My 2 year old Go Pro HERO 8 Black whilst having fantastic image stabilisation has been bugged with a few recurring glitches that whilst small can be real irritating when they happen as they will inevitably when your filming with other folk and/or in weather that you don't want to be opening the side door that accesses the battery. Numerous times I have factory reset it and had updates via the Go Pro App - I even phoned the help line and had a helpful conversation with someone but the camera was soon back to its old trick of freezing and not starting up requiring the side door to be opened - which usually comes off and drops onto the beach to pull out and re install the battery...
Now imagine if you were out paddle boarding or out cycling in horrific weather be it rain or a real windy day on the coast with sand blowing everywhere?, yeah you can see the dilemma... so when Go Pro Annouced a deal on the HERO 10 of £299 if your a Go Pro member -that allows you amongst other things to store your files on the Go Pro Cloud instead of filling your PC I went for it and it arrived a few days later...
Like the older HERO 8 and previous HERO 9 the new cameras require linking with wi fi to the GO Pro App and checking for updates since manufacture. This also registers your Go Pro with its serial number so if there were any recalls by Go Pro you may/could get a new replacement. There are loads of set up how to YouTube films so I won't go into all that here, but I did buy a second battery with my order as the newer cameras have less battery life time with the increase in tech...
Finally I got to try it out after a weekend of no cycling and today with both batteries mains charged as recommended (not on a PC) I used the bar mount to carry it and mostly filmed using the selfie stick mono pod which had a diy stable stand for leaning in on logs or posts etc for point to point shooting...
1st big improvement on the HERO 10 is the raised buttons allowing operation with 3 season gloves on and you can even swipe the back screen and change function wearing gloves...
I previously switched off everything I will prob not use to help save battery life, so that's the wi fi - I never use my phone to operate my cameras, the voice control, the front screen which is for using for vlogging - I actually hate YouTube footage of peoples face all the time instead of seeing where they are - walking Vlogs are esp irritating when you want to see the scenery or trails!, anyways with all that switched off I last night set my standard film mode and Activity mode - again this is simple to do - again watch some of the many Youtube vids...
My Standard setting is going to probably be 4K Wide (I used to use the lower 1080 on the 8 camera), with 60 frames per second...
And for the activity again 4K Wide but with 120 frames per second for doing some slow mo scenes...
While filming mostly using the Standard setting for point to point and hand held on the mono pod , I swapped easily to Activity setting for where I wanted to add some slow mo scenes with the camera stationery on an object. I easily switched to Camera Setting and took a couple of pics, these look good, certainly good enough for using on the Blog...
So far overall the camera has been more user friendly than my 2 year old HERO 8 Black which has had continued glitches as previously mentioned, with easier to operate buttons when wearing mountain bike gloves and a larger easier to swipe back screen to switch functions...
Back home and I checked how much battery I had after doing the usual amount of filming and it was at 66% remaining, along with all the other things I doubt I will ever use will help save battery life, but they are there if I want to experiment, I prob will try 5K and see what its like but mostly I will use these settings as today as watching the film on the TV it looked good!...
Update; Unknown to me until I uploaded the film my PC did not publish the film in 4K but 1080 as it has to be 4K by 60 frames per second in the first frame and I started with pictures!, anyway here it is in 1080 and hopefully the next film will be in 4K!
So time to see a published film with cool slow speed action without any jittering of picture,
Here is a nice film further north on the east coast, by blogger friend Motorman up in Lossiemouth - Moray - Whisky country -:)
Good use of angles and time lapse which captures the ride...
Iain is i think the only other beach rider who blogs mostly on coastal riding on fat bikes, and also rides here on Scotland's East coast.
His local coastline is an interesting coastline as it is constantly evolving and increasing in size and not being eroded like most of our coast here in the UK. It also has some well preserved WW2 Coastal crust Defences; http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/FCSLossieWWIIbooklet.pdf/$file/FCSLossieWWIIbooklet.pdf
Look in on his beach ride reports on his blog here; Moray Fat Bike of his adventures on his lovely Alaskan 9zero7 Fatbike.
His Youtube channel is ; here...
Post 481 rolled out last weekend as the blog started its 4th year...
When i started the blog it was to write about having fun riding my then 6 month old Surly Puglsey on the coast here in East Lothian and then later further afield from Northumberland to the Western Isles.
It was started after reading loads of other great blogs of Surly pugsley owners, from Surly Bikes own blog and owners snow race reports to Doug's excellent blog on commuting in 40 below on a pugsley .
These blogs are just two of a hand full of fat bike blogs i read before getting my own pugsley and which inspired me to try to write something myself. both of these blogs are still going from strenght to strenght.
Sadly most of those brilliant old blogs i used to read have all but disappeared now, the owners moved on to other things, do not have the time due to new family commitments etc, or just lost interest...
At the time there was not anyone else who was blogging regularly about beach riding so i thought it may be of interest to a few folk.
Only a few months back i discovered there were stats of your blog you could view!, up until then i just looked at the viewing counter i had added.
It has become quite useful to see what people look at and find of interest, what posts get viewed daily and how many viewings, as well as what country the readers are from.
coastrider blog has not had less than 372 daily viewings in the last 2 months, average is 445 views per day, the most was 1265!, who ever you all are only a very few of you pop by and say hello or pass comment but thanks for looking -:)...
And this is why i have done two new things, i closed the other non cycling related blog i started last year and combined them transferring those posts over and now also post stuff under labels of `Music and Film` for favourite music and film trailers and other nostalgic stuff from youtube. This is stuff i often post on facebook, but i will be using FB less for stuff like that now and putting everything i put online under one roof.
Facebook is great for keeping in touch with friends but all the other linking stuff and they do does my head in at times, as do adverts along with its constant changing layout.
I am doing this as it seems to be what people like to view judging by the stats and people i know and comment. People have come up to me on the coast and said `hi, i like your blog, crazy bike!` so i always ask them what they like to read the most.
The stats show a lot of viewings for East Lothian related local history posts like the WW2 Submarine wrecks and URBEX posts, and lately a lot of interest on my Surly Moonlander and any reviews and changes done to the bike etc...
Posts that were previously on the other blog hardly got any views when there, and indeed many friends said they always forgot to go and look there. the posts just did not seem to come up in searches etc...
The thing is there is just so much to look at when you go on line now whatever your interests or hobbies, loads of forums, face book and twitter pages, youtube, vimeo, the list is endless.
Now my Grammar is awful. i really struggle with spelling and plurals.
If i was at school they would give my grammar skills a condition name etc... -:)
And the old Blogger page spell check would only do about 20 words, so was not much good,
Some people will not know what this is like to deal with, well i do not know what it is like to not be able to do wheelies, manuals, track stands and bunny hops on a bicycle, basic off road cycling skills, to not master these must be really frustrating for some people...but they still enjoy cycling. Despite the struggle i still enjoy blogging...
Blogger has improved and has a better spell check and improved picture upload speeds too.
Writing posts is a lot quicker now and you can draft them and when you want post them and they post as newest post now.
I spend a lot less time on cycling forums now, esp UK forums due to a lot of negativity about fat bikes, only this from other mountainbikers, i just do not understand some people. Yet a lot of the public we meet always show an interest in the bikes and what they are like to ride etc...
Well fat bikes are slowly coming of age here in the UK, On One bikes release a complete fat bike this year reputed to be only £999, Hope componants have released (inline) fatbike hubs; 170mm rear 135 front, now who would have imagined that eh? -:)
Oh and if you go and buy this months Singletrack Magazine (March issue 72) there is an article on beach riding in the little county of East Lothian, you should recognise some of the views...
Brilliant writing by Steve Makin and amazing photos of our coast by Steve and Jenn,
Pity none of the East Lothian posse had there pictures up close in it but nevermind, you can view our ugly mugs and guts on here anytime -:)
My friend and fellow blogger Al, author of crivens jings and help ma blog has thrown down the gauntlet and nominated 'coastrider' to complete a challenge. Nominated blogs have to create a list of the following:
What's your most beautiful post. What's been your most popular post. What's been your most controversial post. What's been your most helpful post. Which posts success has surprised you most. Which of your posts do you feel didn't get the attention it deserved. Which post are you proudest of.
I also have to select five other blogs to take the challenge too, so I nominate the following five blogs to take part if they feel they would like to:
Friend and local Mike; mikeworld Who writes it as it is, he swears far to much online but it kinda suits him so we will let him off with that!, Aswell as making ace wee films on his Go Pro he blogs about Motorbikes, cycling off road, food and drink, and behaving like a tit, in a nice way -:) he also has my old pugsley frameset and has seen the light and turned to the `fatside`.
Harri from Sweden; Obnoxiously yours, His photos are amazing, look through his winter pics he has taken when out on his pugsley, breathtaking photography,
Doug from Duluth, Minnesota; MnBicycleCommuter , One of the first blogs i followed and one of the early pugsley owners, Doug commutes by bicycle nearly every day, that includes through the severe winter conditions of Minnesota, his blog has won awards for its writing of his daily commute which never gets repetitive or boring to read, he also posts up summer camping trips, and reviews products, Dougs blog is always an interesting read and he sets the standard on bike preparation,
Colin from Edinburgh; ScotRoutes This is a new blog so Colin you wont have many stats yet, but Colin has written bike journeys around Scotland and beyond for a number of years on forums like STW, great writing, good pics and always interesting routes, if your interested in road touring then his blog is right up your street/ er route...
My List... So here is my lot, Al says i can post a film or post on each answer,
What's your most beautiful post. Tough call, i would have to go with a film i made this time last year, an amazing Autumn sunset, geese overhead, stunning evening...
What's been your most popular post. According to the stats this post got 2,297 views; Cheviot Hills; MTBscotland forum ride it was linked to a STW featured epic route which we added a massive climb in/descent back from the Scotland side so maybe that created the interest, it was the first time i saw a `Red Squirrel crossing sign`, and the only time i have broke a chain in 24 years of riding mountainbikes!...
What's been your most controversial post. I have never tried to be controversial, but i did say once how i like windfarms, and got a few negative replies, 3 years later from that post and i too see the non return in them as well as the ruination of a historic route in our local Lammermuir hills- part of The Herring Road, once a regular cycle for myself... But i will post a thread on the pugsley, as i mentioned all the negative responses i got about the bike when i got it and tried to explain to people what i wanted it for, so the controversy was aimed at me - if only its a small paragraph!; Purple Haze
What's been your most helpful post. A post i wrote which was also posted on the fatbike forum has received many thanks from folk inquiring about riding bikes on the coast and exposing them to the salt water conditions, i proved it can be done!, Fatbike Preparation for Beach Riding...
Which posts success has surprised you most. A film titled `Surly Pugsley` which was a compilation of previous films, it was featured in the Methow Vally Film fest in the USA, and a 3 min edited version was runner up in the first Tweed Love film fest in Scotland, it has had 16,244 views and 53 comments, 110 likes and 0 dislikes!...
Which of your posts do you feel didn't get the attention it deserved. WW2 stuff about here in East Lothian often does not get a lot of comments, War is a subject a lot of people do not want to read about, It is a subject of great interest to myself, esp what went on in East Lothian, I often wonder how many people drive, cycle or walk past a war memorial and ever stop and read the names of the people on them, people from our community who payed the ultimate sacrifice so we can be here today, living our lives in freedom... If i had a time machine i would go back to June 1940 and watch the Spitfires based at RAF Drem fly around the county, Drem was on the front line of the Firth of Forth to intercept incoming German bomber raids from occupied Norway on Rosyth Docks and Glasgow, many of the pilots of the squadrons that passed through RAF Drem (on active R&R from the south coast) were battle of Britain pilots, many would not see the end of the war in 1945, many more were horrifically burned and mentally scarred for life, a huge price were paid by so few... I spent a long time researching RAF Drem and its short but important history, I have collected a lot of photos and even recordings of pilots who served there, There are 20 war graves in Dirleton cemetery of airmen who were killed in tragic accidents while serving at Drem, but there are no memorials or information signs about the Fighter Station and its small community who served there at the now Fenton Barnes retail village, You can read a post i wrote here; RAF Drem
Or skip and watch the film, i used real pics and Battle of Britain survivours voice recordings, mixed with Historians and real BoB footage, the gun camera footage gives an insight of the intense air combat fighting of these young men, and the airfield pictures of them show just how young they were, just kids really, the film at Dirleton Cemetery at the end shows the young age of these pilots and that they came from all around the world to here to fight for us... massive respect...
Which post are you proudest of. I think this years summer holiday Roadtrip when i rode out to Faraid Head, The biggest Sand dunes in the UK, it was 9pm when i arrived, no one was out there except myself on the penulsia, clear skys, big sun setting, it was howling a gale and sand was blowing off the top of the huge dunes, it was amazing, One dune took over a minute to reach the shoreline, To date the best beachride yet, which is what i started the blog for, adventures on my Surly Pugsley... Faraid Head...
I met fellow East Lothian Blogger Alistair for a couple of pints and a chat Thursday evening over at what is to me my local village Pub... Alistair`s excellent blog crivens, jings and help ma blog which you may well follow and read, If you don't its worth a look through, he has brilliant Historical reference to Scottish history and also wrote a great series of his late Dads experiences as a WW2 RAF Avro Lancaster tail gunner in 153 Squadron...you can read the full story going back from the end post here some great writing and there is a lot of other great stuff.
I have no interest what so ever in Internet Dating (girls of course-:) however i am used to meeting folk `off the internet` because i do mountainbiking and as im sure Al felt its like you kind of know someone a bit already through reading there Blog. So we were chatting about blogs and writing and a lot of similar interests and surprise`s about what folk do and don't read...also how most readers you will probably never even visit there country never mind meet... The world is a small place online but still big if you tried cycling there!, We both agreed if what we do makes folk happy then its all good. So Alistair asked why i don't do another Blog along side coastrider as my niche cycling seems to fill the blog on its own and diverse to other stuff on another blog, i had thought about this before a few times and then decided i had enough to do with coastrider and making wee films and uploading pics online etc... I cycled home from the Pub having enjoyed meeting Al and having had a good blether, then thought about it mostly since and a bit more today at work! (called day dreaming) and decided what to do...
And now its up and running...
Why that name?, well most places i like to go visit,find or explore are often a bit off the beaten track and quite often once had an old Thoroughfare (Road) to them, I'm doing this as some readers i know dont cycle and love the scenery pics and places i go while some just like the cycling stuff. So what I'm going to do is keep coastrider going as normal but when i pass or visit somewhere/something like for instance an old castle instead of posting a lot of pictures and info on it i will just post 1 or 2 pics saying what it is then put a link to the other blog where there will be a full post just on the Castle, so if someone wants to read further and see more they can do,i will keep the info basic but also add links to the expert websites (Historic scotland etc..) so anyone can read more into the subject. Hopefully it will become like a wee database of places of interest around East lothian and further afield on days away and holidays. Often places and things i see can be seen all over scotland like for instance Cold War ROC Bunkers. Alot is related to all of Scotland and sometimes all of the UK. Both blogs will have links back and forth often with a small overlap with the emphasis on cycling on Coastrider and whats about to see on No Through Road. I Will be copying some posts already on Coastrider over to the new blog with maybe an update on information or more or even new pics, using Post titles of the place and labels folk can go straight to places of interest. again films will be split between blogs and sometimes linked, It will be easier for me to have 2 Blogs instead of trying to cram everything into one post which i try to do all to often-it takes a lot of time!. A cycling only post with pics `from the saddle` is easy and quick to write, write ups on one place take the time researching etc but some places will already be done when i have spare time and sitting in a Draft post ready to post up... And so that means more time for me to get out and about...theres still plenty to go see and explore... So come over for a look,I have still to tweak it a bit then will be posting soon on No Through Road
a year today i started my blog...a year already...except for my awfull spelling ive achieved what i wanted to do,i wanted to write about my hobbies and interests outdoors here in east lothian and sometimes further afield in scotland... it originaly stemmed from a fat tyred bike i bought- a surly pugsley and riding it where seldom others go or can cycle on a bike in this little county in south east scotland which is often overlooked by many yet has so many lovely and often secluded corners between its lonely hills,wooded glens,scenic farmland and a fantastic coastline all steeped in history... ive met lots of new (online) friends and some in person like tommy who came to visit from the netherlands with his pugsley and thanks to him bringing a work colleague... i met my girlfriend hanneke...the best times are still to come... thanks to all that have followed or stopped by...theres still a few places to go visit yet...
a few cycling blogs i read use a saying i really like... micro adventure... it is often used to refer to something someones done outdoors usually on there doorstep or a little further afield...maybe its exploring a new area on foot,bike,kayak etc... the blogs i read often use the term for a bivvy overnighter often close to home...i like this idea as for me it will be cycling distance from home and could be on the coast or in a wooded rivine up in our local hills... i bought an alpkit bivvy last month and planned on buying an aussie army `hoochie` as used by ray mears...but i decided instead of the hoochie at £75 to buy something else which i have wanted for a year or two now... postie delivered it today... a hennessy hammock... i still havent opened it up yet as been busy out in the `man cave` tweaking the pugsley, i also got the hennessy snakeskin after reading reviews on the hammock, says 3 mins to put up...sounds good...will post pics trying it out soon... so for £110 i get a complete survival hammock with midge/mosquito side nets and a tarp which i can use seperately with my bivvy bag aswell, 2 for 1 for a bit extra... having to work every 2nd or 3rd weekend early for 2 hours in summer i will do an odd night camped up in the woods on the golf course, in the morning i just pack up and cycle over to the sheds for 6am..getting a night out camping on a weekend on at work..sorted... on the subject of bivvys i have a small book thats worth a wee look if you can find it...published by cicerone `the book of the bivvy` by ronald turnbull... back to the `man cave` and i earlier refitted the rear rack on the pugsley... its staying on as you just get soaked in wet weather with the big smooth tyres... i made the little mudgaurd from an old marzzochi 888 DH fork front mudgaurd cut in half... i also fitted an `as new` B17 brooks saddle i got from new friend gary who didnt like the fit...gary is building a pugsley and got in touch to have a look at mine..yep another scottish pugsley!... the new seat went on the pug to break it in quicker as its ridden more than the 29er...now both surlys have brooks saddles as i wanted... also returned in the post today is the battery for one my of my 2 hope HID lights... the battery packed in despite only 2 years old..my other HID hope light is over 5 years old...it is one of there original stem mount lights and its still going strong..i really like hope stuff...i have hope hubs,stems,headsets,seat clamps and hydraulic disc brakes on most bikes... the battery is the first hope item ive had a problem with.. i return it for them to check after diagnosing theit having 2 lights,leads and chargers.. they fixed it and posted it back for no charge...its a year out of warranty...thats good service... itching to get along the coast on saturday and see whats washed up after the stormy seas last weekend...low tide midday and clear frosty calm weather forcasted...
he is a marine biologist so knows alot more about scotlands coastline than me...and can spell too!..also a keen cyclist-more road,triathlete and hill runner (4th once in the infamous lairig ghru race) if you follow this blog you may find alot of his postings interesting...maybe we may do a few dualathlon races again?,i could be persuaded to get my raceface on when its clansname sake at stake!
hi and welcome to the first post of my new blog...
basically then i can now waffle on about my hobbies and interests and folk can choose to read on or not...
ok so i really enjoy biking along my countys coastline,hills or woods ,i live in a spectacular corner of scotland (east lothian) and have adapted my cycling to suit the terrain all year round whatever the weather with my latest steed my Surly Pugsley,a what? you say? well feast your eyes on a fatbike...to my knowledge only a few in the UK to date and i think this is the first one in scotland...
developed by small shop manufacturers to explore and race in the artic conditions of alaska and its imfamous iditabike human powered race,run along the iditarod sledgedog race route,well two years ago american bike company surly decided to make a production fat bike affordable and available to everyone and the pugsley was born,surly frameset,65mm `fat marge`rims and 4" `endomorph`tyres are the special bits then regular parts are used,the rims are offset 17mm to allow chainline clearance along with the use of a wider 100mm bottom bracket from the huge tyres, a rear singlespeed hub on the front allows wheels to be interchangeable allowing gearing changing if run singlespeed or in case of a rear mech or internal gearhub mechanical failure,
so...a very simple idea...steel ridged frameset,big cushioning low pressure tyres that can be run as low as 5psi giving a big floating effect footprint allow this bike to go where normal mtb`s would struggle or be extremely hard work to keep moving.
so hopefully i will post rides and pics out on the pugsley around here where no bike has probably cycled successfully before!
i still have a few improvements to do and kit to add to the bike which i will post up on here as well as reports on parts and films out riding over the next few months...
I live in East Lothian, S.E. Scotland.
I fill my time with my hobbies, interests and passions. Often cycling along the coast here. I ride steel bikes with big wheels, I like to enjoy all interests of the coast, Its scenery, wildlife, local history, with my other interests in art and music when out and about...
I was diagnosed with Relapsing remitting Multiple Sclerosis in August 2018, it`s early days but i plan to continue to live my life as i have and show that having a medical condition like MS does not mean you need to stop enjoying your life,
Please excuse the bad grammar, i am working on it!
