Mountain Biking - first hardcore ride

Just rode the Mackenzie trail in Oregon this weekend. Did about 23 miles or so. From clear lake to Paridise. It was my longest ride so far and by far the most technical. Sweet steep decents down rocky lava bed trails around corners next to 100 ft cliffs with a waterfall down below. What a rush! :beer:

What? No pictures. Didn't happen as far as I'm concerned. Where's the proof? J/K dude, sounds like a blast.

Any crashes?

L8R

I have some pictures, but they aren't actually from the ride, they're from at the campsite cause all i have is the big camera and i aint taken that on the trail. I need to buy a small digital camera.

I had one crash but it was mostly stupidity. Nothing extreme. But my first endo. haha. It was coming off of one of the log bridges probably about 3-4 feet tall. I was like, "im gonna take it!" and i went way to slow and hit my front first then totally went over the handlebars and did a headstand on the ground. Props to Trek for making a good helmet though cause it did its job.

what camera do you take with you on the trail?

I bought a FUJI A201 or something. It was cheap, and small. Action shots are hard to get unless you're a good distance away. The resolution or shutter speed is too low or too slow. Add to that low light and I get a lot of fuzzy pictures if I'm too close to the action.

I'm actually looking to buy another camera. Probably one in the 250 to 300 dollar range. Anyone know of a good one?

most p&s digital cameras suck for taking action shots with any timing at all, though it's possible if you really know your camera. I think canon makes a good 300 camera, the A70. Sony has decent cams, same for Nikon

A2 ...i just bought a nikon 2100 coolpix. It has a sport mode where you can shoot fast moving objects (bikes that is ) go for it....it retails 300eu in europe...300$ in US.

Soc522- sounds like a great ride! I LOVE the McKenzie River trail... I grew up a few miles from the river, and it's still my alltime favorite trail. Lots of technical areas-- will turn you into a seasoned hardcore rider quick!

I went to school in Corvallis, and also love the riding around there. Do you ride the MacDonald forest much? There's some great singletrack around there as well.

the mac forest is pretty much all I did before I hit the Mackenzie. Im still fairly new at mtbing though so I havn't found a ton of trails up there yet. I go up in the mac forest at least once a week. I did a night ride a couple weeks ago up there. Pretty sweet place.

Where are you at in portland now? Any good rides up there that you recomend?

I've had really good luck with my Canon Digital Elph (the 3.2 mgp version) taking action shots of dancers. It didn't do so well taking action pics during a performance on a stage though. Everything was really fuzzy, but there are alot of settings n things I don't know how to play with.

Here's one I took of a friend bellydancing in a restaurant. No special settings. Quality is turned down so I can fit more pics on the memory card. Typical somewhat low 'restaurant' lighting.

Hmm... Mackenzie Trail you say? 23 miles long? I think I need to check that out.


a2psyklnut , I have a Minolta DiMage X. It's very slim and is one of the smallest cameras available with an optical zoom. The beauty of it is that the zoom lens is mounted internally so nothing protrudes and thus its form factour never changes which makes for easy stowing and retrieving. I've polished the fine art of quick-drawing while turning on the camera, shooting and stowing while turning it off all in one smooth motion and all with one hand. The original X model is discontinued now but they've diversified the line with the Xi (3.2MP and more features... X was 2.0MP), Xt (even smaller form factour with same capabilities of the Xi) and X20 (pretty much a redone X so it's only 2.0MP but with much of the same features of the Xi).

Soc522- Sounds like you definitely need to explore the trails around Corvallis more... I suggest Area 51, Extendo, Patterson Ridge, and McColluch Peak. Up in Falls City, between Corvallis and Salem, there are also excellent trails with insane stunts.

Khuon- Yes, 23 miles of epic singletrack on the McKenzie River. I definitely recommend checking it out sometime. When you do, let me know and I'll join you!

Yes its a fun fun trail, but i didnt find it to be to hard. last time i did endo tho... i hit a large rock going to fast :p the blue pool is a cool place to stop for lunch.

This coming from the 2nd best racer in the state :D

Actually, you're right, Mad Dog, it's not a super hard trail, since you're not really climbing a whole lot, but there's something for everyone in the 23 mile length. What I like about it is that it lets you go just fast enough that you are constantly on the verge of death or serious injury. Either a steep dropoff to one side, or big sharp rocks that can do some serious damage at speed (as you found out the hard way, Mad Dog :) )

On top of that, add the truly majestic essense of the McKenzie River, and it makes one hell of a trail.

lol, well only in my class :D. but i was super lucky when i went over in that rock garden, i only got a little bump on the elbow and a small scratch on my bike (It was its second day out to)
and hey, wouldent you just love to live in one of those cabins near the river? (kinds tords the end of the trail)

I'm afraid to take my Canon A60 on rough rides...don't want to land on it. It takes great pictures though, and the video clips are nice, as well.

Originally posted by math2p14
A2 ...i just bought a nikon 2100 coolpix. It has a sport mode where you can shoot fast moving objects (bikes that is ) go for it....it retails 300eu in europe...300$ in US.

Is it the one with 3 or 2 Mgp? I was thinking of buying one myself. How's the quality of pictures and how long do batteries last?

2mp Awesome quality (A4 size pics) . The batteries last long enough for my taste.

I was searchin around at cameras and it looks like the A70 is about the best (price/value) high end point and shoot digital camera. about what size is it?

Hey Soc, where'd you find the best price? Online or actual store? If online, send me the link!

L8R

Don't see nuthin but three red X's.

l8R

A 70 sounds great, and the price is in my range. One thing though, I found this on their home page>>


Operating Temperature 32 – 104°F (0 – 40°C)
Operating Humidity 10 – 90%

Is this actually true? I live in New York and is summer time the humidity of 95% is normal, and the temperature can also exceed 100 degrees. Does it mean that the camera will not operate properly or at all if any of those conditions are present?

Originally posted by iamlucky13
I'm afraid to take my Canon A60 on rough rides...don't want to land on it. It takes great pictures though, and the video clips are nice, as well.

I posted this in another thread but figured I'd repost it here too...

Overstock.com has some mad-cheap digital cameras right now. The trick is finding one that's small/lightweight, at least 1MP, has enough memory or expandable capacity for at least 50 shots (at a reasonable resolution/quality) and has a flash (very important because MTB activities often occur in low-light conditions such as in the woods) for under $100 which is the upper bound price of what I consider to be "expendable".

These look promising although some maybe a bit big/bulky/heavy...

http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2...&PROD_ID=461143
http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2...&PROD_ID=495229
http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2...&PROD_ID=247102
http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2...&PROD_ID=160506
http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2...&PROD_ID=466448
http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2...&PROD_ID=373566

canon powershot a70 - $270

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=706225/search=powershot%2520a70/ut=8cd3520454e7d082

canon powershot G3 - $453

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=635074/ut=8cd3520454e7d082

nikon coolpix 2100 - $198

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=702955/search=nikon%25202100/ut=8cd3520454e7d082

the site i found reviews and stuff was this:

http://www.dpreview.com/


good stuff - let me know what you think of those

O.k, looks like my pictures might not have loaded. I'll try again... This one is of 2 of my favorite girls:

My other favorite girl:

Kids playing in a fountain:

How does the a70 handle low light action shots? Any pics of what I'm talking about. Here's how the Fuji A201 does. Pretty crappy huh?

Here's another pic even after I lightened it up in photoshop:

A201 quality:

The A70 does pretty well with those type of shots, but I'll have to wait until I get home to post some :)

Man, I miss Portland. That water fountain brings back memories.
Santa Clara, signing off.

i think it would be fun to ride through the middle of that fountain on your bike on a hot day after a dirty ride... cool you off and clean the bike :)