steve-waters wrote:geoffs - can I ask why the bunch was riding so slowly and strung out in what appeared to be the middle of the road?
Multiple lane road, there is no requirement to ride in the left lane. As many drivers do, cyclists may choose to ride in any lane that they require. In this case, parked cars and an up-coming right-hand turn set the scene. And at 6.50am who really should be that worried
Riding bikes in traffic - what seems dangerous is usually safe; what seems safe is often more dangerous.
il padrone wrote:And at 6.50am who really should be that worried
Strangely my scariest experience was on a 3 lane road very early one Saturday morning. One car decided the outer 2 lanes were impeding him and decided to pass down "the inside" at speed. Not sure how he missed me but I certainly noticed him go past. Definitely had me wondering whether more lanes = greater security
il pardone - sometimes it is not about requirements and laws but being mindful of others and or more importantly taking care of yourself.
geoffs - I do see the point about the parked cars and in a bunch it is hard to pull in and out while watching for cars behind you all the time.
On the roads at 6am on a Saturday is either going to be tradies heading to work or party people coming home either high on "life" or sleep deprived either way scary.
Roadie: BeOne Black, SRAM Force, TWE 50mm full carbon clinchers, Vértebrae ceramic cable housings MTB: Chin29er, Fox Terralogic, XT, 3T and TWE wheels ex-MTB now commuter: Cannondale F900 (CAAD 4), Headshok, TWE wheels, XT and Elixr CR
As a noobie bunch rider I really appreciate the experience I'm getting riding with Saturday Slowies. I was there on Saturday, that's me in the long-sleeve red jersey directly behind behind the car stopped at the lights. The reason I wasn't in front of the car (or underneath it) is because I heard it coming and hauled on the brakes. The behavior of this driver was simply inexcusable. Like a small proportion of motorists he apparently doesn't acknowledge our right to be on the road at all. Going postal at 6.45am on a Saturday morning because you've been baulked by cyclists? Do people really think he'd have been happy if we'd been doing 35 km/h?
I think some critique of the bunch riding is fair, but how are people like myself supposed to get experience?
Johnj wrote:As a noobie bunch rider I really appreciate the experience I'm getting riding with Saturday Slowies. I was there on Saturday, that's me in the long-sleeve red jersey directly behind behind the car stopped at the lights. The reason I wasn't in front of the car (or underneath it) is because I heard it coming and hauled on the brakes. The behavior of this driver was simply inexcusable. Like a small proportion of motorists he apparently doesn't acknowledge our right to be on the road at all. Going postal at 6.45am on a Saturday morning because you've been baulked by cyclists? Do people really think he'd have been happy if we'd been doing 35 km/h?
I think some critique of the bunch riding is fair, but how are people like myself supposed to get experience?
There is no issue with the bunch at all. its really silly for a bunch to try dodge between parked cars, or for a bunch to break up because one guy hasn't got patience. Not only is cutting into the middle of a bunch dangerous and illegal, its NO HELP to the motorist - he is still stuck behind cyclists. Basically you are entity that is not much longer than bus, not any slower than a bus, with just as many people as bus would have at that time in the morning. The guy was being a tool simply because you weren't a bus that wouldn't even notice him being a tool.
and said driver was invited to attend the station tonight to give and account for for behaviour. On arrival he said we were a threatening group and he had done nothing wrong. His brother is some kind of lawyer apparently and was pretty courier sure that he could get his brother off the charges. Then they were shown the video. Driver didn't say anything much after that on the advice from his brother and wont be contesting the tickets.
geoffs wrote:and said driver was invited to attend the station tonight to give and account for for behaviour. On arrival he said we were a threatening group and he had done nothing wrong. His brother is some kind of lawyer apparently and was pretty courier sure that he could get his brother off the charges. Then they were shown the video. Driver didn't say anything much after that on the advice from his brother and wont be contesting the tickets.
This is a good answer to the question "Why do you have a camera on your bike?"
geoffs wrote:Then they were shown the video. Driver didn't say anything much after that on the advice from his brother and wont be contesting the tickets.
QED!
Bianchi, Ridley, Montague, GT, Garmin and All things Apple
uncle arthur wrote:....it doesn't look as close as it really was because I am at the back of our little group.
It looked very close to me uncle arthur!! Thanks for sharing you video, I've been tempted to buy that camera when it's come up on 1 day a couple of times but just wasn't sure what the quality would be like. From memory it's about $56 with postage when on sale. For that price why not!
Dey see me rollin' o__ ~~ _>/ _ ~~~ (_)\(_) ~~~~ Dey hatin'
For those "bullet" style cameras - i know a few places in China you can get them. 640x480 MJPEG, fully sealed/waterproof & they're about $50 delivered ($35 + courrier)
Nate wrote:For those "bullet" style cameras - i know a few places in China you can get them. 640x480 MJPEG, fully sealed/waterproof & they're about $50 delivered ($35 + courrier)
uncle arthur wrote:....it doesn't look as close as it really was because I am at the back of our little group.
It looked very close to me uncle arthur!! Thanks for sharing you video, I've been tempted to buy that camera when it's come up on 1 day a couple of times but just wasn't sure what the quality would be like. From memory it's about $56 with postage when on sale. For that price why not!
I spoke to the guy's manager the other day - infraction = 1 written warning from the management. One more warning (for anything) means DCM.
- The iDV: http://www.idv.net.au/ - The bullet/lipstick one i looked at - that $10 keychain camera are all basically identical in performance & use similar if not the same circuitry.
The camshot uses AVI - not MJPEG, so it might be a little smoother.
EDIT: Just looked at arthurs previous post... its a really close call. Hard to say without a side by side comparison... MAYBE the camshot is slightly smoother but my one looks like a nicer image in terms of colour & balance
Mine was about $50 landed ($32 + $26 postage - USD) and takes a week delivery from china.
Nate wrote: - The iDV: http://www.idv.net.au/ - The bullet/lipstick one i looked at - that $10 keychain camera are all basically identical in performance & use similar if not the same circuitry.
I have 2x $10 cameras, and both cut out/switch off at random times. Trying to work out why, but more shock absorbent material, freshly formatted SD cards, and fully charged batteries didn't help. It isn't associated with rough road surface.
It might be best to see the $10 cameras as a cheap way to 'dip your toe in the water' to see how you go with bike cameras, before taking the plunge to something more expensive.
geoffs wrote:and said driver was invited to attend the station tonight to give and account for for behaviour. On arrival he said we were a threatening group and he had done nothing wrong. His brother is some kind of lawyer apparently and was pretty courier sure that he could get his brother off the charges. Then they were shown the video. Driver didn't say anything much after that on the advice from his brother and wont be contesting the tickets.
It's a real shame you couldn't video him watching the video! How many points did he lose off his licence?
'11 Lynskey Cooper CX, '00 Hillbrick Steel Racing (Total Rebuild '10), '09 Electra Townie Original 21D
A sample video of the Contour HD1080 pre-dawn this week. It was taken about 10 to 15 minutes before the official sunrise time as shown on my Garmin Edge 800.
I've got a $10 cam too, had problems with cutting out then bought a new micro SD card from a bricks n mortar shop and no problems since then.... the old SD card is on it's last legs I think... I think I'm going to keep the $10 as a rear mount and get something nicer for the front. The rear mount I have is just a reflector (or some other bracket) I found lying around, a velcro dot and a cable tie for extra security. I ride fatties though so there isn't too much vibration.
jet-ski wrote:I've got a $10 cam too, had problems with cutting out then bought a new micro SD card from a bricks n mortar shop and no problems since then.... the old SD card is on it's last legs I think... I think I'm going to keep the $10 as a rear mount and get something nicer for the front. The rear mount I have is just a reflector (or some other bracket) I found lying around, a velcro dot and a cable tie for extra security. I ride fatties though so there isn't too much vibration.
You might want to try and make it as rigid as possible, otherwise you may find it will vibrate to much.
Graeme
***Looking For Information About Bicycle Cameras ***
The biggest issue with vibrations is on the battery pack - if its removable.
If the camera has issues with vibrations & it has an inbuilt (soldered) battery - then it could just be poor build quality & you probably wont get much in terms of trying to resolve that.
geoffs wrote:I have bought a Contour HD which takes great quality video. So long as it's mounted the correct way up. It came in useful yesterday on the DHBC slowies ride. The link is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ggFFZSjWFU or search youtube for AF89AG . Video has been shown to he police and moron will receive tickets for around $600
Wont he get a nasty little shock. Absolute Gold.
How many tickets will he get?
Great work mate, what an idiot, good to see you took what he had coming to him too, shame it wasn't harsher but good non the less