[Gerry]

Needed to take a break from the intensities of work, but it seems I only temporarily replaced one frustration with another.



Friday I headed into the hills to find a road that I explored 30 years ago on a Mt. bike. Revisiting Ponderosa Way held an extra bonus as I may have a chance to cross paths with some old Friends that I understand own some property in the canyon the road passes through. It was a bit of a disappointment. The 'road' showed little sign of it leading to someones residence, but then these folks are pretty unique and as well commute in a Land Rover. After a couple of bumpy miles as a result of the many gravel erosion berms (speed bumps?) I came to a locked gate.



Headed back to my home turf and came upon a fellow that was having engine trouble and could not get his quad to start. He indicated that white smoke was comming from the front of the quad. Seems his radiator was gunked up with dirt that was sticking to the oil soaked screen that covered the radiator.



Could not do much about the dirt but I was able to spare a quart of water as his radiator appeared dry. With cool water, the fellow was able to head back home for some sorley needed service.



Managed to find a couple of areas that I have likely been on many years ago but since I could not recall much of the experience I decided revisit the area (s) and see if I could take a few short videos.



As much as I like viewing the adventure video's of others,trying to present one can turn into a real chore. Here is what I have so far. For me, sometimes it plays real smooth, then again sometimes it is a series of starts and stops. Wonder if I would be easier to simple 'cut' and present photos instead of trying to stream a video. Gerry



http://www.youtube.c...h?v=dSF5xbhdvkI

 

[abyssdncr]

No issues viewing here. Thanks for sharing - looks like a great place to ride!

 

[Petrus]

Lovely - thanks for sharing it.

 

[Gerry]

Got some much needed advice from our Video Master (Busyweb) so putting together A Short Adventure part 2 was a lots less stressful. This is from the same ride (75 miles or so), just different sections. Gerry



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNY7hBTZAto

 

[admiral]

Gerry, Those are a couple of nice video's. It sure is nice to have a riding area so close to home...and your's has trees! We have BLM land adjacent to our property, but as you have seen from some of my past posts, tree-less and wide open. I'm not complaining cause many don't have that. It's just nice to see you have such a good riding area.



One day I'll have to hit up the "Video Master" myself. Heck, I can't even figure out how to get a youTube account. That's my stress right now .



Thanks for sharing.

 

[Gerry]

Thanks Admiral, I have very much appreciated your contributions as well.



I am curious, and BusyWeb may be as well. When it comes to videos, what do you guys enjoy, and what do you really end up dealing with?



Do most of 'us' have fast enough internet as to be able to appreciate any kind of video?



Do 'most' of us enjoy seeing pretty 'basic' dirt rides or are most inclined to want to be watching 'extreme off-road'.



I will certainly ride what I like to ride reguardless, but if what I "effort" to present is so pedestrian as to be of little interest, I can focus on the 'extreme' of what I do (very little) or just ride and forget the video.



Please realize, I do the video because "I do the video". I enjoy making folks happy, and realize that my video endeavors are "my responsibility" in other words, I can't blame you for not likeing what I have spent my time doing.



I have lots of trees and dirt, and can turn the camera on or off at will. What would you folks really like to see. If it is within my kind of riding, it makes more sense to me to capture that image than one of me kissing the Wife good-bye. In other words (once again), doing a ride would be even more fun, if I could bring back something that even more folks could enjoy......... Suspect that is the case for others as well.



Folks, let us know what is of interest to 'most' of you. Thanks, Gerry



[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjHqZtjLlP4[/media]

 

[cptrout]

Very nice videos Gerry. Really enjoyed watching them. That's my kind of off-roading. I wish I had that kind of riding 7 miles from my house. Thanks again and keep up the good work

 

[Rohnsman]

Very nice videos Gerry. Really enjoyed watching them. That's my kind of off-roading. I wish I had that kind of riding 7 miles from my house. Thanks again and keep up the good work

FYI, you can have you video appear right in your post by using the "Insert Media" feature of the forum (last icon on the right). It's pretty similar to adding a photo. For YouTube video, just use the URL displayed in your browser when the video is up in YouTube. Like this...



[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSF5xbhdvkI[/media]

 

[Gerry]

Hey Truelight, pretty neat. I wondered how that was done. Just reposted an old video above, per your instruction....... Thanks, Gerry

 

[Woofhound]

Great videos Gerry.... I love exploring old roads and trails. The terrain here goes from dirt roads that are almost freeways to some really knarly trails. I do them all depending who i'm riding with. Riding season is just about over for the winter though... The snowmobile is all serviced and waiting, We've had a few flurries but nothing sticking down around us yet.

 

[phelonius]

An adventure? My defination of an adventure is when you are doing something that you reeeaaally don't want to be doing but you will brag about later.



Like being chased by a large bear.



Phelonius

 

[805gregg]

Nice videos, about 15 years ago, I heard that the Paradise was beautiful, is it still? it looks like it on the videos.

 

[Gerry]

Paradise is much the same. It has grown some but not so much as to create many problems. Gerry

 

[admiral]

Mrgizmow,



You presented some good questions that up until now I forgot about, but after re-reading this post I will give my 2 cents.



If I may, I combined three of your questions here. "When it comes to videos, what do you guys enjoy?, What would you folks really like to see?, and Do most of use enjoy seeing basic dirt or extreme off-road?"



To begin, let me say I am a visual person. I like seeing the photo's and video's that are included in all of the forum topics or threads. This is not to say that there is great value to those "text only" posts, because there is and always will be. I love the photo's and video's in the off-road section, but let me say, I have learned a lot, and get a great deal of information when someone has posted a performance and customization or technical area, photo report (show us your TW, show us your (motorcycle)rack, how to adjust your valves, oil coolers, how to change your oil, just to name a few).



Basically, I like to see all of the places, and people from adventures. My preference is basic trail riding, like logging, dirt, or gravel roads, because this is where I live, and others don't have this type of riding at their disposal. However, I hope our city folk doesn't shy away from posting photo's and video's of the more "urban evironment". We don't see much of the urban ride reports, and there is a lot to see other than dirt roads (and I'm generally a dirt road rider). Someone commented on some photo's I did near downtown Boise, because I took a picture of a building near or where they worked in, this shows there is some interest in urban ride reports.



I like history. I like seeing photo's/video's of riders reports for subjects like; lookouts, mining, logging, bridges, historic buildings, etc... This is my short 2 cents.



"Do most of us have fast enough internet as to be able to appreciate (video)?



I do appreciate the video's on their own, or as an enhancment to the still photo's.



I personally have internet that is only a slight step better than dialup. When I watch video's, they download slower than the computers ability to read/view. To overcome this, once the video starts I push the pause and wait a while for the video file to download, then I am able to watch the video without it starting and stopping (interruptions). I feel this is my own issue and if I want to watch a video, I need/can be patient.



My take on the pluses and minuses of still photo's and video's (there are more and this is not all inclusive):



Still photo pluses: Can be bigger when viewing. Easier or quicker to add (usually). Easier to add text when writing a ride report, above or below photo's if the author wishes. Good when only have 1 or 2 photo's to add. Great for technical subjects (lazy-man carb maintenance, project modification reports. Can view and scroll down at own pace (easier). Don't have to replay, cause the UPS or FedEx driver showed up and you walked away from the computer! giggle.



Still photo minuses: Currently can only add 10 photo's per reply. Have to add multiple replies to show full ride report (more than 10 photo's). If report is too big or long, it may bore people and they stop viewing the whole report. Limited ability to show how it really feels (steepness of grades, no sounds, for example). Slowness of downloading on a persons computer when there are a lot of photo's in the thread/topic.



Pluses of video: Can get a better feel of the ride (sense of feel, see the leaning of a bike on curves, sounds, voice narrative). Fun to watch (usually). Can be viewed without scrolling down in the thread. Loads quicker when thread opened. Perhaps takes up less room on the Forum Server? Fairly easy to post into the forum (once one figures it out, thanks truelight on how to do this).



Minuses of video: Harder to get an author's meaning or intent without adding text (writing a story that goes along with the photo's).

Usually this is transparent to the viewer, but it is more time consuming for the author to put together a video ride report (downloading to movie editor, EDITING, transferring movie to media (youtube, smugmug for example) did I mention EDITING? Having said that, I'm still having fun making the movies, tho I haven't posted any yet other than testing. The EDITING is becoming easier as I become more familar with movie maker. Granted, not for everyone!



Like you Mrgizmow and BusyWeb (and others), I plan to incorporate video's and still photo's into my ride reports...hopefully other viewers (forum memebers and guests) will appreciate what we all present (Text only, photo's, video's, or a mix of all of these components) in whatever forum thread/topic area.



My only concern with video's when I start, is they don't get to long. I have seen in other forums (ADVrider) for example, where someone has posted a video of a road and narrative (voice) and it keeps on going, and going, and going, with no real scenery change. I like what you (mrgizmow) and BusyWeb have done. These video's give you the "sense" of the ride, kept short enough without losing the viewers attention, and what I really like, and will copy from BusyWeb, incorporate still photo's in with the video.



Hope this didn't get too long and answers some of the questions you had. Don't stop the video's!