Elegance in the urban landscape

While walking back to my car after my shoot Saturday at the inaugural Indy Crit cycling competition, I came across this striking, lavender-colored bloom in a couple of the gardens along the north border of University Park in Downtown Indianapolis.

Thanks to the help of a blog visitor, I've been able to identify this flower as a Cleome Rose Queen.

The closeup shot (above) comes with a bonus, tiny insect clinging upside down along one of the thin plant whiskers in the lower left portion. I like the perspective shot (below) almost as much for its elegance: the combination of bloom, its distinctive, sculpted stem and the drooping foliage of its buddy to the right.

A good one to ... well, make you feel good.

Reflecting on ... downtown buildings

Here a few reflection images I grabbed Saturday while strolling Meridian Street during the inaugural Indy Crit cycling competition on a Downtown Indianapolis loop course (see previous post) -- and one I grabbed last November while covering the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon and Half-Marathon.

The one above is a no-trickery-on-my-end distortion. The bellowed panels on the right just happened to bend that way from where I was standing.

The first one below I decided to take because of the juxtaposition of the reflection against the real-time U.S. flag to the right of it.

The third simply is the federal courts building, as it looks when bounced off the all-glass facade of its AT&T neighbor on the west side of Meridian.

Finally, the last one -- the one I grabbed last November -- is the State Capitol, reflecting off a glass sheen on the east side of Illinois Street.

Indy Crit: A cycling inaugural

There is something about the geometry of dozens of bicycles moving together that appeals to me, which I guess is why pro cycling has become a favorite spectator sport of mine. That's why I decided to drop in on the inaugural Indy Criterium on Saturday in Downtown Indianapolis, where cyclists of several skills levels and age divisions competed for a total purse of $4,000 over a 0.7-mile loop course.

Cyclists began their multi-lap loop of the Indy Crit on Meridian Street alongside University Park, went north to Vermont Street, turned west for a block to Illinois, then turned south onto Illinois to Market Street, and east on Market, following the curved northwest quadrant of Monument Circle before completing the loop with a north turn onto Meridian Street.

The route allowed for fascinating visual backdrops involving two of the city's most striking structures -- the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Monument Circle at Market and Meridian streets, and the State Capitol at Illinois and Market streets.

These images are from the second half of the men's Masters competition and the first part of the men's 3/4 skill category competition. The weather turned out to be splendid for the athletes -- solid overcast skies. Which might explain some of the boredom (too much of a comfort zone?) and face-making going on you see in the last two pictures, which were taken moments before the start line of the men's 3/4 race.

Click here to see more images from the shoot at my online gallery.