I Want to Ride my Bicycle

As an assignment photographer, there is a real joy in covering an event like the Redlands Bicycle Classic...when you are NOT working. Don't get me wrong here. The Classic is a great event and lots of fun to have as an assignment. But, it is even more fun to be free of the deadlines, (which seem to get earlier and earlier) page shapes and sizes, (that never seem to make sense) last minute requests from the sports desk (which get later and later and never seem to make sense) and keeping track of who is who on those bikes blurring by in an explosion of color at 35 - 40 miles an hours. And you never really get a chance to "get your freak on" while shooting. Typically sports wants photos of the cyclist, arms raised in triumph, as he or she crosses the finish line and rarely will run "one of those artsy fartsy" shots. So it was with great joy and photographic relaxation this past weekend (nice deadline eh?) that I attended the Classic for my first time in two or three years just for the sheer joy of making those artsy fartsy photos. And I even drank a beer as I watched the finish of a race...as the rider thrust his arms in the air triumphantly.