Aren't Bicycles Great.

brat

I shot it on the GoPro and used the Virb software to edit. I like the chest mount as it's unobtrusive - I'm not a fan of the conspicuousness of a helmet mount, although they have a couple of advantages - they shoot what you're looking at, and it focusses on what you're looking at. I tend to find my GoPro focusses on my cockpit rather than the view which means that the video is slightly out of focus. I'm really only usiing it as insurance in case of another bump.

Cool video John. Can your eyes see much more than the video shows? I'm thinking I'd struggle to follow the path as the direction changes so quickly.

Johnmcl7

I thought the first Garmin Virbs were good as they were a simple robust design, easy to use without a phone to setup and no dive case required but of course the cylindrical design meant no chest mount (they had a shoulder mount instead but never seemed to get food reviews as the camera wasn't stable). I like the chest mount as well as the helmet mount give an odd feel since it's so high and can be liable to moving around too much, the chest mount gives a nice feel of being on the bike. Also when it's on your chest you can see easily if it's recording or not and I can hear it start and stop more clearly.

I've been looking at the Yi Action Cam 4k as it has a decent interface and outstanding batterylife but it looks really fiddly as it relies on a similar dive case design to mount it and waterproof it.

You don't really see much apart from where the light shines although the chest camera can be a little misleading as it's always pointing straight whereas I've got the helmet light and always looking to where the path goes. In some ways it makes riding easier as by the time you see a technical feature it's too late to stop and you just need to go on with it, I'm terrible for seeing something, hesitating about whether I'll ride it or not and that moment of hesitation is a killer so I end up not riding it.

Johnmcl7

After nearly ten hours of cycling at the weekend (and quite a bit more once breaks were added in), I finally made it round Loch Ness off road which was 80 miles and 2500m of climbing making it the longest cycle I've ever done duration wise. The funny thing is I only joined the group because I knew I had a bail out option I thought I'd have to use but managed to make it all the way through.

Admittedly it was largely because I was with a great group of people who I've cycled with since I started mountain biking and were incredibly patient despite the fact I was a lot slower than them on the climbs. Plus it couldn't have been better weather wise with bright blue skies and mostly dry trails, just a little hint of rain that never came to much. It may have been a pain in the !!! climbing all the hills but it gave almost constant fantastic views of the Loch.

This was around a quarter of the way in down the west side:



Then this was just after the brutal climb at the start of heading back north on the east side:





This was also the first big ride on my plus bike which somewhat disgraced itself at the start when it turned out the reason I couldn't get the front through axle to lock was because it was broken. Some brute force adjustment with spanners got it back into place and thankfully it held as it was a wary start watching to see if the QR lever was moving or not. The stupid thing has lasted just two wheel removals and is a £60 part to replace as it's proprietary.

On the plus side though the bike did well and better than the fat bike which was my initial choice, there was more fire road and road riding than I expected where the fat bike is just horrible and it meant I could enjoy the downhill stuff better particularly now it has its dropper post fitted.

John

[Deleted User]

brat wrote: »

The "Struggle" from Ambleside to Kirkstone summit is exactly that!

I got overtaken by walkers when I cycled up there.

The first time I rode Snake Pass in 2005 the road was thronging with spectators on Tour day. The peloton passed whilst I was sat eating my butties in Hathersage.

brat

jack_pott wrote: »

I got overtaken by walkers when I cycled up there.

The first time I rode Snake Pass in 2005 the road was thronging with spectators on Tour day. The peloton passed whilst I was sat eating my butties in Hathersage.

That was the first time I'd attempted the Struggle. Managed it in 21 minutes. At the time I was 349th out of about 4000 on the Strava segment - the tour riders were climbing it in 14 minutes!

I haven't tried Snake Pass yet, but I will soon. My hardest climb so far has been Hardknott Pass from the west. Done it three times now, and I might do it again next year on 'TheFred'. It's not so much the gradient, which tops out at 33%, but the road surface is so ribbed through cars braking on hot tarmac that it's treacherous, especially on wet descents!

Johnmcl7

Wow, this forum is in a bad mood today - just wiped my post twice in a row and thanks to the lack of auto save means both lengthy posts completely lost...sigh, third time lucky maybe?

Went on an Audax organised by a local bike cafe that got me into longer cycles in the first place, wouldn't have believed I'd be out doing a 113 mile cycle for fun but it was great:

[Deleted User]

brat wrote: »

My hardest climb so far has been Hardknott Pass from the west. Done it three times now, and I might do it again next year on 'TheFred'. It's not so much the gradient, which tops out at 33%, but the road surface is so ribbed through cars braking on hot tarmac that it's treacherous, especially on wet descents!

I did Hardknott & Wrynose W-E in 2009, being 500m into a 900m tour I was walking in places. I wasn't going to give it some stick or I'd have been home for an early bath. It was glorious sunshine that day, but the following day I did 70m Kendal-Blackpool through the remnants of hurricane Bill.
In 2011 I did Wrynose E-W, but then went down Dunnerdale so that I could do the Birker Fell Road (excellent view into upper Eskdale from there).

I think I've done all the Lakeland passes, but the difficulty depends as much on how you feel on the day as on the hill.

brat

jack_pott wrote: »

I did Hardknott & Wrynose W-E in 2009, being 500m into a 900m tour I was walking in places. I wasn't going to give it some stick or I'd have been home for an early bath. It was glorious sunshine that day, but the following day I did 70m Kendal-Blackpool through the remnants of hurricane Bill.
In 2011 I did Wrynose E-W, but then went down Dunnerdale so that I could do the Birker Fell Road (excellent view into upper Eskdale from there).

I think I've done all the Lakeland passes, but the difficulty depends as much on how you feel on the day as on the hill.

I live right on the edge of the southern Lake District, so Kirkstone, Shap, Wall End, Red Bank etc are part of my 'training' regime. That said, the access roads are not so friendly, so I tend to use the back roads between home and Sedbergh, Dent, Kirkby Lonsdale, Lancaster Carnforth, Silverdale and Arnside etc as my daily route choice. Lots of variety.

[Deleted User]

brat wrote: »

............the back roads between home and Sedbergh, Dent................

As you're local, have you noticed trainspotters on the Settle-Carlisle line going nuts at all?

I was climbing up Mallerstang to Garsdale head one day in 2011, when I saw all the trainspotters on the skyline ahead waiting for the steam train. The train came through just as I reached the section of road at the top that runs parallel with the track, so I got a good view of it.

But immediately after that, all hell broke lose as the trainspotters jumped in their cars, floored the throttle, and tried to overtake the train for a second look. The road undulates there, and as I was disappearing into the dips, the passing cars were almost airborne over the humps. And all in lashing rain........ :eek:

brat

Can't say I've noticed. I see a few spotters up near Shap, but I'm not out on the Mallerstang Rd often enough to have experienced the enthusiastic spotters! I've only cycled it once, and the only other times I've been on it is on refresher driver training.

I recall a progressive drive along that road in the mid 90s in an unmarked Cavalier 130 being tailgated by a lad in a tatty old Metro. He was obviously local but was desperate to keep up with us, even on the odd occasion on that road where you can get up to 70 to 80 mph! We stopped him and advised him to slow down, but it was more because he was embarrassing me by his ability to drive the road quickly in a crappy little car. 😀