Ride Report - Forest of Bowland North Of Newton in Bowland

Because of the summer break and a recent foreign holiday, my bike had remained idle for much longer that I really like. Yesterday however, I received a last minute and much needed leave pass thanks to my mum taking the kids and Ang snoozing after a night shift. I had nothing planned but some of the best rides start that way. Chucking my map and tea making kit into the box, I headed off to @BeanandBud to look things over and enjoy one of their fine flat whites.

I was looking to explore somewhere new and there isn’t much I haven’t seen round here so I had to look further afield and accept there would be some unavoidable A road (highway) riding. Before my coffee was out I’d settled on an area called the Forest of Bowland, just across the border in Lancashire (spits on floor). I drained the dregs and hit the road.

I wasn’t disappointed. I suffered the A59 all the way to Clitheroe (actually not that bad) then I followed the B6478 to Newton-in-Bowland where I planned to head north towards a marked viewpoint. I was totally blown away by that stunning views on the section of road over Waddington Moor. In fact I was thinking it would be nice to ride it back again and get some pics. Time however was not on my side. Apparently, luck wasn’t on my side either as my route was soon blocked by bridge works. forcing me to retrace my steps. Still, I got those pictures.

The diversion (pretty obvious on the map) wasn’t anything worth writing about so I didn’t take my time. Once I was on the northbound road from Slaidburn, I was once again being blown away by the scenery. The heather was in bloom and being so close to the clouds gave the impression I was on top of the world. It made me think of a recent post on the FUZZYGALORE.COM blog, reflecting on the difficulties/impossibilities of sharing what you see from the saddle with others. So true but I still stopped every few meters to take yet another pic.

However, if you can, you really should go out and ride this. Maybe not if you’re only interested in knee down antics. In fact if I was going to do this again, I’d probably use the YBR125 and make a whole day of it. This is one to savour.

Filming Ride To Work Day - What I've Learned

A couple of weeks back we had Ride To Work here in the UK. In fact, this year, they made it a week. I decided to film my ride to work using a different mount each day. I wanted to take the 27 minutes and mix together the best 3. After three years of experimenting with my GoPro Hero2, I'm pretty happy with this finished product. 

However, as I write this, my film has had plenty of time and only seen 18 view. I bet youtube is full of that sort of thing. Some of it was posted by me on my Youtube channel and some just watched by me. The only ones I really like are short, multi perspective and carefully produced. The rest, I don't watch. Here's a list of the things I've learned (read: opinions I've developed):

1) Helmet cam is fine for collecting evidence but the film makes the viewer sick if the rider is any good at observations. When in doubt, hard mount.

2) Using a range of perspectives isn't good, it's vital. Even watching Ribble Head to Hawes in a single perspective would bore me to death. Easier if you own multiple cameras. I don't so...

3) Converting your GoPro to RAM mounts is super secure and versatile but the down side is RAM mounts they vibrate A LOT more.

4) The closer the camera is to the ground the better. Makes it faster. More exciting.

5) Try to get a bit of bike in there. I love frame mount perspectives that capture the movement of the suspension.

6) The best place to record sound is closer to the airbox, not the exhaust.

7) Bad aim makes the film unusable. Generally horizon should be 1/3 from the bottom. Strangely, left/right is less important.

8) Editing isn't optional. No matter how long you rode, good films last 3-4 minutes or if you have no usable sound, one good song. I find you spend roughly half an hour to an hour editing 1 minute of footage.

Like I say, these are my opinions. To be honest, I hadn't realized I had so many of them. The only other opinion I have is that I'm not very good at any of this, proven by the fact that that was probably my best effort to date. Here's what production looked like.

I used (mostly) the best mounts I have/know:

Day 1 - Mounted to the handlebars using ram mounts. It's a little shaky but this gave the best sound. 

Day 2 - Ram mounts on the grab rail rear facing. Pretty cool perspective and OK sound.

Day 3 - Helmet mount. This is an easy option but it makes you sick watching it and the sound is atrocious. Still, had to be done.

Day 4 - GoPro's own tube mount onto my crash bars. The sound is very mechanical but the perspective is thrilling.

Editing took forever and isn't even close to fluid but I did my best with the time I had during the week. I find the GoPro editing software buggy to the point of unusable so I did it all on an iPad 2 with iMovie. I've also used Windows Live Moviemaker fairly successfully. However, for reasons I really can't explain, I prefer using the I pad. Bahhhh!

I've no real wish to try any other editing software but I'm all up for finding new mounts. One day I'd like to try a chest harness as it looks to have a good view and less shaky but without the bobbing about a helmet mount does (if your making propper observations). Then again, what I'd really like is to mount my camera on someone else's bike, preferably someone who can keep up without getting dangerous. Currently, I don't know that person. I wonder if he/she is any good at editing?

Razor MX350 First Ride

Once again, it seems to have been ages since I last did any blogging. There’s not been much to blog about up until now. It was way back in February when I was last compelled to write on my blog. I’d watched ‘Why We Ride’ for the first time and felt all warm, fuzzy and inspired. It’s probably worth a read if you haven’t as this post follows it (click here if you’d like to take a look). In summary, I wanted to let motorcycles take their fair share of my life by sharing them with my family.

After a night of research, I decided to get my hands on a Razor MX350 Dirt Rocket. It’s a little pit bike powered by a 350watt motor hooked up to a pair of 12 volt batteries. As well as being inexpensive (they’re about £325 new) they’re quiet and clean. Unlike the toy store variety, it has real pneumatic tyres, front and rear suspension and brakes. Basically, it’s a proper, if low budget, pit bike. It’s also reasonably rare to see them second hand.

When a non-runner came up on ebay, I bid fairly high and got it for just £63. The seller was great and even brought it up north a piece so we didn’t have to drive 90 odd miles to pick it up. Beth came with me but that was all we had room for. The Fiat Panda we moved into last spring doesn’t really have the boot space for a bike of any size.

Of course, it was only the start. I pulled it apart that night. The forks are pretty much junk and to be fair, I couldn’t figure out how to completely disassemble them. They needed it as they were completely rusted. Wanting to do the job properly, I turned to the internet to find how you get the fork tubes out of the stanchions. That information was not available. However, I did learn that they pretty much don’t seem to work when they’re new anyway. I decided to clean up as much as I could and put them back on.

However the forks weren’t the real problem. The Razor MX350 has two 7ah 12volt sealed lead acid batteries and while great for high current, lead acid batteries are a weak point and were always likely to be the reason it didn’t work. I ordered a new pair from Ebay for something like £25 quid and got Kev to do the soldering. At first the new batteries didn’t work but after some fiddling with connections, the bike burst into life. Big smiles all round.

All that remained was to get the right riding gear. It’s really important to me that Beth knows knows the importance of proper riding gear. I made it very clear that when she rode, she was going to come off and it was probably going to hurt. It’s something we bikers all know and most of us have experienced. She wants to ride so she’s going to come off. I’d never stop her riding but I will exert my parental duty to ensure she’s well dressed. For now, that means a full road certified helmet that fits properly and the kind of padding used by skaters. Not perfect but better than nothing. I’ll keep looking for more purposeful armor.

Months had passed since I embarked on the project and now the bike was ready to ride. Beth was pestering me about it and the only thing that was stopping me was the size of our car. Actually, that’s probably not true. In truth, Beth’s never managed to ride a peddle bike without tears or stabilizers. It wouldn’t achieve anything if this were to graduate to a motorbike.

However, I had miss-judged her, something I’m not proud of. Kev provided logistical support, Tom supplied all the encouragement any sibling could hope for and I provided the bike. Her adventurous little spirit had her climb on (after the inevitable argument about how tight the chin strap needed to be) and, well, the rest is in the video.

My Response to Why We Ride

My little girl on my first bike after returning.

I’m very sporadic with my blogging. It’s a bit like riding for pleasure really. I don’t do enough of either. Work! That’s something I don’t do enough of. Spending time with my kids, yeah, that too if I’m honest. One way or another, someone will be able to read this blog and want to criticise me on one count if not many, of getting the balance utterly wrong. So as I type this, I’m still not sure I am brave enough to publish it. There you go. Into complete.

Last night I watched ‘Why We Ride (2013).’ I lack the vocabulary to say how good it was, how good it made me feel. It took me a while to work out why it made me feel good but I think I’m there now. I know I’m a motorcyclist, a biker. The film was all about us and what we are like. It was about our hopes and dreams, what makes us tick. Diversity is a key feature throughout: different bikes, different activities, different parts of the world and most importantly, different people. From children and young families to an 87 year old woman hoping she’ll still ride at 100, the film seemed to be about amazing people from all walks of life. And yet, for all the diversity there was a oneness. Motorcyclists in their many forms come together as one rich community. The film made me feel good because I’m part of that.

Recently, my friend Jim got his first bike. It happened that he bought it home just as my Half Term Break was starting so, obviously, we had to go out. Even Kev, who’s bike is usually in hibernation 9 months of the year, turned out. We pottered around local roads for the morning and stopped for tea before returning home in time for lunch and whatever else. It wasn't much and it wasn't long but it was great. I really enjoyed myself.

Then, this morning, I was coming to work. I treated myself to riding the VStrom and going a fairly roundabout way. How could I not after watching that film. Riding gives one time to think and before long I was thinking about family and friends. I've often wondered how long it will be before Beth can safely reach the pegs on the bike. Perhaps we should look into an electric bike for the kids to get started on. Sidecar outfits always cross my mind but they never stay long. I wondered that today. I try not to think it out loud in case mum can hear. As she reads this blog, I should probably wonder it no more.

Carrying pillion makes for time together. Separate bikes would also be good.

In the meantime though, what we could do for sure is plan a ride with friends where even if children can’t come, at least Ang could. After getting a suitable amount of work done, I decided to write out a sort of itinerary. It would be intended to encourage people (Jim, Kev, Angie and perhaps even a few pillions) to set a date for a day of being motorcycle enthusiasts together. The route it a triumph! Any other ‘me’ would agree for sure. It has great roads to push your bike on, remote roads to enjoy the beauty of creation and regular stops where you can natter and drink tea. It’s a perfect day, if you’re me and with someone willing to put yourself in my capable hands as guide. Unfortunately, if you’re just me then it’s all that but without being sure of a friendly face to natter with during stops.

And that’s kind of where we come back to the community. I’m not a lone wolf and most motorcyclist I know and respect aren't either. Their bikes aren't just toys, they’re a starting point for relationships with other like-minded human beings. That’s also sort of why I write in my blog, hoping that I might meet other like-minded folk and natter (in which the blog has been singularly unsuccessful for me). I don’t want to ride alone anywhere near as much as I would love to enjoy motorcycling with others. That could be friends; it could be family or just some other chap who also happened to be there. The friends and family option though, obviously that is the platinum standard. I never wanted motorcycles to take me away from the people and love and care about and the more I think about it, the more I think it shouldn't have to.

Six year into parenthood and there are promising signs.

Now, I have no choice but to look forward and figure out where I go from here. We had a ‘discussion’ about work life balance the other day but it was really about work/family life balance. I need to see more of my family and less of my desk. I’d be lying if I didn't say I want to spend more time with my friends as well. Watching Why We Ride left me thinking we can do that because it featured young families that were passionate about bikes. It wasn't just something that started at 17+ and had to be hidden from parents. So now I’m not wondering, I’m planning.