- Either I haven't figured out how to do audio, or the camera itself doesn't do it very well. It has to lay on its side to work with a vented helmet; maybe I'm blocking the mic. On the other hand, the actual audio of my ride was not very interesting (not saying the ride itself was interesting, either, frankly). If I had nothing but time, I'd compose some sort of music, and figure out how to score it; it'd be an interesting exercise to learn how to use Nuendo (digital audio workstation app by Steinberg, targets film scoring). But I don't care that much, I think.
- Watching the video of a ride that was enjoyable and interesting is not so much. It's kind of like watching paint dry. I did edit large parts of it out, both to meet YouTube requirements, and also just because it was just too boring and repetitive. But I wanted to show what urban lowracer riding is like in Seattle, because...
- ....I'm hoping the video will serve some sort of illustrative purpose at Bentrderonline.com; I'm going to post a pointer to this blog post. I'm hoping to illustrate that urban riding on the lowracer is really not suicidal; although my experience posting there has been that I don't really change many opinions with my posts (which is OK).
- The video is kind of dark. That's because...well....it is kind of dark in Seattle this time of year. This is just about what it looked like to me.
- Some viewers will think that pretty much all I do is ride from one coffee shop to another. That's pretty close to the truth :).
So, here are the videos:
Part 1: From my house in Montlake (Seattle Neighborhood) to Leschi Starbucks, with some bits edited out. This part is probably most illustrative of what it's like riding through Seattle neighborhoods, with the twisty, narrow, relatively hilly streets. The riding here is done at sub threshold speeds, because I'm being careful.
Part 2: From Leschi to Seward Park, and back. Large parts of the way back are edited out. I included a stop at Sayres Pit to stare at Lake Washington off a dock because it was pretty. On the way out, I was actually maintaining my (supposed) FTP wattage. That is, I was averaging the wattage that my FTP (Functional Threshold Power) test (from Training and Racing with a Power Meter by Coggins and Allen) results indicate. Whether this is really my FTP is anybody's guess. But....it's hard enough for me that I reckon an hour TT at that effort would be pretty darned grueling; so maybe it's close. Anyway, you can't see any of that effort in the video, it just seems like I'm casually pedaling down the road. Oh, well.
Part 3: From Leschi Starbucks to Fuel (coffee shop in Montlake that's within walking distance of my house). I didn't bother to video the remainder to my home; I was fed up with it by this time. This part is interesting in that, as well as riding with motor traffic, I ran into a largish group of cyclists, on fixies and roadbikes, that demonstrate (to me) a number of poor cycling behaviors. I'll leave the viewer to judge for themselves, but....while I almost never have friction with motorists in my own riding, I can see why motorists would get impatient if they were behind this bunch. They ran two stop signs as a group during the short time I was behind them, too. Their behaviors sort of exemplify the reservations I have about group riding in general; I think group rides should display good Vehicular Cycling principles first, and the kinds of group cycling dynamic behaviors that exhibit when cyclists get together should explicitly defer to that. (I'm not sure we have an ironclad right to ride in formation like this in-city; motorists don't do it, except for funerals). Ah well....I can't change the world.
