Two different treatments of the urban bicycle landscape along the path.

Although most of the bike path is out in the sun (or clouds, in our case), this section is under riverside drive.  When we were there, the place was hopping.  Music, kids everywhere, tents, and crowds.  Still, you can’t escape the fact this it’s all taking place in concrete spaces under the overpass.  I waited until we’d passed the worst of the milling crowd before shooting.

This second photo captures the near anonymity of cycling on the path under the cloudy skies.  For the entire length of Manhattan, cyclists surround us.  We move from little knots of joggers, dogs, and carriages into open areas with cyclists whipping by.

I did finally take out the big camera on the way back . . . to take a few campy self portraits using a mini tripod.  It went right back in to the bag afterwards.  Next time, I might not even bring it!  This little bitty (waterproof) olympus I used for these was a kick!

I love the bike path alongside Manhattan.  My sweetie and I took a Saturday off — breakfast and the newspaper for an hour, then bikes on the car, parked at 96th, and cycled on down to battery park and back.  16 miles, plus a lovely lunch of falafel and a lamb gyro taken as a picnic by the intrepid.

OK, that’s the story.  The joyful part was cycling along one-handed with a small digital camera in the other snapping away.  Some shots come out great, some of the angles are freaky, and I even took a few shots of my backpack shooting upside down and backwards over my shoulder.  Here are the first three (the third was a much more deliberate shot taken by my sweetie). Click any picture to start the slide show.

It’s been a great day.  I got work done, but dinner in the slow cooker and boiled up some delicious chai. I even got my favorite workout in — 8 miles on the bike to the gym, an hour with weights, then an 8 mile sprint back on the bike.  I’m enjoying some of that chai right now and trying to decide if I can read on the back porch even though dinner is actually ready.  Maybe just for a few minutes….