Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Meandering in Ladner, BC

I had a request from Roger, a comment from the previous post, for a map to show where we went. To tell you the truth I wanted to include maps but I tried to save them using google.maps but it never seemed to work. I tried several times to produce interactive maps like I have seen on posts by others but I guess I am not smart enough to figure it out, so I gave up. All I can do is drag that blue line around to show you the route and then I snap a screen print, like this . . .

ladner2

but this map is static and you cannot move it around , but I have no idea how to post the actual map as it is not a .jpeg , it is only a link

Anyway Ladner is a community south of Richmond. You will notice that Richmond is basically an Island in the middle of the Fraser River, created by silt & dirt. It is surrounded by the North and South Arms of the Fraser River. If you live in a surrounding community, you have to travel over either a bridge or a tunnel.

ladner1

Here is a closer view of the Ladner area. It doesn't look that far but with our traffic it takes approx 45 minutes to get there. On Saturday I decided to swap camera positions with my GPS. I originally had the GoProHD Hero1 attached to the windshield bracket but there is too much vibration so I moved the GPS to the windshield and mounted the GoProHD Hero1 to my left handlebar using RAM mounts. The handlebars are better dampened to absorb road vibrations

IMG_6501

Here is the video which is the companion to the previous post. I tried to condense it as much as I could, but I wanted to give you a feel for the roads, the bridges, the highway, and also to give you the feeling that you are riding with me





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testing:


View Larger Map


27 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. VS Lady:

      thank you. I keep moving my camera around. this time I included the windshield. sometimes I have the camera in front so it floats over the road. I'm not sure which is best

      Delete
  2. Bridges and tunnels all in one ride! Nice! But two questions. 1) your helmet strap doesn't look tight... 2) is that huge driftwood logs just before the bridge at about 4 m at the video?

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    1. Steel CupCake:

      I really liked that wooden Green bridge. It is single lane, you have to wait at either end for the traffic to pass before you can ride on the middle span. It is the only way to access Westham Island. There is also a community of floating homes but I didn't photograph them.

      My chin strap is attached, but the leader end is hanging loose. Yes, those are loose logs, either driftwood or lost from log booms. The Fraser River is a working river, tugs bring the logs upriver to the lumber mills.

      Delete
  3. Bob, I am impressed with the quality of these vids. Please continue with your experiments of changing positions. I like the 'windshield in perspective' quite well.
    Methinks you will end up having more than one video camera strapped to your bike ;-)

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    1. Sonja:

      The windshield is attached to the fairing, which is rigid as it is attached to the frame. The handlebars are isolated with the front shocks so more immune to road vibrations. I am working on another way to mount the GoProHD, and I may buy the Hero2 as it gets less recording "errors", as it has status LEDs on the back

      Delete
  4. Cool video Bob, posting a map reuires posting the HTML code from google map, i am hopeless at expaining things...but the maps you posted help relise where you are going. Thanks.

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    1. Roger:

      I figured it out, I eventually found the HTML code. Now you are able to ZOOM in and OUT, and move around a bit

      Delete
  5. PS The picture quality of the video is stunning.

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    1. Roger:

      thank you. I recently upgraded my editing program, and new i7 4 core laptop, 8 gig RAM, plus video card with 2 G on board graphics. I also render to a higher bitrate than before. The older videos are rendered at 5MBps, these are 8 MBps. seems to make a slight difference, but takes longer to upload

      Delete
  6. Nice video. Very smooth with it on the handlebars. And nice bridge (the green single lane one). I enjoyed the ride.

    It looks like you figured out how to embed a Google map.

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    1. Richard:

      thank you. The handlebars are shocked, not rigid like the windshield. I like that green bridge too. I should have taken some photos of that floating home community.

      I googled and found some instructions. Now I can include more maps in the future

      Delete
  7. I think that's the thing about maps, nothing looks far away. Including Virginia and Minnesota. Took me a few trips to figure that out on a meaningful level.

    Brady
    Behind Bars

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    1. Brady:

      using a map, sometimes you can't even ride 6 inches in a day. We do not have arterials, and few secondary highways, so you are stuck using surface roads with lots of traffic and stop lights. Mostly, open roads are a myth up here

      Delete
  8. Bob

    I definitely feel less sick with the camera facing forward!

    N

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    Replies
    1. Nikos:

      it made me sick too. I am working on another mount and will probably purchase a Hero2 for a view of the rear. Did anyone notice that I made a U-turn at the beginning ? then I went around a traffic circle.

      Delete
    2. Bob

      You need to do more shoulder checks thus proving that you are riding to a British advanced standard. On the other hand use the mirrors!

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    3. Nikos:

      I was doing lots of head & eye turning. There was no traffic anywhere around me for blocks, and I was barely rolling

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  9. I find that when the camera was facing backwards I was watching you and not the scenery.

    It was a god video and looks like a great ride with a little bit of everything, tunnels,the one lane bridge and sunshine.

    My question though, as my eye kept wandering towards it, was that a Hello Kitty flopping around behind your GPS unit? It looked like a little bear or a Hello Kitty and for some reason I think it would be just like you to put a Hello Kitty on there. :-)

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    Replies
    1. Trobairitz:

      Thank you, that's why I had longer snippets so you could see the roads, go through the George Massey Tunnel and that single-lane green bridge to Westham Island. The George Reifel bird sanctuary is at the end of the road, but if you go there you need boots. what observant eyes you have. A year or so ago I found a little child's trinket lying on the ground. It was probably a hair "thingy" (excuse the technical term) used for pony-tails. I looped it onto my windshield mount and it flutters in the wind. Last year it went to Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and of course BC. It loves to travel and "flutter"

      Delete
  10. Bob I dowloaded an app for my iPhone called "CGP Lite". The free version of the app is actually very useful, not as a GPS really, but because it records the route you travel. You can then e-mail the geo data for the route to yourself, and upload it to Google Maps (it's the .kml file that does the magic. No need then to drag the route around forever on Google Maps to show the route. I used it on the following post on my blog: http://scootcommute.blogspot.ca/2011/08/secrets-of-ile-perrot.html (or http://tinyurl.com/7xhvz3u)

    You can view the map in Google Maps as well: http://tinyurl.com/7l9pyet

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  11. Arrgh... dumb fingers, the app is of course GPS Lite not CGP lite... sorry d.

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    1. David:

      I wanted to get a "bread crumb" app, but didn't know which one actually worked. It probably eats up your battery, anyway I will try it out and perhaps just get the paid one thanks again

      Delete
  12. Great video. I noticed the thingy, too! I did not notice the U-turn or traffic circle, but did enjoy the ride. Thanks.

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    1. Kathy:

      I suppose I should purchase a more personalized "thingy". That one was FDOTR: Found Dead On The Road and I just started to use it. It followed me everywhere last year but I would prefer something more Pink.

      Delete
  13. It's always interesting to see how other people are mounting their cameras. I've ended up with mine helmet-mounted - you can see what that looks like on a ride out of Skagway, Alaska at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aygmrM6ipXs&list=UUnoM3eDr4st8f1GoM1jcS_w

    I still haven't figured out a spot for my GPS for those times when I venture out to places that have more than one road :)

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    1. Murray:

      it is an honour to have you visit. For mounting options I use RAM mounts from GPScity.ca (can) or GPScity.com (US). You seem to have lots of Handlebar realestate, you could tuck your GPS behind your windshield and wire it up to the 12V for bike power. In the city I think the Helmet mount would be too distracting with all the shoulder checks and head turning. You have less traffic so can keep your head pointed straight ahead

      Delete