The Early Bird....

...The early bird gets the grainy footage.

Couple of weeks ago something amazing happened....I set the alarm at 6am for an early morning ride and then come 6am, managed to get my arse out of bed and up into the hills to the undisclosed Dirt Box downhill training grounds (no, not Allestree).  Normally an exclusive night-ride location, I was keen to hit the down hill under first light to film the track following a couple of failed attempts to film at night using a copious amount of torches.  So the benefit of a bit of light but with the problems of added dog walkers and golf course groundsmen.

So, just before 8am and just before sunrise but with reasonable viability I set off from the peak.  Camera was preset with +2 contrast on 'dusk' setting to get as much clarity out of the low light.  Not the fastest run ever with a slow midsection leading to a bit of tic-tac-ing just before the final 'left-right' hander but got to the bottom just in time to see the first golfers of the day teeing off and home for breakfast.

On playback I found that levels were poor especially when passing trees in shadow, and when dipping my head towards the ground.  As a result, I've had to boost the exposure in post production and made a note to angle the camera up a bit on the next filming trip.  Still definitely easier to ride unimpeded at night but I will be back for some filming, probably in the Summer when the sun rises earlier.

Either way, excuse the film quality but enjoy and give me a shout if you want to go for a ride sometime, cheers!

Pole-Cam - initial testing

After a long period of night-riding, finally got out for an afternoon, yesterday.  Others in the area had reported Allestree to be a bit wet so decided to give Darley Park a go for the first time in a long while.  Unfortunately, conditions proved to be just as bad, if not worse with most areas either slow and boggy, or wet and slippery.  Shoved a set of 9 inchers on which improved things slightly, but still nothing much worth writing about.  Got some interesting shots though using the new pole setup for the Contour cam whilst rolling down a couple of the footpaths.  Most of the camera footage recorded so far lacks the interest of having someone in shot, so the options are to follow someone else, or to film yourself from behind (so to speak).


The pole itself I've taken from an old electric power mop.  It features an ergonomic handle, handy grip section half way down the shaft, and ready made holes at the bottom to attach the camera bracket.  For the custom camera bracket I've taken the mounting that the camera was originally packaged in and firmly adhered this to a wooden block.  This provides a firm object to bracket onto my power mop pole.  Overall, it's relatively heavy, but easy to handle and transfer from hand to hand mid-ride.  It can be held mid length as shown in the video above, or at full length to put even more of me in the shot.  Image quality looks nice and smooth filmed at 60fps and I hope to film a bit more once conditions improve a bit.

[ergonomic handle]

I've been warned by Contour not to use the mounting bracket due to the possibility of it shattering, so care must be taken not to clip the ground when using, or wiping out generally.  Hopefully the wooded block mount should improve the overall strength a little.

 [camera mounting block]

[comfy handle]

So, making the most of a bad riding day.  It's not something I'd do that often either as it distracts from the riding a little, restricts body movement a little and I'd have to move either the pole or the brake to the left hand if filming some of the faster tracks.  Still, provides some nice effects so all good.  Hope to film some more soon over the holiday period.  Really hope it will snow, but I wont hold my breath....