Can this really be a blog about my wheeled life without any actual bicycling?  Here’s yet another post about kayaking, of all things.  The very antithesis of cycling, since I happen to know through experience that cyclists on bicycles sink.

Luckily, the kayaking is still part of the journey.  The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route is on the bucket list, but it won’t be this year or even this summer.  The focus for the past month has been better health and better conditioning (and fun with photos along the way, of course). Along those lines, progress is slow but in the correct direction.  To celebrate, I convinced my sweetie to go kayaking with me at Croton Point, Croton, NY.  In actual fact, we listened to the park ranger’s advice to explore the Croton River nearby, launching from the last little bit of land past the Croton train station.

We had a blast; an appropriately low key and enjoyable workout.  This was key, since I’d convinced her to spend an hour and a half in the gym the day before.  Here are my favorite four pictures from our trip, plus visual evidence that I am a handsome fellow, but should definitely keep losing weight.  :-)  Click any thumbnail and scroll through to enjoy them all.  Cheers, Greg

Life has gotten pretty full — I’m teaching, coaching, going to school, and reviewing papers for a journal.  The lag times on that last one make me feel a wee bit guilty but I don’t see them improving too soon.  I haven’t been on a bike in two weeks, although I’ve gotten to the gym several times.  But life is grand.

I spent the last month trying to reinvent myself — eat better; sleep more, think positive.  Maybe this has an effect (losing twelve pounds helps).  On the other hand, I notice that my wife and daughters are also happy.  This also lightens my days.

The picture below represents this same simple happiness.  The tennis ball spoke decorations caught my eye from across the park but guy kept moving.  I finally just walked over and shot the wheel from my hip.  Luckily, it came out mostly lined up!  Enjoy.

The picture is lightly sharpened and brightened and then I used OnOne’s Perfect Effects emphasize the tonal range.  With this richer file to work with, I applied a preset from Nicole Young that softens and warms the colors.

I haven’t written in a week and truthfully, I shouldn’t be writing now!  I’m behind in two classes I’m taking online and behind in review work I do for a journal.  The list goes on, but I’m enjoying a little break.  Time enough to knock off a few responsibilities by midnight — this is the first quiet hour I spent in several days.

I’ve been playing around with photos I took while shepherding the family and our two spanish guests on a hike through the city.

washington square park

I love the contrast between the crazy fellow on the left and the cyclist, who simply rode over to the stone bench to play.  The crazy man’s rant holds the crowd; the few watch the cyclist even as he performs scant feet away.  I do the opposite in processing the image by keeping the cyclist strictly centered and using the vignetting on the sides to marginalize the crazy.  Just another day in the park.

The photo below shows another cyclist who moved slowly through the same performing area moving between wheelie, trackstand, and then hopping onto and off the balustrades.  My favorite part here is the degree to which the cyclist exists in his own world, ignoring even the kid who swivels his head to watch.

wheelies in the park

I had a hard time getting the cyclist to ‘pop’ from the background, eventually resorting to cutting out the cyclist and working on the foreground and background separately.

Alas, it’s probably time to do some actual work now….