The post title is a little provocative but not technically inaccurate. See, MLB gave me one of these for my birthday and I finally figured out how to work it well enough to wear it on our tandem ride today through north Midland this morning. While the actual footage of the 22 mile jaunt is around 90 minutes (including some preliminary and post-ride scenes), I didn’t figure anyone would actually be that interested in a tour of our fair city, so I compressed the timeline just the teensiest bit…well, by 800%, to be exact.
In case you’re too busy to follow the link above, the “one of these” I’m referring to is a GoPro HD Helmet HERO video camera and housing, complete with a helmet mount. It’s a wee little guy, weighing less than 4 ounces with battery, and under 6 ounces including the housing. It came with a couple of methods of helmet attachment, including a complicated harness that looks like something they’d put on Hannibal Lecter. I opted for the simpler – albeit no less nerdy-looking – “vented helmet straps” that weave through the holes in the typical modern bike helmet. The camera is snug and secure, but gives the wearer the appearance of, as Debbie put it, Marvin the Martian. Of course, that’s a good look for me, so I went with it.
This truly is an amazing little tyke, capable of full 1080p HD video and 5 megapixel stills. With the right housing back, you can take it 180 feet underwater, and it comes with interchangeable backs that are rated for mounting speeds in excess of 120 mph on your car’s hood or motorcycle handlebar. Video is recorded on a standard SDHC card (up to 9 hours on a 32 gig card). You can even program the camera to take a series of stills at fixed intervals ranging from 1-60 seconds, for that time-lapse masterpiece you’ve been planning.
I’d love to take it skiing, but I don’t do that anymore, so cycling will probably be the most common application (although I’m considering mounting it on my lawnmower for a truly awesome view of lawn care). And maybe someday I’ll have a chance to go scuba diving again. The HERO is totally coming along if that happens.
So, here’s the vid from this morning, pretty much unedited except for that speeding up thing I mentioned. I might later post a more leisurely version of parts of the ride so you can see what our normal cycling routes look like, but this will have to do for now.
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That was super cool, though I admit to a few additional observations:
1) I didn’t actually watch the whole thing, mostly because
2) I kept feeling like I was about to fall over…seriously, that was rather dizzying and is right there the reason I also can’t play first person shooters on the computer.
3) I particularly enjoyed the chipmunk-like conversations between you and YLB.
4) Those cars that passed you looked like they were going crazy fast.
5) You’re one of *those* bikers who run stop signs. Just know I quietly grumble at you when I pass you. 🙂
I plead guilty to charge #5. If you look at my Facebook post, I do explain the logic behind it, but I don’t offer any excuses. It’s illegal, albeit not unsafe. And I never take the right of way away from a car, for what it’s worth.