Lightpainting Meet Up On The Race Track - Part Two

Here is the link to the post...

On the cover photo you see the pacer (Christian) on the motorcycle who is being chased by the stayer (Gerd) on his bike. The veil, painted in the darkness with an acrylic rod attached to a flashlight with a red color filter, is intended to symbolize a slipstream. This image was taken in collaboration with @gunnarheilmann, who illuminated the scene with a scanner.

Here is the link to Gunnar's post...
At this point, my thanks again go to the two models Christian and Gerd, who bravely kept still for these pictures.

Before I finalised the cover picture, I tested how I should draw the light trails without painting over the faces of the models. As you can see in the following picture, the pose was uncomfortable for the racing cyclist (he had to support himself with one leg on the track during the shot), so the test shots were taken without him.

I love riding my bike. So Geane and I visited the cycling track in Bielefeld on Open Monument Day. I started talking to some club members and the idea arose to create light painting on the racetrack.

Of course I also attended one of the stayer races there to get inspiration. I saw the last stayer race in Dortmund 30 years ago, so it's better to refresh the memories again.

Stayer? Pacemaker? Slipstream? How did I come up with this image idea? In order:

In a stayer race, the cyclist rides behind a motorcycle in the slipstream. The cyclist is kept at a distance from the motorcycle by a spacer roller. The rider of the motorcycle is called the pacer and the cyclist is called the stayer. In stayer races, speeds of over 100 km/h are often reached. The distances covered in the race are 50 - 100 km.

In order to get as much slipstream as possible, the cyclist tries to stay as close as possible to the role of the pacemaker motorcycle in front of him. If he loses close contact with the pacer, the driver “gets off the roll” and immediately loses his pace (hence the expression “being off the roll”).

On the Bielefeld race track, Triumph motorcycles specially converted for this purpose are used as pacemaker machines. In order to give the cyclist optimal slipstream, the riders stand on the footrests of the machine.
The machines are also equipped with a higher support instead of the seat and extended handlebar ends.

The track bikes have neither brakes nor a freewheel. They are equipped with a rigid gear.
Given the noise of the engines, communication between the pacemaker and the stayer is only possible acoustically through short calls with a predetermined meaning. To do this, the pacemakers use helmets with ear flaps that open backwards.

Below I show a few impressions of the stayer race.
That should be it for today. I will present you the third part of the light painting meeting at the Bielefeld cycle track next Sunday on HIVE. So stay tuned!