I went for a bike ride the other day. The sun was up and the route was sunny. You need sun to make shadows right? Seems like I am always showing my bike shadows.
And right nearby shadows showing the Tulsa RiverParks logo.
And further on in the ride the RiverParks has installed some flower shaped musical devices for kids and childish adult bike riders. They make not only a pleasing sound but cool shadows.
Tulsa Tough is a series of bicycle races held in Tulsa every year during a long weekend in June. They have distance races of various lengths over two days. They have a bunch of short races close to downtown called Criteriums where the racers are on a closed course of a mile or two and they go round and round a bunch of times. One races is in the Blue Dome District, one in the Arts District and another on Riverside (Crybaby Hill). They have a bunch of categories from kids divisions to men and women amateurs of various ages and then the professional divisions. They also have a five mile or so “Townie Ride” that is free, so you just show up with your bicycle and ride.
Just the way things have been I always go check out the Riverside criteriums on Sunday. For one thing it is home of the infamous crybaby hill which is more of a drunken party with a bicycle race going on. (Check this link about my first visit to Crybaby Hill in 2015.)
I’ve only participated in one event. That was in 2019 when I rode in the “Picolo” event. The shortest distance event they offer at 32 miles or so. It kicked my butt pretty hard and I didn’t even finish. I was close to the finish line and I passed my car and said, heck with this I’m done so I pulled out of the race, and loaded up my bicycle and went home. Read about it here.
I had a conflict this Sunday so I checked out the Arts District Criterium on Saturday. It’s not near the party but it is still lots of fun.
Oh look at the time! I’ve droned on and on and spent the whole time yakking about me instead of the race I went on Saturday. Figures though, aren’t blogs just about the writer? So I’ll shut and show you the photos I took Saturday afternoon. I had places to be so I wasn’t there very long.
The thing about the criteriums is that riders are all very good and in great shape so they get kind of bunched up. At least right at first and it takes time to separate the faster ones from the slower ones.
I like the intense competition. Everybody is in it to win it and they don’t want embarrass themselves.
And also they are very close to one another. If somebody falls or makes a wrong move then a bunch of people are going down also
So I had found a spot right on a turn where nobody else was so I set up and was taking photos wondering why nobody else was there. Along comes a course marshall and we start chatting and finally ask him if I was okay where I was and he said sure no problem. Then he says hey you know something if you could get your camera down close to the ground and shoot up that might make a more dynamic photo.
So I did experimented with that a little bit with my camera down below the barricade but not intruding on the course and wow. I thought it made a big difference.
I had put the camera on sport mode so when I pressed the shutter it would take a bunch of photos until it buffered out so I ended up with a ton of photos but I only kept a few and am posting just a few of them here.
The guy had a bunch of other tips and then had to go. His last words were you need to remember that the place you are taking pictures from is also a good place to crash and if you are down low right behind the barricade and you get hit, it is going to hurt. I said yep I had already figured that out.
So any way I got to see a great bicycle race and learned something at the same time. And got out unscathed.
How about you? Have you been to any bicycle races lately?
Found this little guy on Turkey Mountain. I think it is a rough green snake. I see more of these kind of snakes on the mountain than any other. Most of them are just a few inches long, this is the biggest one that I have ever seen. Maybe a foot long at the most. I love the graceful coils. It seemed kind of curious to me with the raised head. I tried to tell him to get off the trail or it was going to get stepped on.
Our purple coneflowers in our front flower bed. Purple coneflowers are the state wildflower of Oklahoma. These have a bumblebee and a moth on them.
A curious deer checking me out while I was geocaching in a pecan orchard near Tulsa. The orchard is huge and has lots of deer. A couple years ago I saw a huge herd of them running through it. This time there were lots of signs in the orchard. They are subdividing it for houses so kiss those big beautiful trees goodbye.
And Kodi the Pomeranian. He loves swimming in his little pool on hot days.
We have lots of geese in Oklahoma, especially golf course geese like these.
And how about Mother Goose with her perky little hat.
And big ole rabbits and Alice in Wonderland. (At a local library)
I launched my drone the other day and went up 50 meters over the back yard. We had a little color for the sunset, not much, but some great clouds.
Sunday morning I went geocaching up in the Tulsa suburb of Catoosa. Came across this ammonia plant. I’m a chemical engineer so I like this kind of thing plus they use lots of natural gas both as a feedstock and for fuel for their processes.
Also in Catoosa, there are lots of pecan orchards up there. People hide geocaches near them and deer like to graze in the grass underneath. That is all coming to a screeching halt soon. They are subdividing this huge orchard. Makes me want to cry.
Went on a walk around Tulsa’s Lafortune Park. A big sprawling park that incorporates a high school and their various ball fields, a regular and par three golf course, several little league baseball fields, an American Legion baseball field, this high school baseball field as well as a softball diamond for the women, a public library, some gardens, an indoor and outdoor tennis complex, a public swimming pool, some great picnic areas and wonderful playparks for kids, and a three mile long walking/running path winding around all these facilities. I love it. Great photo ops.
Still at Lafortune, I love construction equipment.
A pond,
And lastly at Lafortune. My favorite moose.
My wife and I took a 2.7 mile hike at Turkey Mountain. Went by the hub, the highest point on Turkey Mountain. It’s about 300 feet above the lowest point on Turkey Mountain but hey it has a great view.
Looking Happy at the Start!
I ran a 5K trail race on Turkey Mountain last Saturday. When I say I ran it, I meant I walked it although I did trot some of the flat slightly downhill segments. I started out in last place but I passed a lot of people during the course of the race. Funny thing is that when I finished the race there were people already there who I had passed. I didn’t care but that happens in these races sometimes. Nobody cares especially since it wasn’t anybody who was in contention to place. I’ll have a separate post about the race later. Maybe.
I went on a bike ride one day and I saw this Eagle fishing out in the middle of the Arkansas River here in Tulsa.
I saw this white pelican as well. There were not as many as there has been in the recent past.
Nearby I saw this great egret also fishing.
And a great blue heron.
A target of opportunity a short while later. This northern mockingbird landing on this wire right in front of me.
At Lafortune Park on a different day I came across this blue jay who sat still while I took his photo.
At home this week I got out of my car and saw this black swallowtail butterfly enjoying my wife’s purple coneflowers. People on instagram said “great job.” I just happened to be there, praise the butterfly.
Here’s a video of the butterfly.
Here is out little Pomeranian, Kodi. He is a bit much to handle these days. He won’t let me pick him up or even clip a leash on him. He’s a little dog with big feelings. And a bit wild eyed especially with this filter I put on his photo.
Now the squirrels have attitude. They don’t move when you tell them to do so. It’s like they say, you move, after you refill the feeder.
Most of our robins are down on the ground. This guy got up on the rooftop and sang for a while. I guess he is looking for love.
These grackles are just taking over!! At least they fly off when you tell them to.
My wife and I went on a hike the other day and came across this doe and her yearling. The young’in was jumpy, mom seed chill. They paralleled us on the trail for quite a ways.