I like it. The fog in the trees on the descents is awesome. Agreed that editing is a big time suck. Throw in gauges, multiple cameras and color grading and an afternoon can go bye-bye quite easily. Cheers

Personally, I love the editing of the videos almost as much as the ride itself.

Actually, I enjoy it too. It's just very time consuming and I'm not super proficient. I'm only using windows movie maker right now and I have a hard time cutting and then actually keeping clips organized!

There are clips that I've easily spent 50 hours on, in 2-6 hour segments. The longest was a non-bike one, trying to sync music to the band (a month of steady panic work, then a couple/few more weeks of refinement - it was meant to be a Christmas present for my brother). But even race stuff takes a long time. Some of the ones from 2007, where I was trying to upload within a day or two of the race, I was working 8-9 hours a night on them for a couple nights, and those vids were terrible.

I've put in maybe 20-30 hours into a few clips I haven't gotten close to finishing, mainly 2011 crits (the 2011 SoCal hacking clip came out of one of them). For me storyline is important, i.e. there should be something that draws in the viewer (my standard viewer is me as I make these clips the way I want them to be). If I think a clip is boring while I'm editing it I put it aside and try and think of what would make it more interesting. I personally enjoy watching my own clips - I find them motivating when on the trainer (it helps that I lived the moments myself).

For example, that hacking clip is a combination of three clips I wanted to do separately, but when I started to put together one (the hacking around) I realized I didn't have a lot of usable material (I cut out 10 min of various scenes around SoCal, mainly PCH or Palomar routes). Part of it was the track standing, and I had consciously looked down to record the good shadow of me (normally I look forward). The other part was one of two Wohlford descents I liked, where I caught a car. There's another better, faster Wohlford descent, and a Palomar one, but I quickly realized they wouldn't fit on one clip, so I grabbed the boring Wohlford one.

All that decision/selection process took me two evenings at the computer, and I finally decided to throw a bunch of stuff together, hence the "hack" name.

I have those few clips to edit but simply haven't found time/motivation to do it. It's a passionate thing, editing these videos. If it isn't passionate then I stop because something is wrong with what I'm doing with the clip.

I've done the same. The shortest ones seem to be the hardest because of trying to make it interesting without flipping from scene to scene to quickly to fit in the timeline. I finally started using the editing cursors like rolling edit, ripple edit, etc. to sync to the beat of the music. Not easy but it is fun.

Job well done. I've watched your videos over and over looking for tips. Your commentary really sets your work apart from everything else out there. Not sure if you figured it out, or even tried, but your passion for sharing is what pushed me to get into recording rides and races. Thanks. Keep it up.

btw, you doing Red Trolley this year? Cya

No Red Trolley for me this year as I won't be going to SoCal. I'm having serious withdrawal symptoms as I really enjoy visiting my host family (husband was my best man, obviously a really really good friend, his wife is great, and their two young kids are fantastic as well). I got an email from Red Trolley saying registration is open; my friend texted me that he's having withdrawal symptoms (I usually breathe life into their own cycling); and I'm training and thinking about all the roads I like riding on in SoCal.

I appreciate the kind words about the videos. A musician (not one of my brothers) said to me once that performing his original music onstage was like standing naked in front of everyone - you feel really exposed to the world. Obviously it takes a certain kind of person (exhibitionist?) to want to do share videos or music or whatever, but part of it is borne from the desire to share better/cleaner racing, some riding techniques, and to illustrate some of the concepts I think are basic to cycling (like taking proper lines through turns/corners).

Along those lines I appreciate/welcome critical feedback ("dude, you spelled my name wrong!" or "um why did you start the music there, it makes no sense") and understand the taste/opinion differences (usually to do with my music choices). I really want to hear the former because it helps me improve. I figure the latter is like disagreeing with a chef's dish - no matter what I've always had a throat constricting reaction to gamey meat (venison, duck, lamb) and get nauseous when I even smell bleu cheese or Gorgonzola. So the best chef in the world could prepare the best venison dish and I wouldn't like it. No offense given, no offense taken.

The short clips are really challenging. The concert clip was the worst for me, and it's even worse because when I play it on the Mac everything syncs up, but off of YouTube it's all off.

Initially it was really hard with the 10 minute limit. Then, when I could upload 15 minute clips, I realized that I was quickly running out of music. As it is I already recycle about 15 pieces, and a 15 minute clip may have room for 6 or 8 pieces. I can't use a lot of music my brothers have played simply because they don't fit. In fact there aren't that many bits of music I'd use even if I could. For me the music really amplifies my adrenaline reaction to the clip, therefore making it more exciting to me. I guess that's why there's music in action movies, to amplify the effect of the action.

I hope you have a great season and keep posting videos and updating your blog. I'm using your advice on gluing tubulars and like my racing, I'm a work in progress. Youtube should have upgraded your account to >15mins by now. I'm not sure how it works but I don't have those limits anymore. I used to perform music back in the big hair days and I didn't feel naked but having a few hundred people in a club looking at you and expecting to be entertained, it's a big responsibility. One thing I found out was you can make little mistakes and as long as you keep going forward, nobody (or maybe 1 other guitarist) will even know what happened. Cheers

Heh. The tubular gluing stuff is up there partially so people don't roll tires in front of me, partially to try and convince riders that tubulars really work. Because they do.

I'll have to check on the limits - Last time I was at 15 min, but it's been a while.

I used to play violin a lot, a "Cat 2" I'd call myself. As such I only played classic pieces so I never felt very exposed. Well, in recitals I did, when I basically played on my own, but I understand what you're saying about only a few people, if any, notice your errors. I've listened to a few recordings of the orchestra (had to record off the radio) and I can't believe how bad we sound. Haha! We were just kids though. I think the conductor must have been so stressed each performance. Relating to the videos, I discard masses of text at a time, and I had some auto-save issues with iMovie at the beginning, so here and there text phrases stayed in place. My favorite clip (content wise) also has one of the worst of the text errors. So far no one's said anything, personally or publicly.

I'm trying to get on a schedule again with the blog but I have to admit it's a bit tough. I'll have good fodder for blogging this year I hope; last year was uninspiring for the most part. Clips - I'm typing from the new main floor "office". I moved the various Mac stuff upstairs so I'll work on it more. We'll see if it helps.

What part of San Diego is that trail at? It looks familiar.

I can't disagree more... If I was any good at editing videos and enjoyed it at all... I would probably have 100s. I do database programming for a reeason. ;) I'll post my latest video when it's finished rendering. (just made a cheezy recap video)

Going East along the SR 56 Bike Trail right around Carmel Creek Road.

Hey Freight, this same discussion is going on the wedding videographers forums. It's turned into a really big deal as of late as people read the copyright policies more closely and a couple recent litigations have made the news.

There are lots of royalty free music out there with their own terms of use. It varies from a credit in the video to signing a form and limited #/views. I hope the other member gets their videos back up without music or royalty free music. We need more ride videos, not less. Keep 'em coming.

Ok, My most recent video finished uploading. It takes me like months to get around to making videos with some of my footage. Even with that much time to think about it, my videos always seem rather purposeless. Lol Anyways, here is the latest collection of footage from some charity events/rides last year.

With regards to YouTube background music, what I do is post a dummy video with audio from a band I intend to use in my final video. This dummy video is just a still image so it uploads pretty fast. If this goes through without major warnings from YouTube then I use the audio in the final version I am going to upload. I have been getting more and more warnings lately uploading to YouTube and am seriously contemplating just uploading my videos up on Vimeo.

Anyways here is something different again... this one is a video of my commute home in rush hour traffic with a cycling buddy who took the velodrome video a few pages back. He is riding a fixed gear and I am riding an XC with racks and fenders.

http://www.youtube.com/v/2qe3CeIqSXs?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1

I saw this one somewhere else (maybe i was browsing in Commuter or something) it made me think of some of my Montreal commuting rides. I got a new rear blinkie this summer, one of those Planet Bike turbo jobs, it is really a lot brighter than my older ones and I really notice some cars giving more room so it does the business of being seen better (I think its both intensity AND the odd pattern of flashes, more like an emerg vehicle) Ive even thought of getting a stronger front one, as Ive had people who just dont see me, with front blinky, reflecive vest...

anyway, fun vid to watch, havent been to T.O for years now and my biking there was boogying around East York when I was a kid, going down into the Don Valley in summertime etc with friends to bum around on our bikes, so a good 35 yr old memories.

For music, although I've used an exert in a clip ("it's time to roll"), I prefer using stuff my brothers played. I talked to them about rights and such, before I put them in my first clip. I think that some of the original band members probably account for most of the views on the actual "show clip" that I made of one of the later bands (a present to my brother, he shared with the other performers, they all agreed that it caught the spirit of URT).

What's interesting is that the lower quality sound stuff was all home-recorded on a 4-track, in the house where we grew up (and where my dad still lives along with one brother, his wife, and 3 kids - when we visit they say "oh, you'll be in your old room", i.e. we'll be in the room that I used until I was 17 years old). That's all mid-late 80s. After a prelim band (Zen Men, with Derek and John), my brother did the "nicer" stuff (Marshall Artist, URT) in the late 80s early 90s with CDs recorded in a pro recording studio (demo stuff taped in an office), a common theme being a guy Derek (he sings and plays guitar). The last bits (band = Linus) was done about 7-10 years ago, early 2000s, and Derek sings and John plays drums I think. They talk about rehearsing (we regularly see Derek and one of the guys from SFoD) but with kids and family and work and all it's tough.

Oh, that's one brother. The other did the more edgy stuff, and that was done mid 80s (both my brothers were in Shovel Full of Dirt during high school, and a third guy is still around; various other members have dropped out of touch; the singer moved out west), with 2000-2002 the Tunnel of Love stuff (they're still out there, definitely nsfw stuff).

All this reminds me that I want to redo the non-HD clips, but it takes so much time... Arg.

I did post it in the commuting section in response to a thread about someone getting ticked off at some commuters who don't obey traffic rules all the time. In my opinion you need to improvise when you are riding in city streets and boulevards designed primarily for motorized vehicles and not for bicycles. Also some of us commute primarily to get a workout.

I have been a convert to using lights since I started bike commuting to downtown Toronto (55 km round-trip). What I have experienced is using brighter lights (but not blinding) does make motorist pause first/think twice before making bone headed moves such as not giving you the right of way at intersections or cutting you off at corners. I now use lights even when commuting in daylight... a flashing white light in the front and a either a Superflash Turbo or Radbot 1000 at the back.

I actually feel safer riding the bicycle in the city as opposed to the suburbs. Yes there are more cars to squeeze by and usually more traffic but the average speeds of vehicles is lower and since there are more cyclists, drivers are more wary of them. In the suburbs that is where I need the brighter/flashing lights.

re: improvising, you said it. You really have to just go where your gut says to go. I do a regular 25-30km round trip commute here in Montreal, as both transportation to not be in bloody stupid traffic jams and for the workout.

I too am in traffic very much like you, and completely agree that you just have to go with the flow and use your brains of where is safest. I dont follow the traffic rules all the time, but dont do stuff that is dangerous or will be inconsiderate. If I have to take a lane and hammer it I will, if I have to jump up on a vacant sidewalk I will, and yes I do draft trucks ;-)
I drive a car too, so see things from both ways. Its important for us not to be jerks to cars either, despite clueless people doing stuff that makes us shake our heads sometimes.

Ya, the superflash turbo is great, Im really impressed with it. Gotta find a brighter more visible front white flasher. For me, flashers are the most effective for a driver to notice you. When I am in my car, the flashers are the ones that immediately stand out.

I too ride a cross bike with fenders and rack, great bikes for all kinds of riding, with 28 slicks onthem they are reasonably fast (if of course the motor is tuned)

djb, yes the cross bike is becoming my goto bike... more so than any of my other bikes. The ability to accept wheels ranging from slicks to studded depending on prevailing weather conditions is the main reason why this is so. I follow/obey traffic rules most of the time but will take the lane, ride in the middle of cars stuck in traffic (which also allows me to minimize the risk of getting right hooked on intersections), and also ride in sidewalks if I feel that this is the safest option available.

For front lighting, I have learned from the Electronics area in this forum and also from the MTB forum that you can improvise LED flashlights for use as front or helmet mounted bicycle lights. I have been using Rosewill Flashlight based front lights that I got from newegg for less than 30 bucks apiece (they were on sale at the time) as my flashers (day and night). My main headlight (for seeing the road ahead) is a Cygolite Expilion 350. The Rosewill can, and are used as backups in case the Cygolite runs out of power on long commutes/rides.

Nice video. Drivers there, at least in the video, seem pretty aware of cyclists. Wish that were more true here in San Diego. Had a guy today make a u-turn right in front of 3 of us. He was in a convertible and he said, "There's a bike lane." All he had to do was wait 3 seconds but instead stuck his big silver butt in the road putting us all in danger. So yeah, I wish drivers here were more aware.

Thanks for bringing back memories of the 80's when I did the band thing. It was the decade I got my first real bike. A Performance Bike that flexed all over the place. How I got up the mountains around here is a mystery. I'm just glad, like many, to have made it out of the 80's alive. :) Cheers

that last descent is nice looking, except for that light at the end....certainly a good excuse to keep a good eye on front brake cables regularly with all the hills you do!

the fixies with no brakes...ya, I dont get it either. Around here, you've got to be able to stop or slow down pretty quickly if you want to survive, so really cant figure them out. Kinda like rollerbladers going down hills in the city...seems like a recipe for disaster.
Oh well, better them than me thats for sure.

I'm sure that along with others, you nabbed us with "bouncy" (chuckle, wink wink and all those other dumb comments)!

ps, very neat point of view of the descent, really gives you the feeling of going down it, very cool. As us northerners are not likely to be out on bikes on the road, its really fun to see these and other vids. I do a bit of trainer stuff while watching tv shows, but it really isnt the same as climbing and thats what I miss the most, working the legs and upper body with climbs.

As mentioned some other time Im sure, you folks have some darn pretty riding country out there. I really am envious.
tks for the vid and distraction.

Freighttrainuphill: That last video is awesome. It really shows how fast the gopro reacts. Definitely much nicer than my action cam. A GoPro is definitely on my list. Nice job man.

some clips from the SDBC club race