Wednesday, May 30, 2018
After last fall’s tour, one of my “lessons learned” was “Don’t skip the GoPro.”
I’ve corrected that situation.
And now I know that instead of spending my evenings on the road writing dispatches (or feeling guilty about not writing them), I’ll be spending my evenings editing and uploading videos (or feeling guilty about not editing and uploading them).
* * *
All is going well (for me) per a remarkably complete (for me) and stable (for me) plan.
After flying into Phoenix Saturday evening, sister Sue hosted a BBQ on Sunday, which Jana drove me over to and joined but without Larry, as he was NOT well with bronchitis and didn’t want to spread it around to Mom and Cindy who were also there.
I even remembered to get a picture for a change.
I’ve corrected that situation.
And now I know that instead of spending my evenings on the road writing dispatches (or feeling guilty about not writing them), I’ll be spending my evenings editing and uploading videos (or feeling guilty about not editing and uploading them).
* * *
All is going well (for me) per a remarkably complete (for me) and stable (for me) plan.
After flying into Phoenix Saturday evening, sister Sue hosted a BBQ on Sunday, which Jana drove me over to and joined but without Larry, as he was NOT well with bronchitis and didn’t want to spread it around to Mom and Cindy who were also there.
I even remembered to get a picture for a change.
Sunday evening I took Therese for a nice ride around a freeway loop to confirm all systems were go.
I spent the next couple days just hanging out with mom, helping her with a few things, tinkering with my bike, and sorting out how to use GoPro Studio.
Wednesday went exactly as planned: I departed Mom's about a quarter to seven, successfully egressing the Valley before the heat of the day arrived. Traffic was light and fast riding to Wickenburg where I had breakfast and rigged up the GoPro camera so I could capture:
Yarnell Hill...
...my ride through Prescott National Forest...
...cresting Mingus Mountain and descending into Jerome...
...and finally riding toward Sedona and up Oak Creek Canyon.
Note: the Mingus Mountain video is with the camera mounted to the fairing, as opposed to the others which were shot with the camera mounted to my helmet. The fairing mount is vibration-prone and image stabilization is less effective, so it's sometimes pretty "jittery". It also doesn't provide the option of glancing at scenery that isn't in the direction the bike is pointed.
Also, unlike my helmet which I try to keep level to the horizon, the fairing-mounted camera rolls significantly as the bike leans through turns. I think this makes for a more exciting moto-video experience, so if you succumb to motion sickness while watching just keep in mind I consider that a feature not a bug.
In Flag I had lunch with my Aunt Lorene, Mom's sister...
...then rode over to the 1927 Hotel Monte Vista.
Although it was two hours before check in time, my room was available. I moved my gear up, took a shower, then went down to the Rendezvous bar and started reviewing the day's videos.
I was probably on my 5th Oak Creek Amber Ale when Andy Loubert pulled up and parked directly outside. Andy (brother to Mig O'Brien, for those Plexians reading this) and I have been friends since junior high and he'd come to Flagstaff on this particular date for the same reason I had: to see our mutual high school friend Paul Chuey perform as saxophonist in his latest and current musical ensemble, The Moves Collective.
I cashed out and we walked over to Flagstaff Brewing Co. where the band had arrived from Las Vegas. Andy and I helped hump gear for them, then sat down and had a beer and some dinner.
Then, since starting time wasn't until ten, I walked back to the hotel and took a pleasant nap.
I returned to Flag Brew in warmer clothes, again toting my laptop. I finished editing (but failed to successfully upload by using my iPhone as a personal hotspot) the day's videos while the Moves kicked off their eclectic jam band mix of space funk by way of Americana, which my wife Laurel would have appreciated for the liberal inclusion of tracks from Magical Mystery Tour.
I was probably on my 5th Oak Creek Amber Ale when Andy Loubert pulled up and parked directly outside. Andy (brother to Mig O'Brien, for those Plexians reading this) and I have been friends since junior high and he'd come to Flagstaff on this particular date for the same reason I had: to see our mutual high school friend Paul Chuey perform as saxophonist in his latest and current musical ensemble, The Moves Collective.
I cashed out and we walked over to Flagstaff Brewing Co. where the band had arrived from Las Vegas. Andy and I helped hump gear for them, then sat down and had a beer and some dinner.
Then, since starting time wasn't until ten, I walked back to the hotel and took a pleasant nap.
I returned to Flag Brew in warmer clothes, again toting my laptop. I finished editing (but failed to successfully upload by using my iPhone as a personal hotspot) the day's videos while the Moves kicked off their eclectic jam band mix of space funk by way of Americana, which my wife Laurel would have appreciated for the liberal inclusion of tracks from Magical Mystery Tour.
Although the patio had been virtually empty when the band started, an audience rapidly coalesced; the Collective has played Flagstaff a couple times now and the word spread they were back in town. When Paul detected a small squad of Dutch guys he was quick to chat them up, knowing Europeans would be certain to bring in a crowd. By closing time there was an energetic mass clustered in front of the stage, hopping and waving their arms to the beat.
Around 2:30 Andy and I got quesadillas off the food truck in the alley nearby.
Shortly after that I flamed out and staggered back to the hotel, later to be joined by Paul and Josh who crashed out in the second room of the Jack Daniels Suite; I'd booked the suite figuring someone, probably the band, would be looking for a room. Similarly, Andy had booked a big room which is where Tim and Isaac spent the night.
I slept fitfully, awakening repeatedly to glance over at my laptop to see every hour-long attempt to upload a five minute video fail due to timing out.
Around 2:30 Andy and I got quesadillas off the food truck in the alley nearby.
Shortly after that I flamed out and staggered back to the hotel, later to be joined by Paul and Josh who crashed out in the second room of the Jack Daniels Suite; I'd booked the suite figuring someone, probably the band, would be looking for a room. Similarly, Andy had booked a big room which is where Tim and Isaac spent the night.
I slept fitfully, awakening repeatedly to glance over at my laptop to see every hour-long attempt to upload a five minute video fail due to timing out.
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