Focusing And Refocusing: Views From An Evolving Life

Bike Commute Hiatus

The bike commute seems to be in the middle of a brief break -- it was just too ridiculously cold and, more to the point, windy last week and on the days that turned out to be decent, I got wrapped up in other things like buying a new computer from a guy off craigslist.

This week looks to be a bust too.

But there's been some progress on related fronts:

--Tonight I'm trying my first spinning class, part of my effort to actually get in shape over the winter and not just do a leisurely if chilly commute.

--I sort of ran on Friday night for the first time since the hip flexor thing in February. Oddly, it was the calf that tightened up enormously; that was the problem two injuries ago. So I'll have to revert to the foam roller, etc., though I managed not to do that over the weekend.

I did just two loops around the reservoir, slowly, and by necessity stopped a lot to stretch the calf. More in the first loop than in the second; made it the second with just one stretching stop.

Aside from the calf, it felt great to run again. And ... I spent at least half the time preoccupied with photographic possibilities and wishing I could run with the tripod (!!)  Also audio possibilities.  I think I'll cobble together an audio slideshow of night running in the park.  Obviously, most of it will have to be assembled while I'm not running.

--Registered for two NYU continuing ed courses next semester: Final Cut Pro editing, and Visual Storytelling.

--Thanks to some ongoing thoughts that have been circulating in my head, and spurred by a note from one of my ex-gymnastis teachers, now a high school principal, I signed up to volunteer with two New York Cares events involving kids -- one involving helping kids appreciate photography.  Perfect.  I aim to do more of that in the coming months.

10th Avenue

I took this one this summer while walking back to work along 10th Avenue. I rejected it at the time. But it pops up periodically in my screensaver of all photos on my computer, and it's caught my eye as I've happened by each time. So I'll try it to see what it looks like against a black background.

Maybe should be cropped at the right edge of the key building.

And then for more fun, something similar but in B&W ...

Cool Sky Over East Village

It's getting pretty chilly for a bike ride ... yesterday's commute was frigied and windy but tolerable; today it was supposed to rain and snow so I left the bike at home. Then it did neither.  Which was just as well, since on sort of a whim I decided to buy an iMac loaded with photo and video software off craigslist. (After doing due diligence and convincing myself that the seller was OK). 

So I went to the East Village to meet him and the computer. Snapped the point-and-shoot along the way -- the sky was excellent. Will pick up the computer tomorrow, so no bike commute then either. 

Then I will proceed to try to learn Final Cut Pro and all sorts of other fun stuff ...

Flip Video, Vimeo, and BikeTourBrats

Well, I spent the day trying to update the biketourbrats site with last weekend's ride. The problem is that this was my first try at website creation, a sad fact that is sadly obvious. My goal was just to learn the basics and get SOMETHING up to collect and house all our multimedia work.

>I kept this page more simple than the ones from the first round and now have to try and make everything more consistent. After that I'll work on the overall design. In my spare time. The new page is here and the slideshow is below. Warning: It plays automatically, as does the music. I'll have to fix that. Also I'm delighted to have discovered -- well, thanks to Hannah -- Vimeo, which takes HD video. I have to say, the combination of low-tech Flip Video and Vimeo -- while on a bike -- ain't half bad.

Riding on the Railroad Trail

So, here's what I did last weekend.  I rank this pretty low in my video efforts -- little to no creativity in the shooting; I don't know what I was thinking. Basically, I wasn't thinking.

I think the music is what makes it work. If you can disregard the fact that the locale of the ride (near Baltimore to York, Pa.) was nowhere near the locale of the song.

The coolest part of this is the treetop shots. I got them quite by accident: I stuck the Flip Video in my wool jersey pocket, facing outward, still turned on. The latter two of those three were inadvertent. So, it recorded for 20 minutes through the fabric, and apparently was tilted upward. There's 19 more minutes of pretty cool stuff. I like the filter effect and might try to do some more with it.

I also did much better shooting on a video of some kids and their pet goats. But I'm not posting that publicly because there are evil people in the world.

I need to update  biketourbrats  soon, and we also have a journal (other people's stuff and mine) on crazyguyonabike

Abstract Bike Art Photos While Home Sick and Bored

Sick yesterday, sicker today, so here I am stuck at home.  Bored and feeling sorry for myself last night, I played with the camera: slow shutter speed + zooming or unzooming.  Thus, Sparkly gets to race down the halls of my Bronx apartment even while I myself am immobile.

In the above one, Sunny gets a little of the action as well. Sunny is leading Sparkly in this race down the hall. Not bad for being six years older.

Gotta love abstract bike art. It can be anything you want it to be.

Nearly Full Moon in Riverside Park

Well, if you play around long enough on a nearly-full-moon night, you sometimes get the moon to cooperate even if your mastery of shutter speed adjustment takes a nosedive. Software helps too.

This looks nothing like I'd wanted it to, so chalk it up to another night of at least going through some of the motions. Kind of like base miles.

Today was the coldest commute so far, at least in the morning. Wore the new Lake winter cycling boots. I think it was a mistake to wear two pairs of socks with them in the morning. Made everything too tight and cut off circulation to the toes, resulting in ... cold toes.

This time around I clipped in and out much more easily. But the combination of thick boot and different cleat placement makes the whole thing feel odd, sort of like learning clipless all over again. It throws off my equilibrium a bit. I assume I'll get used to it.

Couldn't deal with traffic tonight, so with the advantage of a nearly-full-moon-lit sky, I decided to do the Greenway the whole way.  Turns out the parts I was most nervous about are, for the most part, reasonably well lit.  The big problem is the mile-long Cherry Walk, where there's no lighting on the trail and at the same time you get blinded by the oncoming Henry Hudson Parkway traffic. 

I've begun formulating my risk assessment formula in the whole Riverside/Fort Washington/Broadway/Greenway internal debate. Details to come.

Night Photo on the Way to the Bus

Been away for a few days for another ride with the AP-Washington group; details when and if I ever wake up.

In the meantime ... as a rule, it's not a good idea to return the rental car WITHOUT the rental Garmin. It requires a waste of two hours to go back up to Riverdale, retrieve the thing, come back down again, and go back up again.  Without a bike, because errands in Manhattan mustn't be run with a bike you actually value.

But at least this trip yielded this shot. With the point-and-shoot, and the Gorillapod, at as I recall its maximum exposure of 2 seconds.  This was on the way from Avis to the bus, since I'm avoiding the subway whenever possible. (It's underground; no photo opps.) (And it's annoying.) 

I like this church so much that I think I'll go back sometime with a real tripod and real camera. But not with my bike.

ESB in its RWB

Yikes, another day without the bike.  Another post-election day -- coupled with staying late to finish six holiday schedules, thereby becoming fully bleary-eyed -- when I decided it just wasn't smart to ride home.

So, the bus again.  But at least I got to see the Empire State Building all decked out in its red, white and blue on the way to the bus ...'