Here are some examples from another event two weeks earlier. It's the largest non-profit cycling event in the country, with 13,000 riders (registration filled in 7 hours!) and an absolute "machine" of logistics. I've ridden it twice before, and truly debated whether I wanted to shoot or ride. As I recall, none of this is done with remote flashes, just a 580EX II on-camera. I shot that weekend with a rented 5D and my 1D Mark III, using a 16-35/2.8, 24-70/2.8, and 70-200/2.8IS.


Oh, forgot: one shot Friday night to show the sponsored vehicles (and the awful clouds) did have remote flash:





1D Mark III, 24-70/2.8 at 24mm, f/10, 1/250th. I think I knocked ambient down 2-3 stops for this (still in aperture priority, just dialed in some -EC) to get the definition in the clouds and the hotel. On-camera flash was pointed somewhat left, so it'd light the pickup direct but also reach enough to the left to trigger the remote flash. Remote flash was on a stand left of the camera, striking across the pickup.


Here's one of my favorites:





5D, 24-70/2.8 at 42mm, ISO L (50), shutter-priority at 1/50th, f/5. Flash set to second-curtain, so the action is frozen at the end of the shot and not the beginning.





1D Mark III, 70-200/2.8IS at 120mm, ISO 160, f/2.8 at 1/320th. I think it's just "plain vanilla" flash (which Canon morphs into fill flash at bright enough exposures), but the flash is evident from the reflectors on the distant bikes. This was a particularly tough section to shoot, as the trees were so random (and I kept hiking to find new vantage points and inspiration) that my meter was all over the map.


Full gallery from that event at http://photos.templin.org/gallery/2009BP - enjoy!


Note to self, shared with all here: don't rent an unfamiliar camera for what will likely be the biggest gig of the year for you. I've "become one" with my 1D Mark III, and the 5D (original) was simply so much different than my main camera that it was a hindrance in many ways. I felt a need to keep the widest lens on the 5D, so if I had the 24-70 and 70-200 out and felt it was time to go wider, I'd switch the 5D to the 16-35 and the 1D3 to the 24-70, resulting in a lot of lens switching. For the second big event (shown in earlier examples on that long, straight roadway), I rented another 1D Mark III and everything just became easier.