We ate most of our meals at the house. One restaurant blowout was hosted at Zac’s.
The infamous mountain bike circuit is called Slickrock Trail. I survived it in 2007 and did NOT want to risk a second time. BUT some of our group cycled it safely. Jeni and I hiked Slickrock.
I’m typically the guy who says: “Why carry a nail? It’s too heavy! … We probably won’t need it on this trip.” 😀
#FamousLastWords
The proverb is found in a number of forms, beginning as early as the 13th century.
For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the message was lost. For want of a message the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
Related sayings are “A stitch, in time, saves nine” and “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.
My current touring bike is a Trek Checkpointcustomized for my good self. And I love it.
IF I was to upgrade, it would be to the somewhat more expensive Priority 600x.
In fact, my guru — Ryan Duzer — switched from a Checkpoint to the Priority. That’s Ryan in the photo.
One of the designers, some call this bike the Duzer Cruiser.
I think I’d prefer the no maintenance belt drive pinion system. And the nearly unbreakable Gates Carbon Drive. AND the suspension looks pretty good on this tough bike.
The supply chain problems of pandemic is over. You can get a 600x stock in the USA, as I post, within 5 days.
From there I’d most like to head back up to the Dolomites. On to Switzerland. And north to Arctic Norway to start the LONG ride I had planned for last summer. CANCELLED when SAS Airlines failed to deliver my bike.
When pandemic cancelled all my travel and Gymnastics coaching gigs, I took the time to improve my video editing. It’s become my main hobby.
Three phases (so far):
Learning the technology. Experimenting with different cameras. And acce$$ories.
Story. Story. Story.
My personal style.
After posting myFrench Creek tribute, I declared I was GOOD ENOUGH at video editingtechnology for my purposes. I could sit down at a table with a professional video editor and understand 75% of what they were talking about. 😀
Far more difficult is to decide on what story to tell. And to tell it effectively. Many super skillful editors struggle finding their next story.
I threw this short video together quickly as a teaser for my How to Survive theWest Coast Trail videos. But in some weird way, it’s evocative of that wild and challenging hike. It tells the story well
Putting these together is incredibly time consuming.
I kept trying to find ways to improve my efficiency. And that ended up evolving into my personal style of video — as of October 2022, at least. Who knows what’s next? 😀
I posted Valencia, Spain in January 2022. My edits today are all similar. But I’m adding more personal drone footage rather than drone stock video.
What is my style?
Music driven
Landscape, not vertical (portrait)
Cuts are mostly on the beats
Mostly hard cuts
Use transitions sparingly
Use gimmickry sparingly … though I do love speed ramps 😀
Lots of drone footage
Normally no voice over
No ads
Social media pestering only at the end.
Challenging for me is finding the right music for each story.
One of my best edits was Norway Highlights. I credit the song — Odesza Higher Ground — as once I decided on the soundtrack, it was easy to decide where to put each clip. In the example, below, the colours are music blocks to be filled with scenes I decide upon later.
Increasingly I’m picking music first, shooting the video later.
Odesza is my favourite band right now. Very popular for YouTube edits.
I’ve been studying Colour Grading through a course called … Color Grading Academy.
It’s a very complicated process.
Some of the best video editors online send out their final product for Colour experts to finish. An art, not a science.
Things I’ve decided NOT to use:
Tracking
Hue / Saturation curves
… more to be added
P.S.
I posted the Englishman River Falls hike in November 2020 and again in October 2022. I’ve definitely improved.
Click PLAY or watch the Nov 2020 edit on YouTube. I was quite happy with it. But NOW I’m wondering what weird colour grade I was experimenting with at that time. 😀
Only 14 kilometres long, I cycled all the main roadways. Took plenty of detours. Cycled some of the many hiking trails. And still had my tent set up by 6pm same day.
I love the kickstand. It holds up the bike, as well.
Hike-a-bike will be tougher, for sure. I might want to avoid steep hills. This adds 20 pounds to your total weight. When cycling, however, you don’t notice the weight.
Expensive at U.S. $500. As little as $350 if you get a deal.
Rick McCharles 