Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

Gazette photographer Kevin Kreck shot the hill climb today and captured some nice images from the unique race to the top of Pikes Peak, not an easy event to cover by yourself.


Tajima Nobuhiro celebrates as he hears his record-breaking time of 10 minutes, 1 second, beating the old record by three seconds.


Flagman Art Walsh drops the checkered flag on Steven Bennett's run in a 1996 Wells Coyote.


Tyler Casebier drives his 2004 Ford Mustang to a third place finish in the Super Stock division with a time of 11:51.38.


Drivers finished with their runs watch as Todd Cook drives his 2000 Wells Ice Coyote into Olympic turn on his way to winning the Mini Sprint division with a time of 11:37.62.


Lynn Cowan drives his 2007 Pontiac Sunfire to a fourth place finish in the Super Stock division with a time of 11:55.77.

Old-fashioned scoreboard

Earlier this summer I spent time with two of the scoreboard operators at Coors Field. Jim Lee and Jim Park operate the manual the out-of-town scoreboard in right field four times a week. I always wondered who worked behind the green wall and called the Rockies this spring about doing a story. The two Jims were characters and made for some good audio and conversation. Check out The Gazette's Life section on Sunday for my story and photos and check online at http://www.gazette.com/interactives/scoreboard

Race to the clouds

One of the annual events we cover is the Pike Peak International Hill Climb to the top of 14,115-foot Pikes Peak. It's the second oldest automobile race in the country behind the Indy 500. Gazette photographer Bryan Oller shot this photo in the early morning light on the first day of practice Tuesday. Saturday is the race and look for more coverage through Sunday in The Gazette.

Images of weather

Here are two nice weather features from Germany.

Lightning strikes over the old town skyline of Dresden, eastern Germany, Monday late evening. (AP Photo/Matthias Rietschel)

Youngsters jump from a bridge to cool off in the waters of the Isar river canal in Munich, southern Germany, Wednesday, July 18, 2007, as the hot weather continued all over Germany. (AP Photo/Diether Endlicher)

Ouch

Associated Press photographer Inaki Porto shot this amazing photo Thursday from the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
The running of the bulls is part of the San Fermin festival dating back to 1591. Since records began in 1924, 13 people have been killed in the bull runs through the city streets, the last one in 1995. Norwegian Christopher Neiff, who was the person being gored in the leg, is lucky. What a crazy festival that fills the wire with good photos.

Nice images from this week's photo wire

Revelers enjoy water thrown from a balcony during the San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona, northern Spain, Friday, July 6, 2007. The fiestas 'Los San Fermines' held since 1591, attracts tens of thousands of foreign visitors each year for nine days of revelry, morning bull-runs and afternoon bullfights. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

A man walks beside a taxi as it rains in Mumbai, India. Life in the rain-battered city got back on track as flood waters receded from waterlogged areas and traffic was normal in most parts, but an immediate respite from rains appeared unlikely as the met department forecast heavy downpours in the city according to a news report. (AP Photo/ Gautam Singh)

U.S. singer Lenny Kravitz greets fans at the Live Earth concert on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Saturday, July 7, 2007. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Shooting Fireworks

Fourth of July fireworks is one of the assignments we get every year, giving rise to the challenge of trying to make an image different from recent years. Covering fireworks is as much about what else is in the image as the fireworks themselves. I knew I wanted to be away from Memorial Park and have downtown in the foreground. I scouted three or four locations during the day, trying to visualize where the fireworks would best line up with the buildings. Once I found the best spot, I returned two hours before the fireworks to make sure I could set up my tripod before others arrived. The exposure was 15 seconds at f11 or 16. The shutter time was a compromise between getting a number of fireworks bursts in one frame and the amount of time the digital camera would spend reducing the digital noise, a time during which it isn't possible to shoot another frame. The longer the exposure, the longer the noise reduction time. This frame had the most bursts, making it the most pleasing image.

On the road: home

Home at last. After traveling 4, 914 miles through 18 states and the District of Columbia we returned to Colorado Springs Tuesday, July 3, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. The view of Pikes Peak as we traveled west of Platte Avenue reminded me of how lucky we are to live in Colorado Springs.

On the road: Kansas City

We saw a great game of baseball at Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium. The only problem was the bad guys won. The Royals beat my Mariners 3-2 in 11 innings. Honestly, you couldn't ask for a better night of baseball. The weather was perfect, the game close and the Royals' stadium is a great place to see a game. After the game we drove to Lawrence where we spent the night. One more day.

On the road: Take me home country roads

Driving through West Virginia John Denver's "Take Me Home Country Roads" kept playing through my mind. The tree-covered hills and pristine looking rivers made me want to come back to the area some day to explore the outdoors it has to offer. I bet the mountain biking is good. Kentucky was just as nice. We are spending the night in Louisville and wil travel to Kansas City to watch my Seattle Mariners, who by the way won their eighth-straight game today against Toronto, play the Royals. After the game, we'll drive to Lawrence, Kansas, where we'll spend the night and Tuesday check out the University of Kansas before driving home. Go Mariners.