2nd Indy Criterium features new, figure-8 course

Day 2 of "The Great Catchup" takes us back to last month's running of the second Indy Criterium cycling competition in Downtown Indianapolis. I made it there in time for the last half of the final women's competition (category 1/2/3) and the full finale, the men's category 1/2/3.

Organizers retooled the course from last year's rectangular course, this year creating a figure-eight loop -- but still 0.9 miles -- that started cyclists on New York Street halfway between Meridian and Pennsylvania streets. From there, cyclists rode east and turned north -- the wrong way for vehicular traffic on normally one-way-south Pennsylvania Street -- then headed west onto Vermont Street, the next block up, turning south onto Meridian Street, then west onto New York (which made New York the cross point for the figure-eight), then turned south onto Illinois, traveling two blocks to Market, where riders turned east, angled along the brick-paved northwest quadrant of Monument Circle then headed north onto Meridian again before concluding the circuit by turning east (right) back onto New York.

John Grant of Louisville, and Indiana University alumnus, won the men's competition, finishing just ahead of Texas Roadhouse Cycling teammate Chad Burdzilauskas, Indianapolis. In the women's category 1/2/3 race, Jackie Kurth of Palm City, Fla., a junior member of the Marian University cycling team, finished first and Katie Weber of Monrovia, Ind., was runner-up.

To view a full gallery of images from my shoot at the 2011 Indy Crit, follow this link. 

Above: The women's category 1/2/3 competition was the only race of the day marred by rain. The precipitation started about halfway through the 45-minute race and lasted about 15 minutes.

Above: Jackie Kurth, Palm City, Fla., a Marian University cycling team member, crossed the finish line first for the women; Katie Weber, Monrovia, Ind., was second.

Above: Eventual men's category 1/2/3 winner John Grant heads a small group of leaders early in the race after a turn off Pennsylvania Street onto Vermont Street.

Not far behind the five-member group above were Bryan Boggs (left), Zionsville, Ind., a triathlete and former Indiana University swimmer who in August 2006 swam the English Channel -- on the wheel of John Schmitz, Bargersville, Ind. Boggs finished 20th; Schmitz outside the top 36.

Above: On a humid, 90-degree-plus day, it was not uncommon for athletes to refuel frequently, sometimes even having to temporarily dangle the bottles from their mouths to ensure a safe negotiation of a turn, as this rider does turning north onto Pennsylvania Street from New York Street.

Above: Grant rides fourth wheel, while runner-up and teammate Chad Burdzilauskas servers as trailer, as they turn east onto New York from Meridian Street.

Above: Boggs, one more time, the fierce exertion of pedaling evident in his calves.

Above: If you happened to look away for a quick moment just as the peloton came toward your vantage point along the course, you could easily miss the cruise-by ... and see this as you fixed your eyes back on the course.

Above: Chad Burdzilauskas raises an arm in victory for teammate John Grant (right) who is just a few feet from crossing the finish line on the last lap.

 

Above: On the post-race podium are men's 1/2/3 winner John Grant (center), flanked by teammate and runner-up Chad Burdzilauskas (left) and third-place finisher Eric Young of Bloomington, Ind. 

Not the primary face of Indy's Old Northside

A project that has kept me busy -- and busy enough to derail regular posts here or at my Facebook page in recent weeks -- has been the task to photograph the Old Northside neighborhood of Indianapolis. The project actually is being undertaken by several interested members of the Indy Meetup Photo Club (IMUPC), the same club that covered the inaugural Park2Park Relay Race in Hendricks County on June 25.

The Old Northside project has been going on since May, and it's been in full steam since June. Club members have been out photographing various scenes in the neighborhood -- either as a group or individually -- since then. I've done both group and individual shoots in the neighborhood, and as you might have guessed from my existing neighborhoods galleries folder at my online site at Smugmug.com, this is something I really enjoy doing, and the Old Northside project is no exception.

I'll be posting some shots from my efforts in the project later this month; the Propylaeum, the club's partner in the project, will display our work at an open house fundraiser on Aug. 21. Admission is $10; there will be food and refreshments (including a cash bar) as well as an opportunity to tour the historic Propylaeum structure.

This neighborhood definitely is worth a photographic profile; there are remarkable, beautiful structures there to behold. However, while on an individual shoot in the neighborhood last weekend, I came across an off-the-beaten path alley scene that was unlike anything I've seen anywhere else in the neighborhood. In a way, an antithesis to all the striking features I'd found, but nevertheless intriguing ... and even interesting. It was some brick wall art and graffiti in the shell of a structure roofless except for a section with overhead crisscrossing, intersecting thin steel beams -- a sort of work of art themselves. It reminded me -- but on a much larger scale -- of a surprise I came across earlier this month when I took a shortcut en route to my car after a photo gallery opening in the Fountain Square neighborhood of Indianapolis and came across an alleyway of murals and artwork that I'm sure wasn't commissioned.

I took quite a few photographs of this Old Northside discovery, none of which I intend to submit for the Old Northside project, so I feel I can post them here now.

Above and below: I might not have even thought to explore the alley had I not been intrigued by the bright green doors on the facade and the lack of roof I could detect from the open area above the green door on the left. The doorway (below) gives a hint of what's to come once one makes the precarious step inside.

A tree that defies ... geometry?

 

While out looking for interesting autumn pictures in Garfield Park in Indianapolis the other day, I was reminded of a shoot I'd wanted to do for some time: a coniferous tree growing at a dramatically unusual angle in the park near Bean Creek just outside the grounds of the Sunken Garden and conservatory. The angle has to be at least 45 degrees.

So, I grabbed my images, trying to get it from every possible vantage point and to include as many landmarks, such as "normal" trees, buildings like the conservatory (in the background in photo above) and even a park pedestrian pushing a child in a stroller so viewers had proper perspective of not only the radical angle but also the size of the tree. This was another occasion when I was glad to have my wide-angle lens (Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5) with me; without it, I'm not sure I could have captured the quite large tree in its entirety -- growing at this angle -- and do it justice. 

You probably noticed the rock with plaque in front of the tree, as did I. Well, um, I did some months ago when I stopped to check it out ... on a day I did not have my camera gear with me. I did not review the inscription the other day when I was there for the shoot, but I'm almost positive it does nothing to explain the unusual-angled tree. As I recall, it mentions some other fact about the park's history.

A trip to the pumpkin patch

A family trip to Waterman's Farm Market on the Eastside of Indianapolis, better known to our clan as Waterman's Pumpkin Patch, paved the way for some fall/harvest images on Saturday.

The images include a shot of the Circle City Bluegrass Band of Indianapolis, which entertained folks seeking refuge from the heat under a tent-covered table-and-chairs area. Other images show a Tyrannosaurus Rex creature that chews up a huge pumpkin several times a day to the delight of the people in attendance; some artsy shots of remnants of the autumn crop harvest; and a shot through the backside opening of one of those life-sized animated things where you stick your head through the opening to make your head/face look like it belongs on the body of a caricature drawn on the front side.

The featured image, the sepia silhouette at the top, is a backside view of an amusement attraction for kids in which the youths are strapped into a suspended safety harness to enable them to jump up and down off a trampoline-like device for some thrills -- and probably a bird's-eye view of the grounds. The shot I captured was hurried; I had a window of about four seconds to grab it because it presented itself at the terminus of a hayride I was on. Unfortunately, I was at the back of the hayride wagon, and I could get off only one shot before everyone in the wagon in front of me (and in my range of the amusement) stood up from their seated position to disembark. Still, I think it turned out pretty well.

Pictures from the Miracle Mile Parade

Some two-plus weeks after the actual event, I'm finally able to post pictures from the Sept. 4, Labor Day weekend Miracle Mile Parade in Indianapolis. Hey, there were a lot of images to sort through, and a lot of editing to do. Not to mention several other shoots between then and now. My strategy was to do the smaller ones first, then come back and get this big boy.

The parade route was down Madison Avenue, starting at Southern Avenue and heading south to Sumner Avenue.

I'm not going to bother with descriptions; enjoy the parade, and if you didn't happen to be there that day, hopefully, it'll be just like being there.