Just Another Bike Ride

Critical Mass was better than usual. Big turnout, fun route. I almost didn't go because I wanted to process pics I'd taken over the previous couple of days and blog a bit.

But I realized as when we got to the Nelson what a mistake it would have been.

I enjoy the creative outlet and all that, but especially when you consider the amount of income I generate off this endeavor (which is zero), documenting shouldn't take the place of doing.

We hit the Scout this time, which turned out to be a great place to take the party. Because it's on my commute, I probably take the Scout for granted; I stop there regularly on the way home.

But a lot of folks hadn't been to it before. And the view of downtown from there is fantastic.

One couple I met was making their first ever Critical Mass. The woman was a long-time cyclist out in Olathe, going on lots of roadie group rides, and recently started dating an urban cyclist. She was having the kind of epiphany-laden evening I remember from when I first started to date an urban cyclist.

An urban cyclist I gleefully married two weeks ago. It's amazing how fast the days lengthen with the change of season. Last month, the Mass broke up early, before we could get to the Scout really, in rain and darkness. In fact, the weather was enough of a damper last month, I partly forgot what a great party Critical Mass can be.

And I had fun with my Nikon, including getting some great portrait shots. Friendly bird-flips, the photogenic Sofia and her husband Tom, etc.

Actually, I had another great bird-flip portrait, but when I asked the girl if she was okay with being blogged/Facebooked, she said she'd just as soon not. So that one's not included in this collection.

We tried unsuccessfully to steer the finish to the bridge we got married on. The problem is cars, really.

For all the transportational cyclists who get to and from Critical Mass by bike, there are a lot of other folks who either park a car in Westport and ride back to it or park a car in the River Market and ride up to Westport.

The first group tends to peel off before we get all the way to the river; the latter group figures the river is the target.

And only a handful of the rest live over in KCK, where our bridge would be on the way home.

As I say, I'm enjoying my Nikon tremendously. Every time I've ridden Critical Mass, I've taken pictures down at the river, but mostly they end up being junk.

Some of my favorite images were taken with my Canon Powershot(s). I've worn out/broken several of them now, and probably put a combined total of 100,000+ clicks on them. I still keep one for situations where an SLR is not allowed, or where it's such a boat anchor it would be frustrating to have it (Worlds of Fun, for example).
But for hand-held pictures taken in really low light, I think I got some stuff that borders on photography Friday night.