NitroPye

Thanks JoeyBike great video and I am completely surprised at how well you kept up with the nay-sayers. I am a big fan of urban riding so much so I am thinking of breaking my lease to move back into a city

Also those movies you posted earlier as well are some of my favorite "get off your ass and ride" movies. They get me all fired up and by the time they are over my cleats are on and I'm ready to roll.

JoeyBike

You are welcome.

As for those vids you mentioned....for months I had the Hammerfall music featured in the London vid streaming though my head non-stop as I split the lanes downtown.

*Heeding the call, one and for all.....*

NitroPye

I love the end of the London video when the guy yells "******".

Funny brits.

Edit: YES! The forums are "british cuss" aware and it censored what rhymes with canker. Haha for some reason I get a kick out of that.

Enthusiast

This is my first post but I felt compelled to join Bike Forums after coming apon this thread while lurking about. I moved to NOLA 6 months ago and have been commuting to work on the west bank from the garden district 3-5 times a week. I also end up passing through the quarter often and I've adopted a riding style very similar to how you guys rode in the test video. (I dont have the lights timed so I slow a bit more at the reds) I was excited to see myself in the first 4 secs of the alleycat video! I was a block behind you guys on peters. I cant wait to see the rest of the video, that race was amazing!

I'll ask Squillis (sp?) about it next time in Bicycle Michaels. I'm the guy that always comes in on the blue/yellow singlespeed and makes tim fix my bottom bracket.

acroy

Been watching this thread for a while, only just now watched the entire clip -

I think I ride very much the same. There were a few moments on the vid, with peds or the possibility of peds, I was like "whoa!" But I would guess your actual sightlines are a lot better than the camera.

fun video, thanks for sharing

roughrider504

I am now a firm believer in Joey's writings about riding in the city of New Orleans. Today I was riding across a marked crosswalk and some grandpa in a 300c gassed it while I was crossing. If I would have been using the road and not the bike path this would of not happened. So much for marked crossings. Luckily I saw him so I unclipped my foot and kicked off of his bumper with only a bruise. I don't know if I should give trying to ride in New Orleans, which is a shame because I wanted to go carfree, or strap a target to my back. Yet that target is already there.

Jethro

I am car-free in New Orleans & find it works out quite nicely. Bicycle Michael's is the best . . . shameless plug . . . Joey set up my single-speed, vintage Trek.

JoeyBike

You gotta hang in there until you gain a few more city riding skills and an attitude. Sooner than you think you will be skilled at anticipating all those bone-head moves made by others.

Come by the bike shop - almost anyone can help you with routes, as laid back or intense as you desire. Most of the employees are former car owners, so we know how the city flows from over the bars or behind the wheel. Staying car free has allowed some of us to buy homes and live richer lives without the expense of auto repairs, parking, insurance, fuel, etc. And cutting through those historic streets with only the sound of your chain buzzing has way more style than sitting at the lights in an expensive tin box, wishing you were doing something else.

We sell NO city maps for five bucks. You give us the points A and B where you want to go and we will draw some lines on the map for you to get there.

Hang In!

JoeyBike

I was just winding down on this post. Glad I checked in just when the Home Team started posting.

Thanks for the Kudos about the shop. It is one of a kind, that's for sure. Definitely the best, most diverse group of cyclists I have ever had the pleasure of working with. All total we have seven employees who bike to work every day and countless friends who don't own cars either.

Cheers!

-Joey

JoeyBike

Glad you're here!

I can't wait to see the video too. I have not heard of a time projection.

PaulH

One comment not related to safety issues is to turn off the autofucus and set the camera on infinity. The video was marred by frequent loss of focus lock. I have the same problem when filming fast moving things, particularly at night.

Paul

JoeyBike

Yes. Good point. The camera man made that adjustment after viewing this vid. I don't know his camera, but I hope infinity starts at five to ten feet, because sometimes he can be quite close to other cyclists and of course, cars and peds.

Thanks for the tip. I bet that solves the problem without causing another.

PaulH

[QUOTE=JoeyBike;5807542]Yes. Good point. The camera man made that adjustment after viewing this vid. I don't know his camera, but I hope infinity starts at five to ten feet, because sometimes he can be quite close to other cyclists and of course, cars and peds.


I'd guess that the lens is wide open for those night shots. That is not great for depth of field. If I had more details on the camera, I could calculate this. However, near objects are likely to be blurred by low shutter speed and fast angular motion, so my guess is that it would work fine.

Paul

JoeyBike

For those of you who could not view the video in its original format, it is now up on the cameraman's MySpace video viewer:

https://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fus...deoID=25322236

randall t

so for five bucks, i give you a start and a stopping point, and you draw a line on a map? i would do this for a fellow cyclist for free, are you saving money for hospital bills or that fancy house you talk about?

JoeyBike

The Rand McNally street maps of New Orleans that we sell at the store are $5. The lines are free.

Or bring your own street map....the lines are free.

If you bring in a cheap tourist map of the city showing about half the streets, I won't waste my time drawing in streets and lines....cough up the five bucks for a REAL map. The lines are still free.

Hope that clears things up Smarty Pants.

JSteiner

After spending an hour reading this entire thread from the start, I feel the need to chime in so I don't feel like it's wasted. Here's my two cents:

I commute by bike every day. I generally obey traffic laws, although I treat reds like yields and just make sure the coast is clear. If I'm turning left and not at the front of the pack, I get in line with the cars. My commute starts in the city and heads to campus 9 miles away in the suburbs. I keep about a 20mph riding speed. Overall is slower with lights. I'm not racing, just going. I learned to ride in Boston, and rode the streets of that bike-unfriendly city every day. I know urban riding, commuting, and urban commuting. I see your riding as not entirely unsafe, but certainly not the safest and most respectful method. I have a car, though I haven't had a reason to drive it in a month. When I'm on the highway, the cruise is at 63 in a 65 zone. This way I can sit in the slow lane and effectively not worry about traffic around me. (meaning I don't ever have to change lanes). I don't agree totally with your riding style, but don't disagree enough to argue, and don't have anything to say that hasn't already been said. Now don't take this the wrong way, but my point is this:

Why did you post a video of your commute?

I understand you were testing the camera. The ride was not an especially interesting one. Nothing really happened. The only reason I watched the whole thing was because I expected something crazy to happen. I'm only still yapping because I feel like an idiot for reading the rest of this thread thinking something would happen, when it was exactly the kind of banter I expected after watching the video.


Or in reality, it's because I'm further procrastinating the work I sat down to do. I'm done now.

JoeyBike

I often wonder why anyone posts anything here that is not a direct help to other cyclists. It's called entertainment, and in my case a little market research on the side.

My friend the camera man is trying to figure out how to make some extra cash. We all like watching those bike messenger races posted all over YouTube so he figured he would give that a try. I threw the link up here for a little free market research feedback. We got a lot of feedback as you should well know after spending your lunch hour reading this string. Waaay more feedback than I imagined, but probably not really the correct audience for the most part.

I think it would be cool if someone invented a video game that simulated "traffic jamming" and made it work connected to a stationary trainer. There are race car games and skateboard games. I am sure someone will do it, but first this "sport" has to be promoted and gain exposure in the main stream. Only way to do that - strap a camera onto a bike helmet and follow some skilled urban cyclists around and post the results everywhere.

Hope this knowledge doesn't make you feel cheap.

RT

Oh no, this is back?

JoeyBike

You realize your post shot this back to the top of the board yet AGAIN!

TRaffic Jammer

Damn I just busted the helmet cam mount, I've only used it twice.... where's that customer service number?

JoeyBike

Is the mount weak, or did you do something really bad to it?

Let me know if you post any vids! I am glad I lived to see the day when these cameras became so portable that most folks with the urge to film something fun can do so. When you get something up, please PM or email me: joeybike@juno.com

In the meantime...have you seen the short film TAG? A bunch of bike messengers chase a skilled inline skater around London. It is very slickly produced and fun to watch if you like that sort of thing. Skating is my first real love. I bike for transportation only. So this vid really made me happy.

Check er out: TAG

Be sure to stick around through the credits 'cause the end of the vid happens after the credits roll.

TRaffic Jammer

I think I might have been crankin' it too hard trying to get the camera under the seat. I wanted tight so it would nice and still , well it's still alright......sittin' on my bed. Damnit, I'm seriously my own worst enemy sometimes.
Here's a couple screen captures

JoeyBike

Nice! The captures look really crisp. I look forward to whatever you put together. Hope you have some computer power and patience.

I'm off....gotta go "duck some mirrors" myself right now. Later.

JoeyBike

We both went down last night on the commute home on a different route than the video.

My bud was leading the way down Esplanade Ave on his new single-speed-recovered-from-junk-pile bike, cracking along at 20ish when we come to the signal at Claiborne Ave. The light turns green just as we near the intersection and the cars had not started moving yet, so the thought of splitting the lane and moving past the lone pick-em-up truck at the light was iffy as he might have enough time to get going and change lanes at the otherwise busy intersection. So my bud just decides to follow the truck across, which would, by the way, be the safe and legal thing to do.

So we near the back end of the truck, me several yards behind the other rider - I notice him getting in line so I will do the same. (BTW - the single speed roadbike he is riding has two handbrakes and a freewheel). My bud is trying to loose as little momentum as possible and is nearing the truck that has now been sitting at a green light for ten seconds. Fifteen seconds....twenty....my bud touches the rear bumper with his front wheel. Can't get unclipped.....tiiiiiimmmmmbeeeerrr!

He makes the slow fall to his right just as I come rolling up and tips into me sending me rolling around on the ground as well. He was mortified that he took me out but I was laughing too hard to pay much attention to anything including cars politely honking behind us to get out of their way.

After a quick check of wheels and such, we rolled on our way. My bud rolls up next to me and says "That's what I get for following the rules!"

We never saw the pickup truck again.