shooting while riding

recovery paced ride today. it was a cold 25F degrees, but without the wind, it didn't feel too bad.

i stopped several times to shoot footage for a new film i'm working on. this one doesn't involve evil dog whom i avoided by riding east today. (not out of fear even if i found out he's a pit bull. it was the wind direction that sent me away from his house.)

here's a hint about the upcoming movie's theme...

in kansas most bike riding is a matter of pushing hard on the flats, but there is an occasional rise in the road. i don't remember when i came to be persuaded of this, but some time in the past three or four years i decided that every incline i encountered on a regular basis needed a name. so every slope within nine or ten miles of home has a special mikey-given moniker. (no one else would give them names. some wouldn't even recognize them as hills.)

the first hill to the east is mock hill, named not because it's so awful that I feel it jeering my futile efforts to maintain speed, but for the folks whose house sits atop it. mock is their last name. the second slope is bruce hill. same reason. both these hills are within five miles of home. the next closest hill to the east is cemetary hill. an old graveyard is at its crest. black dog hill is a few miles further out. a lazy, old black dog that barks but does not bite or chase bicyclists like evil dog lives at its peak. then there's nine-mile hill. this one starts at mile eight and ends at mile nine. couldn't think of anything more creative, so the name stuck. there are no more named hills to the east.

the hills to the north, south and west also have names. you'll have to wait for the film to learn more.