2008 NOVA National Stage Mountain Bike Race, McDowell Competitive Track, Arizona.

Our favorite mountain biking / running trails looked more like a NASCAR race this past weekend with trailers and booths for all the major mountain bike race teams.  You see, this was second location in a series of six that will help determine who represents the U.S. in the Olympics.  In other-words, as it was explained to me, these are some of the best riders in the world.

I didn’t know about these races before we arrived here, but it turned out to be a fun photo opportunity!  These are the pro men competing on the final event of Sunday – a 30 mile cross-country race.

Here are more mountain biking photos.

The leaves and colors of this plant caught my eye, I though they made a cool pattern. 

A visitor enjoying artwork Thursday night while taking part of the Scottsdale Art Walk, Scottsdale, Arizona. 

The Art Walk is held on Thursdays from 7 to 9 pm in the Downtown Scottsdale Art District.  Scottsdale is home to over 100 art galleries, and the Art Walk has been a tradition for over 30 years.

Here is our gallery of Scottsdale photos.

Fountain Hills, Arizona.

This was a colorful cluster of wildflowers.  The desert globe mallow (orange flowers) were just starting to bloom.  The brittlebush (yellow) and the chuparosa (red) flowers were sure looking great!  This was shortly before sunrise.

Before the wildflowers fade and are gone – which won’t be long, I have been playing around with some close-ups.  This is brittle-bush with owl’s-clover in the background.

Here are more flower photos.

Pink-Flower Hedgehog Cactus.

As the wildflowers start to fade, the cactus flower begin to bloom!

Here is our gallery of Sonoran Desert photos.

This is the new Southbridge area of the Scottsdale Waterfront, Arizona.

There is a reason I live over a hundred miles from the nearest stop light – I don’t have much patience for traffic!  This is one aspect I dread when it comes time to city photography.  I try to remind myself that all the people around me sitting in their little artificial automobile environments put up with traffic delays all year around, surely I can do it for one day.  That reasoning doesn’t usually help for long.  So here is my solution.Read More