August Theme Day: Bicycles

I was wondering what sort of pictures I would 

use to illustrate today's theme.

Unlike more sophisticated/progressive cities 

the world over, Indianapolis has only, in recent years, 

begun to urge people to commute to work and 

to do their errands using bicycles as a convenient, 

environmentally friendly mode of transportation.

That has started to change in dramatic fashion,

as many of the city's streets now have

bike lanes, and the city buses are all equipped

with bike racks to aid people who both

ride the bus and use their bikes to commute.

On Saturday, today, the 8th Annual Mass Ave Criterium 

was held. Utilizing a street course 

laid out in the neighborhood just northeast of 

downtown Indy, the MAC is a cycling event made up 

of timed races for riders of various categories of experience 

and ages, male and female. (As I type this,

the Men's Pro 90-minute race has just started.)

While it's a joy to see so many lean, fit people,

I find the sport about as interesting as some folks 

find drying paint. However, entire families showed up,

both to compete and/or to watch the races.

The little girl above was accompanying her father,

attached to his bike on a sort of third wheel,

while the father below brought his son and daughter

to watch the races.

Earlier this year, the city also initiated a system 

of bicycle rental kiosks. Yeah, yeah, while this is popular

in other countries, Indy has been slow to adapt, 

but the people have not. The bicycles have proved 

to be very popular with both citizens and visitors alike; 

I often pass by kiosks that are virtually empty of bicycles 

as they have all been taken for use.

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Criterion/Criterium Criteria? Dunno.

OK,  it's called the Indy Criterium.

That didn't seem right to me. I looked it up, 

got no results for that misspelled *criterium,*

but got criterion instead with a definition

that seemed apt: a standard by which something 

can be judged or decided. Whatever.

Attempting to meet a standard seemed to be

exactly what these cyclists were trying

to do when I saw them Saturday morning.

This group was participating in the 

Men Masters 40+/50+ Race, a 45-minute 

competition on a .95-mile course over 

the streets of  downtown Indy.

Over sixty men participated in this heat.

Led by a blue Mini Cooper, riders flew around

the hourglass-shaped course so quickly

that the Mini was really having to work to maintain

it own position as pace car, honking and 

beeping as it entered the intersections

to warn pedestrians of the approaching peloton.

The riders shown above quickly sprinted 

to a substantial lead over the rest of the field. 

I don't know whether they were able 

to maintain that dominance to the end because 

I left well before the race finished. But I wasn't able 

to leave before one of the leaders crashed, heavily, 

to the street. Winded and definitely injured, he was trying 

to help medical personnel tend to his wounds 

(a broken collarbone, at least?) as I left the area, the other 

cyclists speeding by as the race continued.

Textured Tuesday

What I wanted was a cute picture of the little bicycles tethered together 

at curbside, but the only part that really worked for me was the knobby tread 

on the tires and the grating.

So knobby tires and grating, it is.