On the Road Again

A cousin of fine offered a ride with him the the West Coast Pipe Show in Las Vegas.  It had been several moths since I was on an over-night trip, nothing I had to do at home, I accepted the offer.

Was a long day - near 600 miles on the road.  Started from my house in Rio Rancho about 6am.  Stopped in Flagstaff, AZ for late breakfast.

Checked out Hoover Dam to look at the new visitor center.  I had been at the dam several times, and saw the new facilities in 2011, but did not go into the visitor's center.

I shot some stills and video during the drive,  Cousin Don shot some video, too, making a video record of the trip.  I also set up the GoPro camera on the dash.  Sill have to download that card to see what I got.  Don't use the camera much, and may not had captured much.

Got into out hotel (Palace Station) and unloaded the vehicle.  Met some of Don's pipe friends at Jack's Pub in the hotel.  Had a pint of been and ordered a burger & fries.  Service was poor.  Ordered burger MW, and it came MR.  Couldn't get the server to pay any attention to us.  By now, the smoke and noise was getting to much for me.  Don took care of the bill for me, I headed to the room for quiet and sleep.

First Ride of the Year on The Trace

You may wonder what has been happening since not many blog postings.  Over the last 2 months, I had a CT scan that showed a mass in my left lung.  Eight nights in the hospital for a biopsy - which showed the mass to be lung cancer.

My doctors let me make my trip to the mountain bike festivals - I needed the break.  On return, it was more tests (MRI, PET scan, Pulmonary Function) and doctor appointments.  We (doctors and I) decided to treat the mass with radiation.

A week of heavy, pin-pointed radiation treatment and all of the trips to the doctors took it toll on me.

The Spring was rainy.  When I felt like riding, it was a pavement ride.  Today, I decided it was time for this year's first ride on the Wabash Trace.  While it was a bit windy (from the North) the temperature was perfect (mid 70s) with filtered sunshine.  Parked the car in Silver City.

Mounted the GoPro camera on the handlebars of the mountain bike (my Trek 4300).  Since I knew I would be battling the wind on the way back, I rode non-stop from Silver City to 305th Street.  Ended up with a little over 40 minutes of video.

My original plan was hoping to make it as far as the Silver Creek Bridge.  When I crossed the bridge, I felt pretty good, so continued another mile to 305th.  This made the ride 5.5 miles one way.  Figured that was plenty for this ride, knowing I will be riding into the wind on the way back.

Shut down the GoPro at 305th and stopped several times on the way back, taking still photos.  This gave me time to rest at times on the way back.  By the time I got back to Silver City, I was exhausted.

Lots of folks riding their bikes on The Trace today.  Don't think I have ever seen so many along this section of the trail.  Had to be 20 or more that I met on the trail in my 11 miles ride.  Think everyone had the same idea - could not pass up a day like this without spending part of it on a bicycle.

Today's photo was taken about 1/2 mile North of 305th St.  The foliage along the trail is very lush, not surprisingly with all of the rain, humidity, and heat over the last couple weeks.

Switchback

Yesterday (Thursday) was travel day.  Was hoping it would clear off a bit, instead the day started spitting mist while packing the car.  Eventually got on the road.  Encountered "pea soup) fog just leaving Duluth.  I had to slow down to 40mph on I-35!

The fog was clear as I headed out on highway 210.  Was getting hungry when I reached Cromwell.  Had lunch at the Country Inn Restaurant.  What a lunch!  Ordered 1/3 pound burger, fries, cole slaw, 2 onion rings, and coffee for under $10! 

Checking at the Country Inn Deerwood.  Settled into the room and got stuff ready for a ride Friday.

Today, the morning was spent waiting for sun and higher temperature.  By noon, it was time to head over to the trails.  Talked with Dan (Owner @ Country Inn) about riding "Switchback".  This was a trail I had not ridden.  Parked the car at the Pennington Lake boat ramp.

Pretty good singletrack.  Just some climbing that was over my ability.  Did not how much I have gotten out of shape - be that from not active or health problems.  Was out of breath at times walking the bike up the trail.  From the upper photo, you can see where the trail gets its name.

Anyway, I had the GoPro camera on the bike and recorded the whole ride.  When I hit the end of Switchback, I rode the road to the Cuyuna Lake State Trail back to the car.

Back at the room, I downloaded the video.  Looks like I got the whole ride - even did not get the camera turned off while visiting at the parking lot.  Converted the video from MP4 to AVI.

The camera wanted to update the firmware.  That is done from the GoPro CineForm Studio.  The firnware update did not take.  Sent an e-mail from GoPro. While i was out for registration and pasta feed, I had instructions from GoPro.  Awesome customer support!  Downloaded the firmware and formatted the SD car.

Back at the Festival (Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Festival).  Bought raffle tickets (for a New Belgium Brewing cruiser) - drawing in September.  Food and beverages by Maucieri’s and New Belgium Brewing.  The band was playing.  Later there would be a night ride under lights (beyond me on unfamiliar trails).

No luck updating the firmware.  The camera seems to be stuck in a loop.  Sent another e-mail to GoPro support.  About time to call it a night.

Ride on the Duluth Lakewalk

Cool morning and the forecast was for scattered showers.  After coffee and pastries at the hotel, I found a place to get a haircut.  I had been getting pretty shaggy!

Weather.com was showing some showers heading through the area late morning.  So, I killed some time chatting online.  Soon, the clouds were getting thinner, so kitted up for low/mid 40 deg weather.

It was a little over a block from my hotel (Days Inn Duluth) to the Edgewater entrance of the Duluth Lakewalk.  Took the hybrid off the car rack and loaded up for the ride.  It was a 3 mile ride along Lake Superior to Canal Park.  Rode around Canal Park before riding back to the hotel.

Was a bit brisk ride back as I had a stiff headwind.  While I was a little chilly, I was not uncomfortable.  Guess I had just the right layer of clothes.  Felt great to be back on the bike.  Was not sure I was excited about riding in this weather, but sure glad I did.  Just over 7 mile ride.

OH, I had the GoPro on the bike.   Still have problems understanding when the camera is running and when its not. Did not get the footage I thought I was getting.

Was thinking of getting out last night - sampling the local night life.  But the exercise and fresh air made me too tired. Instead, I feasted on a chicken fried steak at Perkins (2 blocks from the hotel) and called it a night.

Awesome Riding Weather & a Camera Test

This is the first decent weekend we have had for bike riding.  The morning started with fog, but that burned off a little after noon.  Loaded the hybrid on the bike rack and headed to Wabash Trace Trailhead.

This time, I had all of the various pieces for the GoPro handlebar mount.  Attached the camera to the bike and headed out for Lake Manawa.  A couple times, I had to stop and tighten the various connections of the mount.

Temperature was in the mid 60s (I just wore my jersey & bibs - no long sleeve or jacket).  Just comfortable.  The winds was from the South at 5-10 mph.  A bit rough at times riding South on Mosquito Creek.  Stopped at Indian Creek Bridge.  Decided to head on around the Lake Manawa loop.  Before heading into the wind on Veteran's Memorial Trail, I stopped for a slug of my Gatorade and popped a shot blok in my mouth.  As expected, there were many folks out on the trail today.

Stopped at the bike shop (Xtreme Wheels).  Had not visited with Zach in some time.  Also, wanted to pick up a new membership application for Black Squirrel Cycling Club. 

Downloaded the video from the camera when I got back to the house.  Doing something wrong because I recorded 8 segments of under 2GB each.  Also there were regular "jumps" in the video. Oh, the photo here, shows the GoPro mounted on my hybrid, post ride.

GoPro Hero2

Since I started cycling, I have been looking for a video camera to record some of the trails I ride.  I tried mounting a regular video camera - its to heavy and the mount would move.  Tried using my Canon Point&Shoot camera.  I was met with limited success.

Most successful have been the "lipstick" cameras.  I have had 2 - a "Tony Hawk" camera and one from Oregon Scientific.  Had the best luck with the Tony Hawk camera.  The video file size was good for posting on my web site.  My problems was getting the camera aimed, the battery life, and memory card limitations.

I started to concentrating on my still shots.  My Canon PowerShot S95 will record both JPG and RAW.  It also does bracketed exposures (I am a believer in HDR Photography). 

Over the last could years, more and more of my singletrack cycling friends have purchased GoPro Hero POV (Point of view) cameras.  This Spring, a friend of mine was looking to sell a GoPro Hero2 that he had as a demo camera.  We agreed on purchase of the camera and included mounts.

I have added the back screen and a handlebar mount.  Topped off my purchase with a hard case by UKPro for the camera.  Now, just need some riding weather to check out the camera and start honing my skills are a cycling videographer.

GoPro cameras and mounts are available as several "big box" and local stores.  I purchase my UKPro case from Breeze Cycle in Omaha.  The photo above is on my GoPro in the UKPro hard case.