Week Off From Commuting - Fun with Video - A Great Ride with a Friend

No working this week, so no bike commuting pictures either. I could definitely get use to all this free time - just need to figure out this whole everything costs money thing - hahaha. Portland has been having a dry summer and I have to say I am getting spoiled. I don't have to carry or wear the rain gear, I can carry way less stuff and I don't have to wear layers since both morning and afternoon are very comfortable on the bike.

Even with more people out in the mornings, it is still my favorite time to ride. The heat has not built up, yet and I tend to ride a little easier since I do not want to be all sweaty at work. Helps that I wear my work clothes commuting - have I mentioned I do not like changing clothes multiple times in the day?

Me being me I have been spending time trying to refine my POV mounting for my helmet and the bikes. What a CHALLENGE! Helmet mountings - did you know they do not design a helmet with helmet cams in mind? Well, they don't. Trying to attach a flat adaptor to a non-flat surface is utterly frustrating, not to mention near impossible. When I finally found a pretty good spot, I learned a couple of key lessons: 1) even super snug the helmet moves and jounces around; 2) I move my head a LOT! Both of those learnings have led to less than ideal videos, they are okay, just less than ideal.

Now, I do like the helmet mounting because as things come up (read cars and other road hazards) I can turn and capture 'em on video. Watching the videos one has to be careful about causing vertigo and nausea, though - lol. Also, when mounted without any static item such as the edge of helmet, the image seems a bit boring, the floating camera syndrome, I guess. That's true even when bike mounting the camera.

Now, the bike mounting is great, because I know what is being captured and the image is a bit more stable. A low mounting, such as on the fork is too low except for a few moments. So far, my favorite mounting is just behind the stem to have part of my handlebars in the video. Below is the latest version.

The goal was to have something relatively simple, stable and easy to remove and/or adjust. Because the camera head is small and light, I can use less materials and still have the camera head stable. The mount is a hybrid, using some parts from my custom mounting bin of parts and a piece of a store bought clamp system. Removing one screw I can take the camera head off, and the clamp mechanism allows me to easily adjust the direction of the view. Oh, that lens hood is a home-made one, since VIO does not make a lens hood. Surprise, surprise it is made from a piece of PVC plumbing pipe.

Oh, if you want to see some of my practicing videos, I have added a link over there on the right ---> titled, My Vimeo Videos (yep, that's right, a shameless plug).

Last Sunday (8/21) I rode downtown and met up with my friend, Sandra. We walked around where the Portland Century riders were coming in - looked like a lot of hot, tired people. Kind of miss that. Makes me, almost, want to do an organized ride. We'll see, should be a few rides, yet, to come. From there we walked over to the start/finish linefor the Giro di Portland criterium, next door to the NW REI. Some pretty fast riders out there. Lot's of men riders, only about 25 women racers. Hopefully that will change and we'll see more women racers so there will be more races.

Wednesday I had a great ride with Sandra. We rode out to the new Cartlandia for a lunch stop. Cartlandia is a parking area for food carts and there is also a bike shop there to help with minor repairs and such. Cartlandia is right on the Springwater Trail where it crosses SE 82nd Ave. Springwater Trail is really nice and I am very impressed with how well it was put together. I really had a great time riding with Sandra, such a wonderful change from either just commuting or riding in those huge Sunday Parkways events (don't get me wrong, I enjoy them, too).

Thursday I rode downtown with my son, Evan. We were off to see an exhibit at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center about Hapa (part Asian, part something(s) else). We also walked around the permanent internment exhibit. Evan saw his late grandfather listed with his family and where they were located at Minidoka (Idaho).

Fortunately, the center is just a block and a half from work, so we parked our bikes there. We also got lot's of ice water, as it was pretty hot and fairly humid. On our ride he got some lessons about what to watch out for as we had a car cut us off by turning left. She was talking on the cell phone illegally and I guess did not feel like yielding to two cyclists crossing the street. Traffic was stopped due to a light, oh well. These are always good opportunities to help him be safe and defensive as he is out and about on his bike.

Phew, I think that catches up on what's been bike happening. Oh, yeah, next week (Thursday) is the start of our Bike Commute Challenge month through the BTA. Hoping we get some more new riders and get a lot of participation. This Sunday is Sunday Parkways SE Portland so Evan and I will be heading over, probably leave home around 11am (at least earlier rather than later). So I will get some good fun riding in before starting back to the commuting riding Monday.

Hope you all have been out enjoying the summer riding and for those areas hit with mega temps, hope you are all staying hydrated.