Been A Long Time (VIDEO)
 

Here is a short vid (1:52) for those who miss me around here since I changed jobs and don't bike the grid downtown every danged day anymore.

For those who don't miss me, see (0:32) where a scooter swings an illegal U-on-red and cuts across my illegal line as I was trying to run the same red light. You can only dream that I got hozed, but it was really close.

My New Camera I bought for still photos also shoots video, so I clamped on the handlebar mount and gave her a spin. This camera has some anti-shake feature that seems to work OK although I am not all that thrilled about the image quality and starbursts. I do like the wide angle tho. And this camera has a viewer - my helmet cam is point-and-hope.

Video editing speed is X2.

Have Fun!

Ha ha! Yeah, we missed your kamikaze-style riding videos :D Yeah, I noticed that one with the scooter.

Those cameras aren't too good for action video. I have a Canon S95 and it has similar issues: it shoots great HD video as long as you're not moving too fast and avoid changing light conditions drastically.

I liked how you passed at least 2 cops in that short span, =)

I like how you passed at least 2 cops in that short span and they didn't do anything to you for riding on the left of cars and on the opposite side of the yellow line. I guess they just don't care that much.

Yeah, reminds me of a Jacques Cousteau episode I watched as a lad featuring swimming around with sharks. Cousteau said something about being able to sense (picking up on subtle cues) when the sharks don't care and when they are hungry. And a NOLA cop told me once that as long as I don't make him spill food or coffee on himself in the unit, it's all good.

Nopd!!

:roflmao2:

This world is one interesting place.

Nice! That scooter did look pretty close, glad to see you out riding again.

I always look forward to your posts

WIll your camera accept a polarizing filter? That should take care of the flares.

Good call!

No, this camera is pocket sized and has no threaded filter capability. I bet I could tape on tho. Thanks for the idea. I have half a dozen of those filters around here for other cameras and just never thought about them.

Thanks!

Awesome flick. Oooh, that scooter was scary!

Big Ford SUV was scary too. Looked like he was gonna gun it around the carriage at any moment.

Hey, it's been a while since I've seen one of those!!!!! Thanks for sharing you antics once again! It seems your alter ego is allowed to come out and play, after all ;)

Though, the first rule of commute club..........

Gotta love a cross-thread reference. Mum's the word.

What Bike you riding now Joey?

Glad to see you out on the LHT again.

I picked up a Hero HD (waiting for it to get delivered) so I can start filming some of the bizarre traffic crap I've been talking about here in Brownsville forever.

I guess I owe you a thanks for the inspiration to start filming again:p

Joey, nice to see you back. That's my style of riding. That's what I like, the adrenaline, the rush of it. Didn't have a chance to see the video yet, but I'll take a look soon. You gotta live when you ride, that's what I say. I also got back into riding recently after a few months break, I said no faster then 20 mph on descents, then it simply washed me away, ended up going over 40, laughing and enjoying the rush all the way. It all came back in a few minutes, dodging cars way too close, not thinking, just instinctively riding. Well I think that is one big part of what defines me. What others might see as plain crazy, makes me alive. Summiting a few thou feet climbs and seeing the whole bay in the afternoon sun, still high from going up, is priceless. Then descending like a madman, flying down. Just priceless.

I just ordered the LCD backpack for my HD Hero I got for Xmas. It isn't an easy camera to use. I am hopeing the LCD screen will make it a little easier to use. What are you guys using for editing software with your GOPRO

This vid was filmed from the handlebars of my beater ATB - 8 year old Jamis Explorer with the bars cut down to lane-splitting size. I let some air out of the front tire to smooth out the video a bit. Otherwise, saddle-bars-pedals relationship set up just like my road bikes.

Glad you got motivated! Let me know when you start posting vids again.

As for the LHT...poor baby has been the last bike in the stack (4 in front of it) since I started working from home Jan 1st. I have two other bikes better suited to being stolen running errand (still car free) and I don't have to ride in the rain much right now (full fenders on the Trucker). But now that my little business is mostly setup I plan to do my "lunch ride" every day rain or shine. Welcome back to Truckerville. This is the week I do the Big Bike Shuffle in my office. I currently enjoy owning 6 bikes which makes a couple of them always hard to get to. Plus I lock them up to an old decorative iron security door inside my office. So I have to unlock all of them to get at the ones in the back. Except for my SuperCorsa which hangs where I can always reach it - my sunny day mid-life crisis sports car if you get what I mean.

Thank you for the motivation to dig out the LHT. That has been bugging me to see it buried.

I am an idiot on descents. You would think that hailing from flatland I would respect a good downhill. If you want to be good at any wheeled sport I think at some point you have to learn to accept speed. Skiing too.

If you ride in traffic, fast or slow, and surviving....there is a lot of thinking going on at the time. You just can't recall much of it later (if you are like me). Until I started watching my own film I really had no idea how much thinking was actually going on. I can account for every little detail of every ride now and have even put together a couple of "how-to" videos. I have even changed my riding style substantially after reviewing my own footage and others on the web. Watching my videos has actually made me a lot safer. Sometimes I notice something and note that I will never do THAT again. Other times I see a gap that I would never have noticed while riding - a gap that presents itself almost every ride.

For instance in this video at (1:06) I make a sweeping move left across the double yellow way across two opposing lanes for no apparent reason to anyone who does not ride like this. But in every video, at this location, even filming my buds, we all make that move here. Because, vehicles stopped at the red are blocking my view of cars crossing on the green from the right. So moving way left does a whole bunch of things: I have a much better view of cars entering from stage right, I am much farther away from the entry point which gives me, and them, more time to react. I have several escape routes even if there were cars in the opposing lane - I can keep veering toward the left curb and ride in the gutter, or turn left, or bail to the sidewalk, or go straight and split stopped traffic contraflow for a bit, or swing back to the right behind a crossing vehicle. But if I stayed on the double yellow I would probably have to lose all my momentum (i.e., stop) before I could see if anything was crossing.

See what I mean. One simple move and all that thinking is going on^^^

Busting it in traffic and surviving reminds me of playing baseball. I was a pretty good third baseman. When in the field, I certainly didn't wait to hear the crack of the bat to start thinking about what to do with the ball. Right after the last pitch I start the process - what inning, how many outs, who is on base, where, are they forced to me, second base, and/or home plate? What if the guy on second steals third? What if the guy on third takes a huge lead off the bag. What if the ball gets hit to the field on the fly, or on the ground. What do I do if hit to first, second, short stop, me at third - pop up or on the ground? EVERY pitch I go through this sequence. Same on the bike. Every problem, every light, every car, every danged thing is what-if.

Long story short - you are doing more thinking than you think. And you can quote me :)