Helmet Cam!

Pretty Brook Road, westbound

28 May 2012

I got a fun little birthday present:  a helmet-mounted video camera.

Let's leave aside for the moment that I possess no video editing  just upgraded QuickTime and have very little idea of how to use the software; that the camera was mushing down on my helmet, which mushed down on my sunglasses, which wasn't very comfortable; and that I have to exit Blogger each time I want to upload another video.  These things can be worked out.

Today, while the rest of you were at the Memorial Day All-Paces ride, I met Sean where he lives and gave him a private tour of back roads in the Sourlands and beyond.  He promised me coffee, and I promised him alpacas.  Because it was so early in the morning (I left my house around 7:40 a.m.) and because it was a holiday, I felt safe riding to where he and Dale live, in Princeton Junction.  I'd never attempt this route on a regular weekend day, but this morning both Quakerbridge Road (from Lawrence Station) and Clarksville were almost completely empty.

I carried Miss Piggy up two flights of stairs to their apartment.  MacyRuth greeted me with barking, and Sean greeted me with caffeine.

Today was going to be hot enough and humid enough to call for an early start.  It was a wise move.  Sean isn't used to our weather yet.  I warned him that this is just the beginning.

So, anyway, about the helmet cam:

Mostly I recorded descents.  Here's the one from Carter Road into Hopewell.  It looks faster than it felt.  They all do.  I think the playback is faster than the recording.  These videos look like I was going 50 mph or something, and I most certainly wasn't!

Carter Road northbound, north of Cherry Valley

I recorded the descent on Lindbergh, from Ridge to Peacock's, but Blogger crashes when I try to upload the entire thing.  I've split it into pieces (thus demonstrating all I know about how to use QuickTime, how much Blogger can handle at once, and that I should just give up and create a YouTube account).

Lindbergh descent from Ridge Road, part 1

Lindbergh descent from Ridge Road, part 2

Lindbergh descent from Ridge Road, part 3

Lindbergh descent from Ridge Road, part 4

At Peacock's we encountered a group of bikers from the Central Bucks club.  They didn't know that Peacock's was closed.  I'd checked into that ahead of time and had planned our route so that we'd stop at the scenic and luxurious Dunkin Donuts on Old York at Route 202.

But between us and a break were the alpacas I'd promised Sean.  Back in March, there were aplacas aplenty at the top of Manners Road.  Today there were none.  Sean was left to photograph a 2-dimensional statue of one in the driveway.

I attempted a panoramic video of the view.  It came out looking as if I'd done it from inside of a fishbowl.

Our rest stop was far from scenic, but it was well air-conditioned.  Some of the Central Bucks bikers showed up eventually.  

I refilled my water bottles in the bathroom sink, as I usually do at rest stops.  Only once before have I had to dump water from my bottles.  This stuff tasted salty.  We decided we'd stop at Boro Bean in Hopewell to do the dump and refill.

To get back over the Sourland Mountain we took part of my standard sideways route, in reverse, so that we'd be halfway up the northern side and Sean could see the Cokesbury ridge in the distance.  To get over, I chose Runyon Mill.  I was hoping it would be hot enough for tar bubbles to form on the oil-and-chip surface.  It would sound like riding over bubble wrap.  I guess the road wasn't hot enough; it didn't happen.

I recorded that last bit of Runyon Mill, the part in the woods that gets steep.  Here's 45 seconds of it.  You can hear an airplane overhead and there were birds in the woods, but you can't hear me breathing.  Ha!  Now I know the playback is sped up.  I only wish I could climb as fast as this video makes me out to be.  Imagine this at, say, one quarter the speed; that'd be more like it, or more how it felt, anyway.

Runyon Mill ascent

We turned onto Mountain Road.  I switched the camera on and looked up to capture the way the trees look like Gothic arches in a cathedral.  Just then, Sean started telling me a story.  Turn the volume up.

The Cathedral, Mountain Road

Boro Bean had a giant jug of water on the window sill.  There were bikers sitting outside.  We talked to Aaron for a few minutes.  I haven't seen him in ages; he's too fast for the Hill Slugs.

We took Province Line across 518 to Drake's Corner, flew down the Great Road, and snaked through the side streets of Princeton to get back to Alexander.  Sean tried to get me to stop and hang out with him and Dale, but I knew that if I got off my bike and climbed the two flights of stairs to their apartment I'd never get back on the bike to ride home.  I figured I'd have to fight traffic the rest of the way home, but the roads were uncommonly quiet, even for a holiday like this one.  I'd been aiming for a metric; I got 60.  Close enough for jazz.