob is still waiting for the £10 prize, but when he does get the money it's drinks all round! 
Bob was awarded the BC's Badge of Honour at the National Council Meeting at the end of November 2005. It was awarded for Bob's all round work for British Cycling, because as well as being one of the mainstays of Technical Services he remains heavily involved with all aspects of the sport. I have to say that he is one of the most deserved recipients of this honour. Also bear in mind that any form of award like this should also be a recognition of the support given by Margaret. Without our spouse's understanding we would not be out and about 'enjoying ourselves' like we do. At the end of the 2007 season Bob announced his retirement from Technical Services. He still maintains an interest in our activities and continues to offer help and advice when possible. I owe him a great deal and would like to place on record my appreciation for his help over the years. Maybe you would like to 'keep your hand in' occasionally, Bob. |
From
early 2005 at the National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh (right).
Here's our very own Bob Pinkerton [white shirt to the left of the picture]
as a member of the 'Rent-a-Crowd' in 2005. To Bob's right is our well-known
former leader Bob Barber decked out in the obligatory Rudy Project shades.
We've
had a lot of discussion about the difficulties we face
when riders don't put their numbers on so that we can read them. Sometimes,
believe it or not, organisers only provide a single body number!
I
thought this picture on the right may be of some interest. Taken in the
photofinish room at the Jockey Club in Kuala Lumpur in 2001, it shows three
cameras mounted on a large diameter steel pole. The pole was securely bolted
to both floor and ceiling and all cameras were perfectly aligned with the
finishing line.
Tom
was the first of us to get his hands on a tripod. Before
that we used to erect a scaffold tower.
I like this pic from Bob (left). Taken at Newport during the Women's World Cup event, it shows the colour and atmosphere of the race. 
Top
pic from Bob and Margaret's holiday in Turkey (left),
with brief commentary from the great man himself.
Here's a blast from the past. We used to cover races at Eastway with the old Omega OPS2 cameras, and the best pictures were always obtained by setting the equipment up on the roof of the changing rooms.