i got a gopro session. it's a gopro hero 4 in a 1.5 inch cube. it cost me almost nothing. i record everything. 1080, 30fps. i'm not 100 percent sure why. in case of an accident to some extent, but that's not the real reason. the video is amazing. especially cutting through downtown chicago at night. i find it beautiful. i'm not sure what to do with the footage yet. it's quickly filling up terabytes of external storage. i'm a photographer -- with a focus on street -- so it's some sort of instinct. i'll make a project out of it. i don't have direction yet.

do you record? if so, why? with what?

I've never done it. Always wanted to see what it was like to look at one of my rides later...

I always love footage of bike rides through cities at night. Record it and put it on Youtube or Vimeo.

I've got helmet and under-the-saddle cam going on my commute. Usually don't bother saving them unless there's something worth saving. Sometimes I'll pull a few video captures from it, but that's about it. Been doing it for the last three years, and by my calculations, that would be about 7.50 TBs of storage.

No but I would if it "cost me almost nothing". How to get a free gopro?
How much time to transfer to external storage?
Watching would also be more time.
All this extra time takes away from more biking

I've been recording my rides for almost 6 years now. It's mostly in case something bad happens. Initially I wanted to save everything, but I quickly decided that if nothing remarkable happened to just wipe the card.

At first I was excited to be able to record close calls and instances where drivers were "less than courteous". What I learned was that many times the camera and I "remembered" things differently. What I thought was close, was not so close...and that's not a function of the lens' fish-eye distortion, it's a function of adrenaline-fueled distortion.

I also learned my reaction to events and drivers was not so pretty, and I have learned to not over-react and vent so much.

But another thing I found was that I had a way to capture, edit and save and share all the beauty and excitement of my rides. Granted, the commute routes can get a little stale, but I have enough routes and variations of routes and weather to always find something new every few weeks. The first time I sent my parents a link to some commute videos they were relieved. I had been riding to work for almost 25 years at that point, and they, spending most of their nearly 80 years in Chicago had always assumed the worst when imagining my rides. Of course, I had grown up riding my bike in Chicago in the most irresponsible and dangeroous ways, so I guess that didn't help their imagination any.

WIth social media and the internet, I can also share rides with friends and family here, and across the globe. Itherwise, all my wife knows about my riding is the neon geek who leaves the house, and the sweaty, greasy mess that shows up afterwards.

And then there's me. I like to go back and look at some of the rides and remember the joy of the experiences. I supose without a camera, I'd journal about my rides. I work in audio and video production, so I have a library of music to pick and edit the rides to. I usually erase the source files after editing, so the storage needs aren't great.

In almost six years, I have used my helmet cam video less than 5 times to record a license plate. And I've only reported it to the cops twice. Usually if there's a dangerous driver I call it in on the cellphone right then.

Editing is the key. It is difficult to sit through un-edited ride video, except that year I was off the bike. It was before I started recording and when I was able to get back on the treadmill I watched other peoples unedited commute footage while I walked and eventually ran. It felt a little like riding, except the videos from countries where they drive on the left...that just hurt my brain.

Here's a link to my Youtube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/user/bgvideo62/playlists

Our local bike club had a special on their annual century a few years back, so I picked up Cycliq front and rear cameras. I'll run them, mostly during my commute, if (a) they're charged and (b) I remember. My wife worries about me, so it's a chance to record any incidents or accidents. But she won't sit through 5 minutes (the default file length) without getting bored and walking off. I honestly can't blame her. The view is much better from 3-4 feet higher, and there's honestly a lot of boring riding from a visual point of view in between the good stuff.

My wife got me an action cam for Christmas a year ago. I've treated it more like a toy, I haven't wanted to continuously record. I guess I'm not going to get the dash cam meteor strikes or anything like that

And yes, EDITING

I use a GoPro Hero 7 Black currently mounted on the front of my helmet. I don't record the whole ride (batteries don't last long enough) but take 10 to 45 second clips when I see something or record the time, mileage, average speed, and riding time. I then join them to together and upload to Youtube. The best ones are when I am on rides with other cyclists.

I do, watching them helps me fall asleep from boredom. after a ride, I'll edit a a cpl minutes together & throw them up on youtube, then delete them from my camera card. no need to save stuff I'll never watch

but seriously
I turn my cam on & off as I ride. better to edit in the camera rather than have enormous single files to deal with
I try not to turn on the camera when it is in my pocket ... DOH!
I record intersections & areas that are highlights for me, like sections I affectionately label as "kill zones"
other highlights for me are tricky traffic sections
for my own memory sake, it's helpful to edit a final cut that represents the entire commute
I do sometimes upload to youtube single clips of a particular highlight because the rest of the ride had nothing to offer, or because I wanted to share that highlight on one of the threads here
I have found it useful to review my riding behavior to be safer
if you don't mind getting flamed, share them on a thread & see if anyone has anything to offer. I had a particular hill I was riding too recklessly & it was good to get a kick in the pants here
I have decided that 1-4 minutes is tolerable where the connected clips are 5-30 seconds long
it's more interesting to add titles & captions
I don't load the files onto any computer for editing, I just connect the camera & let the program suck it in for the editing session. I save the final movie to a computer then upload it. when it's working I delete the final cut from my computer

this is my 22 mile commute home. I don't recommend watching it

I have recorded occasionally. I don't record everything as I could do nothing with 5h+ of footage every week.

I got a Fly12. Not so much for me, as for my heirs and estate.

I got a gopro clone for like $25 several years ago. It's old enough that it maxes out at a 32 gb card. I have a mount for it under my computer but I've never gotten around to actually putting it on there. Sometimes I think I should, but I know I'm too lazy to edit/do anything with the footage. Probably make my wife happier to know I have it on there though.

I haven't recorded because I haven't wanted to spend the money on the equipment. Now a friend just gave me her old GoPro 3+. I haven't tried it yet. If I do record my commute and show it to you folks, you will vomit. The conditions here are horrendous.

Do you record?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rumrunn6

I do, watching them helps me fall asleep from boredom. …but seriously…

for my own memory sake, it's helpful to edit a final cut that represents the entire commute
I do sometimes upload to youtube single clips of a particular highlight because the rest of the ride had nothing to offer, or because I wanted to share that highlight on one of the threads here
I have found it useful to review my riding behavior to be safer
if you don't mind getting flamed, share them on a thread & see if anyone has anything to offer. I had a particular hill I was riding too recklessly & it was good to get a kick in the pants here
I have decided that 1-4 minutes is tolerable where the connected clips are 5-30 seconds long
it's more interesting to add titles & captions
I don't load the files onto any computer for editing, I just connect the camera & let the program suck it in for the editing session. I save the final movie to a computer then upload it. when it's working I delete the final cut from my computer

this is my 22 mile commute home [summer rush hour 6 28 19]. I don't recommend watching it
https://youtu.be/6DD5NP-xROQ

@Hey rumrunn6,

Thanks for the video,and I did peruse it. If I may ask where did you ride. I have posted,Your video nicely captures and reminds me of the joys of summer cycling, and I better get my @$$ bike in gear now in the tail of winter and into spring to prepare.

awww thanks, I actually added captions for most of the towns on that “metrowest” route Tewksbury, Billerica, Bedford, Concord, West Concord, Acton & Stowish. Yesterday I started seriously considering using a “Park & Pedal” lot approx. 1/2 way between work & home. 2 options are available cutting the ride from 22 miles to 12 or 9. gonna have to do some test runs. one option can include a portion of the unpaved Narrow Gauge trail but since the north end us so soft & rough I made just use Springs Rd, Bedford

ɅɅɅI previously posted to this thread:

Thanks for the reply. FYA, and for those who don’t know Metro Boston, I have posted about that region on my informal Cyclist’s Guide to Metro Boston:though Tewksbury, Billerica, and Stow are outside my usual "sphere on influence" from downtown Boston, especially since most of my commuting and road riding is south of the Olde Towne:

Those weird-angle intersections and junctions are so New England. And the narrow shoulders and roads are typical for older towns and cities. I like how you give a small wave to stopped cross traffic...I find I do that more and more.

I, for one, would love to see your commute!

lol, well now you're gonna have to

oh thanks for picking up on that. I thought I added a caption for the double-reverse-wishbone (but that may be in another vid on another day). it's brutal in a car. I think I get more courtesy on a bike. & waving ..., yeah why not? right?



& taking the lane on Main St as I approach Elm St is important. timing that is tricky tho. the sun can be blinding to me heading West in the evening. even tho the incoming/opposing traffic from Elm St can see me cuz the sun is in my face, it's good to have a strong front strobe there. that plus taking the lane helps make that incoming/opposing traffic from Elm St stop & wait for me to pass



by far the trickiest spot may be going from the shoulder, to taking the lane that cars use to enter a highway entrance ramp as they accelerate & then crossing over again to the thru lane to continue over the highway (Route 3). this illustraion may not be accurate cuz I doing the lane switching before this point, but I wanted to show the interchange situation & didn't want to post a humongous photo



it really helps me to watch how I handle these spots on different days so I can do it better. doesn't change the tough spot, but I think I get better at them after seeing them over & over

give to gopro a go! ;-) can you turn it on & off so that you don't have so much to review later? maybe just record the intersections? & re: editing yeah I never wanted to go thru all that. that's what got me started recording just short clips. but then after seeing other ppl here, I have to admit I got a little envious so when I has some time I tried a cpl programs on a cpl computers I have access to. the native windows program "Windows Live Movie Maker" is pretty easy to use. weird thing tho when I use my home computer it drops the audio, so I use my work computer. but lately my favorite routine is using my home MAC w/ an early version of iMovie

I think someone posted a thread about the Strava golden triangle of inactivity which my commute falls partly into

but don't forget the agony ... don't want to highjack the thread but I did a 90+ degree hot day hill climb home commute tribute. I'm sure it's agonizingly boring, but here it is