My thoughts:
From hiking long ago- you need to decide what your goals are and tote stuff accordingly. Some people are riding to photograph, others are out for a ride and just happen to take a picture here or there. If you're riding to photograph, take an SLR, a tripod, a bucket of lenses, whatever it takes to get the job done, and just figure your speed and distance will suffer accordingly. If your goal is the riding itself, leave all that crap home and take your cell phone and be done with it.
I've got a GoPro that I've only used a few times. Problem is, I don't really have any use for the footage I generate. People that aren't interested in riding with me mostly aren't interested in watching videos of me riding, either, you know? It's cool having a GoPro on a helmet, but it is a noticeable weight up there, so I don't care to tote one all the time just in case something interesting happens.
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"be careful this rando stuff is addictive and dan's the 'pusher'."