Motorcycle Riding In The Rain: Algonquin Park in October in 360 Degrees

 Deerhurst Resort to Algonquin Park and back again, chased by the rain.

Algonquin Park in the rain at the height of autumn colours. The Theta 360 camera held up but I eventually pocketed it when the deluge become too heavy.  The camera is mounted on a ball mount on the handlebars and set to fire automatically every 10 seconds.  Photos captured in the Theta camera app and then modified/enhanced in Photoshop.

This is the raw photo out of the camera. The fixed lense doesn't collect a lot of light, so on a dim, rainy day like this the image is quite muddy.  I brought up the shadows in Photoshop and the result (with a bit of cropping) is the same photo above.

If you're curious about how to put together on-bike photos, check this how-to out.  It's also available on Adventure Bike Rider Magazine's site here.  You can pick up a simple 360 camera for a couple of hundred bucks.  Fully waterproof ones (which I obviously need) start a bit higher.

I got into this with Ricoh's Theta way back in 2013, but Ricoh has been stingy about support and won't even offer me at-cost options for educational use.  Looking around recently, the Insta360 offers some interesting combinations with next generation 360 imaging, though it's very video focused and I prefer still shooting.  Gopro also has the 360 Max, though it isn't as aerodynamic and therefore might not be the thing to put on a bike in the wind, though I'm willing to give it a go.

Gopro goes out of its way to support users and especially ones who advertise for them on social media.  I wish Ricoh were so forward thinking, but they aren't.  I'd suggest the Gopro if you want to get into 360 photography.  It's remarkably easy to set up and the results look fantastic.  You should give it a try.

Post from RICOH THETA. - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

Motorcycle Haiku and Autumn Photography

motorcyclists blown
in the wind with fallen leaves
clinging to summer

On-bike photos using a Ricoh ThetaV 360 camera attached to the windscreen with a flexible tripod auto-firing a shot every few seconds...

 

Soon enough TMD will go back into Canadian Winter Hibernation Mode and it'll be all mechanical repairs from under a foot of snow in here...

Over 20°C and very windy on Friday.  Everyone was out, bikes blowing in the wind like leaves, clinging to the last breath of summer before the long dark swallows us for months.  This year is particularly sinister with pandemics and second waves breaking over us.  Canadian winters are inherently isolating, but this year doubly so.  Look after yourselves.

Lobo Loco Water Is Life Summer Rally

We just spent a delightful dam day riding north and west from where we live looking for water themed locations for this year's Lobo Loco all-season Water is Life rally.

If you find that your riding is a bit aimless, or you're always showing up at the same places over and over, a long distance rally is a great way to break those habitual rides.  You get a theme and some specific targets, but you also get some special monthly targets in this rally.  It runs from May to October, so you have lots of time to get points.  You can set up rides with intention and ride as hard as you like.  Some people go and go if they're all about the points (and have a lot of free time).  I'm more about the exploration and photography opportunities, even more so If I've got a pillion along, but you can do it however you like.  My son and I have done this a few times now, and my buddy Jeff and I have had some epic rides, but this time it was all about my wife and I getting points and spending some quality time together.

For May the water specific theme was dams, so we went looking for the damned things in our area.  It's amazing what you can find when you ride with a purpose.  Only fifteen minutes from home we were stumbling across secret Mennonite fishing holes at the Woolwich Dam, and twenty minutes later chatting with dreadlocked sports bike riders on the Conestogo Dam causeway.  We bumped into a number of riders on the trip and always suggest they look up the rally as a way of extending their riding destinations.

Further north we stopped just past Harriston (after getting a photo of their water tower), and got lunch at The Red Caboose.  If you've never had an Ontario chip truck lunch, this would be a great place to start.  Everything is grown in the fields around you (including the beef).  It's what you'd expect to pay for a burger and fries, but this'll be the first time you've ever had something this fresh.  Some fancy burger joint in Toronto will but sriracha on it and charge you five times as much for something that tastes half as good.  The fries actually taste like potatoes.  We would never have stopped there had we not launched ourselves on this exploratory rally adventure.

With our stomachs full of goodness, we continued north.  After a water tower hit-and-run in Clifford we eventually found ourselves in the place where government cuts made the water kill people: Walkerton, Ontario.  We got to the Walkerton Heritage Water Garden only to discover it wasn't running - a local walking by told us they weren't turning it on due to new cut backs.  Thousands got ill and e Coli in the water killed seven, and now a similar government has cancelled the memorial to what their predecessors did - I imagine they're thinking this is best not remembered.  The irony runs thick, unlike the water in the monument.  The local said the politicians all spent more time making sure they weren't liable than they did actually trying to solve the problem.  Walkerton is now a vibrant community that has bounced back from this tragedy, but the damage runs deep, and more cuts are coming.

We left the park in a sombre mood and headed through the lovely town before striking out east on Highway 4.  Another water tower hit and run in Hanover and we were on our way to Durham and the ride south to home.

I'm sure I've passed through Durham before, but have no memory of it.  It's a pretty little town in rolling Niagara Escarpment country.  Alanna eagle-eyed the Garafraxa Cafe on the main street and we pulled in for a caffeine boost to get us home strong.  Things looked promising with an Italian coffee machine that looked like a Vespa scooter and a proprietor who knew what he was doing with it.  It ended up being one of the best Americanos I've ever had.

We pushed south to Holstein Dam while picking up water towers in MoFo and Arthur.  Our last stop was the Shand Dam that created Belwood Lake just down the road from our home in Elora.  To maximize points you want to get your bike in the photo and have signage and the dam itself in one of the two photos.  I find the Ricoh Theta 360 camera handy for doing this because it grabs everything at once, but many others just use their smart phone camera and get a lot more points than I do.  Naming conventions on your photos are important too - you lose points handing things in the wrong way.  Having Alanna along really helps with this as she actually reads the instructions.

By this point we'd been on the road for well over six hours and were ready to go put our feet up, fortunately our circuitous route took us in a big loop back home:

https://goo.gl/maps/4SQrADMcDpTKAQvf6

All told we think we cracked a thousand points on this ride, and discovered all sorts of strange little spots we'd have otherwise missed.  The Water is life Grand Tour full summer rally is running from May to October, so you've still got tons of time to sign up and give it a go.  If it grabs you, Lobo Loco is also running more intensive weekend and one day rallies throughout the season.

***

Lobo Loco Rallies on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LoboLocoRallies/
Like the page and see what's going on - there is a vibrant community of riders involved with this.
 
Lobo Loco Homepage:   https://wolfe35.wixsite.com/lobolocorallies
Includes the intensive weekend events as well as this season's grand tour.  You can sign up on there through RideMaster - the same group that handles Iron Butt Rallies (if you want to get really serious).


NOTES:

Some dammed stops on this year's Grand Tour Rally:

Stop One:  Woolwich Dam & Reservoir 
https://theta360.com/s/o3txOAqc332jOD4u4RDytX4Hg
43°37'21.3"N 80°33'51.9"W

Getting signage with the name on it counts for points!

We went a bit overboard with this one.  It was our first stop, it was a lovely dam surrounded by Mennonites fishing and we wanted to make sure we got the required things in the photos (and they are many!)...

You will need to have the following in order to collect points:
A) A photo of the dam itself
B) A photo of signage indicating the name of the dam, or a photo indicating the name of the town the dam is in

- We will accept a “Welcome To”, City Limits, or Town Hall sign.
C) The GPS coordinates, approximate street address, or nearest cross street to the dam
Your motorcycle MUST be in at least one of the 2 photos.

You will receive the highest points ONLY for whichever you achieve for each individual dam:
99 points - motorcycle with the dam (which I think we got with the bottom one with me standing with the bike in front of the gate)
66 points - motorcycle with the dam signage

33 points - motorcycle with the town signage

... but I think I like the one with us leaning over the dam more.  Sometimes the photographer gets in the way of the rally requirements.

#loboloco Water is Life Rally 2019 Summer Woolwich Dam #theta360 - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

We found a squirter at the Woolwich dam!

Stop 3:  Conestogo Dam
43°40'32.4"N 80°42'56.0"W

#loboloco Water is Life Rally 2019 Conestogo Dam #motorcycle #rally #theta360 - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

Gotta get that signage in for maximum points.
Stop 8:  Holstein Dam
44°03'36.0"N 80°45'29.4"W

 ... that was a buggy one.  Dam in photo, check, rally flag, check, bike in photo, check!

Spring Riding On-Bike Photography

A Sunday in the teens (Celsius) meant that riding was inevitable.  The Tiger had been sitting in the garage as it hailed and snowed outside this past week, but once again we get a break in the neverending Canadian winter, so off I go.

In the fall I got a Ricoh Theta V, so this was the first go at on-bike photography with it.  Using the mount I made last year, I attached the new camera (same form factor and similar size to the SC I'd used before) and off I went for the first ride over to The Forks of the Credit and Higher Ground.

The ThetaV has better processing power for video than the older model, but the camera is similar spec, so still photos, where I like to work, weren't likely to change.  Once nice thing about the V is that it processes way faster, so can do a photo every 4 seconds instead of the old camera's one every eight.  Having twice the chance of catching a good corner was no bad thing and resulted in a number of good shots as I rode up and down The Forks, usually behind confused people driving beige minivans as slowly as they possibly could.  I waited for a gap on the return ride and got a bit luckier with space, though it was pretty busy on the first sunny Sunday of the year.

Winter run-off everywhere meant a cautious line, but the Tiger on Michelins is always sure footed whether it's on snow runoff or piles of sand left over from winter.

I guess someone missed the switchback - bet it was a fast and furious type...

Stuck behind that tool in a big maroon mini-van again, so I'm waiting for a gap.  Nothing more frustrating than riding for an hour to find some curves only to be stuck behind a yobbo in a mini-van.

Quality of photo is similar between the ThetaSC and the ThetaV, but the V takes way more photos quickly, so you're more likely to capture a good moment.

Parked up at Higher Ground in Belfountain. Don't order a specialty coffee if it's busy - the regular brew is good and you get it right away.

As capable as the V is, it suddenly flashed out on me when I went to ride home and wouldn't start.  This was a bit of a surprise as all previous Thetas have been astonishingly tough.  The Theta V seems to have magically fixed itself today, but now I'm wondering if it's up to the job.

In the meantime they've come out with the Theta Z1, a higher resolution 360 camera with a faster lens and even faster processing performance, including in-camera stitching of images together.  It looks very nice, but if my first upgrade won't take photos when I need it to after it's first real weekend of use, I'm second guessing a bigger, more expensive step further.

In another meanwhile, GoPro has the Fusion 360 camera, which is tough and offers similar high resolution imaging.  It's a bit of a brick, so the Theta still seems like a more aerodynamic and logical choice for on-bike photography, but not if it doesn't work.  More to come.  Hopefully this in-and-out Theta V was a one time thing.

Lean Angle and Capturing the Dynamics of Riding a Motorcycle

Since starting the 360° camera-on-a-motorcycle experiment last year I've tried dozens of different locations and angles.  My favourite shots to date are ones that emphasize the speed and feeling of exhilaration I get while riding.  A bike in a straight line is a lovely thing with the wind and feeling of openness all around you, but when you lean into a corner the magic is suddenly amplified.  That thrill of leaning into a corner is something most people never get to experience.

The first weekend I ever rode a bike on tarmac (at the training course at Conestoga College in Kitchener) way back in 2013 I discovered this magic while working through a beginner's gymkhana style obstacle course.  After shooting through the cones a few times at faster and faster speeds I said to the instructor, "I could do that all day!"  He just laughed.  I wasn't kidding, I could happily spend all day leaning a motorbike into corners.  Each time I do it the complexity of what's going on is fascinating as hundreds of pounds of machine and me lean out into space, all suspended on two tiny tire contact patches.  It's when I'm most likely to forget where I end and the bike begins.

Lean angle in corners is an artform that many motorcyclists (but not bikers so much) practice.  Being able to use your tire effectively means you aren't the proud owner of chicken strips.  Underused tires tend to show a lack of experience and an unwillingness to explore lean.  There are exceptions (knobblies on off road focused tires, anything made in North America) that aren't about lean angle on tarmac, but it is a way to analyze your cornering comfort level.

Mounting the 360° camera on the bike is one of the only ways I've been able to catch the feeling of this complex dynamic in an intimate way.  MotoGP makes extensive use of 360 camera technology for on-bike photography and video, but they tend to be rear mounted.  Using a front mount means you get to see the rider's face in the shot.  It would be fascinating to watch the rider/machine interface from a 360 camera mounted out front of the bike while various riders do their thing on track.

I've got good road tires (Michelin Pilots) and a tall adventure bike, so it's not exactly ideal for exploring lean, though I think I do OK considering the weight and shape of the bike - the Tiger is surprisingly frisky in the corners.  But I'd love to get my hands on a sports bike and see just how more dynamic and exciting the on-bike 360° photography could be on a machine built solely for tarmac.