Juuuuuuuuuust as I was beginning to wonder where my official CicLAvia 2011 Supporter spokecard was at, it showed up in the mail a couple days ago and made real all the latent anticipation I have for the second 7.5-mile long street party taking place tomorrow morning.
I warranted being sent one of those as a reward not for my cheerleading of the first event or for my deathlessly overexposed — if well-received — timelapse video from the inaugural ride (though both were immensely appreciated by the CicLAvirati). Instead it was because I’m a cheap bastard and kicked in only $20 during fundraising efforts.
But back on that tiresome topic of timelapses, I was debating what to do camera-wise with tomorrow’s ride. I thought about not doing anything at all, but that wouldn’t do. I timelapse practically every journey on my bike, but the last thing I wanted was a repeat of the handlebar-mounted POV as I did the first time.
In addition, my camera situation had decidedly improved with the acquisition of a GoPro Hero cam that’s actually designed for motion and action, unlike my beloved Canon that valiantly goes where no point ‘n shooter is meant to suffer such long-distance shakes, rattles and rolls.
So. I decided to mount the Hero from the seat tube (as such, at left; pay no attention to that optically illusioned extreme seat angle) so as to offer a rear-facing perspective — symbolic if you will in that I was “looking forward” to CicLAvia I and will be “looking back “over the second. I’m hopeful that angle will allow the camera to catch more faces, offering more of a “who” of the ride than only the “what” that comes from people’s backs.
I’m also aiming to travel slower. My first timelapse made it seem as if I was racing through and past my fellow CicLAvians. I wasn’t, actually, just going at my own regular pace. I’m no speedster, just a big-legged singlespeed cranker who’s gotta consciously throttle back.
In addition, I’m hoping to stop at points along the way so as to be able to incorporate footage captured from some static shots of the passings-by and goings-on. To that end, I also finally mounted a kickstand (last seen as original equipment on discarded mid-’70s bike I rebuilt into The Phoenix) to 8Ball, so I can station the bike without need of a rail or pole to keep her upright.
Last but not least I expect that I’ll still bolt my good ol’ Canon to the front of the bike, perhaps to include any interesting forward-facing snippets (or maybe if I get fancy: split screens of both front and rear happenings).
Excessive? Well, at least I’m not bolting sideways-facing cams on and trying to get full-circle coverage… hmmmmmm.
Maybe for CicLAvia III.
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