I'm Back, and I'm Chesty

Yes, I was gone for that whole month in order to undergo Breast Enhancement. Rare for a dude, I know, but I'm not your average turnip, y'know?

OK, that was my lame attempt at an April Fool's joke. What follows is the post I really wrote for today... there's still a Chesty tie-in, so be cool.

Hey all, I'm back from my March Break. Sadly I am no more caught up with my real life than I was before I took it, but I suppose that was to be expected. I was also hoping to find new inspiration for stuff to write about, but that didn't really happen either. Ah well, no worries about that, because I can happily fill my blog pages with empty tedious ramblings until my muse returns... like talking about video cameras!

My cheap old camera broke real good, so I began looking for a weatherproof replacement. As will happen sometimes, shopping around just made me want more and better. Eventually I settled on the GoPro® HD HERO Naked, because I didn't really want the helmet version and this camera is the only one I found with a Chest Mount option, which they have dubbed the "Chesty".

My thinking was that when on the bike your chest may be one of the "quietest" places on your body in terms of motion or vibration. In addition, unlike a helmet cam, the video doesn't sweep side to side like crazy as I navigate city traffic with my head on a swivel. I have barely begun playing with the cam but I thought I would show some of the video from this morning's commute. I want your opinion on whether you like me chesty (which means my arms and hands and bars are in the shot) or would rather have the cam back on the bars where I would likely have to go back to using deshaker software to stabilize the image.

The video I'm posting today is just raw, no deshaker action or title pages or any of my usual stuff. Anyway here goes...

Those videos were shot with the cam set on 720p. It'll do 1080, but I don't see the point when 720 allows a wider viewing angle (170 degrees) and 60 fps in case I want to slow motion something.

I'm still figuring out how to work with the .mp4 files this camera creates... hopefully I will improve at making them a little easier to watch.

Please Opine. Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

PS - In hindsight I think I should have gotten the package that came with the helmet mount, the GoPro® HD Helmet HERO™ Camera instead of the "naked" even though I didn't think I wanted it... Check out GoPro.com for info on all the setups.

March Break

Since I have been too busy to post or even read anything bike related online lately, I thought I would make it official and take a little hiatus from writing here while I catch up with my real life.

I am going to take a true March Break, like for the whole month of March. If you are a regular visitor, I fully expect that you will find the break as refreshing as I do. I hope it isn't too refreshing, like never come back refreshing, but that is a risk I will just have to take.

Spring approaches! Ride your bikes all over the place! Enjoy some Maple Syrup!

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

PS - This post from RTP means I can take my break worry-free because the FARATS prizes have all arrived at their destinations. Thanks all who participated. I look forward to the SARATS this Fall. This time, a single Grand Prize will be awarded based on a new and super-creative judging method!

Driving Is Bad For Me

No, no, this time I'm not referring to the impotence.

I, like many cyclists, drive quite a lot too. In my case though, I almost never drive to work. Being a regular bike commuter allowed our family to go down from two cars to one and that has been a bonus. My sister is out of town this week and she gave me her vehicle, a small Land Rover, to drive while she was gone. Various circumstances including the fact that I have not yet replaced the broken blue tub and hate wearing a backpack have made it more convenient to drive in to work the last couple of days and the flexibility, ridiculous comfort and ease of driving a car again has been nice, but I find that I just don't feel right, particularly at work.

I must have become accustomed to the endorphin rush related to my morning exercise and commute, because I get to work and still feel almost as groggy as when I rolled out of bed, despite having had a shower and everything. I feel strangely full and unhealthy and almost depressed and there is no return home commute to snap me out of it. I'm pretty sure I'm not sick or anything, so all I can surmise is that driving to work (or, more accurately, not cycling to work) is now officially bad for me. That's cool for now because I love to ride.

What if I become too old or sick or both to do it (particularly in the winter) any more? I might just drop dead! I'm thinking I had better come up with some indoor alternative to cycling, you know, so I don't like, die if I have to stop for some reason. That will be tough, because I hate exercising. I like cycling, which just happens to be exercise by happy coincidence.

I know people, myself included, miss the bike when they can't ride for one reason or another, but this is the first time that I've experienced physical and mental blahs due to just missing a couple of days! I have a replacement tub waiting at home. It will be installed tonight, come hell or high water. This damn luxury and convenience is killing me.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K