Continuing the Boards of Canada theme... SURLY KramPug... Some wonky quality cycle film...

Its been amazing weather so far this week, roasting hot with amazing big skies...
despite a few showers that cooled muggy temperatures the little rainfall has hardly made any difference to the drought conditions here in East Lothian. At work it is full on watering, out cycling it is full on dusty dry trails!...

Been listening to the new Boards of Canada Album TOMORROW`S HARVEST all weekend and last two evenings out cycling on my ipod and its ace!...

The kramPug lives...
Yep!, on Friday affy then again on Monday evening i took out the Grey Pugsley with its offset Krampus single speed wheel set for its maiden shakedown ride...

Your not getting to see any proper pics of it yet as i am still waiting on some stuff from the states to arrive... -:)
Unless you have stripped and rebuilt your SURLY Krampus wheelset offset with a rear hub up front then this is the first Krampug in the UK -:)

Some dodgy pics not giving too much away!...

That's all your getting to see for now!

Sadly the grey paint job which friend Eddie did a good job of for me must have not dried right being done in winter and it chips very easily -:)

So i stripped the bike down and dropped it off at the powder coaters on Tuesday after work and get it back tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon. So will be rolling for the weekend -:)

Riding single speed is  a new MTB thing for myself, i cannot comment on what a regular single speed 26" MTB or 29er MTB is like, but i do like the Pugsley with the 3" Knard set up, it  has great roll over stuff like roots etc...The bottom bracket height is an inch higher but apart from that it still rides like a pug - real stable and comfortable, but now faster and its light,  it really rolls with these wheels like a Krampus does but feels a lot more xc orientated. it is more comfortable than my Karate Monkey 29er, not as snappy a play bike in feel, but more `ride all day` feel , if that makes any sense!.
I am going to have a lot of fun on this bike around here on the trails...
I will try and write up a review type thing when i make the usual `Launch` film next week like i always do with new bikes. All i`m saying is that if you own a Pugsley and not a 29er then an offset wheel set is a no brainer as the thing flies with them -:)

I did take my old SD Tachyon XC camera and shot some helmet cam and hand held views of stuff when out.

So used some tracks off the new BOC album, If your a BOC fan you will like this, if your an MTB geek then you will also like this. I thought i would show how long the `Garlic Trail` near here is and filmed it unedited..
Songs are edited into each other;

Track 1   Gemini
Track 15 New Seeds

Youtube would not allow the audio as Warp Records hold copyrights, but Vimeo will play any audio -:)

Film on the trail is a bit off sided but you can always tilt your lap top or i pad... -:)

Cycling to BOARDS OF CANADA; Gemini & New Seeds from coastkid71 on Vimeo.

Saturday Beach ride - Pugsleys

Friend Eddie came along for a beach ride today on his white Pugsley.
Today was the first real Autumn days beach ride - cool temps, clear skies, blowing a gale, and perfect for it...

Stubble fields full of geese now...

Gullane...

Strong side winds across Aberlady reserve bridge...

The Old Road to Aberlady ...

Around the high tide line, more geese...

Gullane Point...

Gullane beach, a good day for Kite Surfers...

Not a good week for local Creel fishermen, strings of creels washed in after the big storm...

Cafe stop at Cake in North Berwick then return to Gullane along the trails through woods sheltered from the Westerly gale along the John Muir Way...

I took the old Tachyon XC sports camera and did a wee film, its in SD but i kinda like the old format...

Song is `Big Wide Sky` by Quantic...

Sand, sand, and more sand...

Been out nearly every evening last week on the coast, cant seem to get enough beach riding this now, a combination of Autumn a coming and cooler evenings and sunset by 7pm, local woodland trails are again saturated and getting that big Magicshine light has put new fun into night riding as i can now safely see on the coast.
Using the car to drive the 8 miles max to an area of coast i get in a couple of hours riding in daylight then an hour or so once proper dark,

Last week at Gullane Point, high tide so along the soft sandy trails through the dunes...










These remains of a bird hide were on the shoreline when i was a kid and used to come out here with my dad when he was the Ranger, a lagoon formed from a spit which is now dry and about 70 meters of new land has has formed from the bird hide to the currant high tide line in just 20 years...






Concerned about me cycling along soft sandy paths in the Nature reserve?,
well apart from being legally allowed to do so being shared paths, have a look at the pugsleys 4" tyre footprint compared to mine walking to take photos... says it all about making less of a foot print!...






No sunset but once dark more fun through the pine woods...






Another evening riding from Aberlady to Longniddry, again high tide...
To my left a busy coast road of commuters, just a few meters away and the sea cuts out some of the traffic noise and on a near deserted coast apart form a couple of dog walkers i am a world away,
Gosford Bay...






Fernyness, more WW2 Anti tank blocks...


There was a diving pier here in Victorian times, before wetsuits... Brrr


There are always shells to be found beside a small burn west of the No 1 Car park at Longniddry...









Tachyon Micro XC camera update;

I did some filming with the new Tachyon Micro camera, and unfortunately it kept switching off, sometimes within seconds, sometimes after 20 - 30 seconds, have tried different micro SD cards but its not right, you don't know if its cut out if on your helmet as there is no bleep, so i have had to return it to Amazon, they have sold out so i have to take a refund, this is a pity, but it must have a fault, i have never had a problem with the 2 larger 2010 XC cameras, i could stretch the budget and get there HD micro cam but i don't want to spend that amount on a camera just for short movies, Ive sold one 2010 cam but luckily not the other so will just make a counter weight for the helmet which attaches by 3M Snap Velcro,

Did some Go pro filming last few rides so will post up soon...

Tachyon Micro SD sports camera

After using two Tachyon 2010 XC sports cameras to make loads of films that i won in 2009 i have for the last 4 months been using a Go Pro HD camera...


Although quite expensive at £375 including a chest mount (we call it the sports bra) and some extra mounts the cameras HD (high definition) quality footage is amazing to watch on a full screen and it captures light here on the coast well,

However, quality costs, in money and time, and the Go Pro camera takes a lot longer to upload, then edit and publish a HD film on a 4G windows vista PC and uploading time to youtube for a 10 minute film can take 3-4 hours sometimes,

The Tachyon 2010 XC cameras SD (standard definition) takes a 1/4 of the time to get online, and the standard of film quality is not too bad, compared to the Go pro fish eye 180 degree lens, the SD Tachyon cameras use a 90 degree lens, which does not let as much light in but you capture the view in the distance better,
Also in 3 years fiming the Tachyon cameras have never let me down, they have never lost the files from crashes or knocks, one fell off my motorbike at 70+ mph and it still works perfectly!, there bombproof, and very underestimated and underated here in the UK, i think there great value.

Back in June on the summer hols roadtrip i took a Tachyon 2010 XC (SD) helmet mounted camera and filmed at Faraid Head in the far NW coast of Scotland as a back up in case the Go Pro had a problem, i never did anything with the film then remembered about it last week so edited a wee film of that amazing evening riding the wind swept dunes, the SD card was a class 4 instead of a 6 or higher so quality was not quite as good as it should have been,
Song is theme from Lonely Planet...



Watching this film i really like the soft tint to the light, esp that halo glow around the sun when looking directly into it, also far away views of mountains are better than the Go Pro,
So i was thinking of starting to use a Tachyon camera again for small blog films like a wee film of a trail or an explore around an old ruin etc, as it is so quick to upload the files, then edit and publish and upload,
As with the Go Pro camera, the Tachyon XC camera weight can be felt while mounted to the side of a helmet, a view i think which is better than the top which is a bit too remote,

Then i remembered that Tachyon did a Micro XC SD camera, which is smaller and lighter than the 2010 Xc cams,
It has the same internals, and 90 degree lens, but without the small LED screen, and it takes 2 smaller AAA lithium batteries and a micro SD card,
A quick google and Amazon had 8 left at £79 each, they have been superseaded by the Micro XC HD camera which is around £169,
So i grabbed the chance to get a Micro SD camera and it arrived on Saturday...


In the kit is a mount which can fit a goggle strap or tri pod, and the usual cables for uploading pics, connecting to TV etc, the camera is small and light...


Also included are 2 lens covers for Paintball, this camera lends itself well to activities like paintball, scuba diving, watersports etc...


An 8G card gives 2 hours filming, Tachyons can take up to 32G cards (8 hours filming)
a lot more than most cameras, card and batteries fit in the back...


The switch on the right is a Dive Pressure switch to prevent water pressure switching off filming on the outside switch, the camera can go down to 100ft, a lot more than most other makes and does not require a waterproof cover being a sealed unit,
The switch on the left switches filming function to timelapse pics every 2 seconds,
below right switch locks the battery holder...


As with the larger Tachyon cameras i have used i have not used the mount but applied 3M snap velcro (£10 per metre on ebay) to the helmet and camera sides. it takes 24 hours for the adhesive to set but is very strong...






With 2 lenghts (without backing removed) wrapped around hooked on the camera is not going anywhere...


I bought this so i can have a camera mounted often as long as i want which is light enough to not notice its weight or need a counter balance...




The Micro XC camera compared to the 2010 XC camera...


The paintball lens cover is ideal for keeping the lens clean or damaged when it is in the bikes frame bag or a back pack etc....
With the same filming quality as its bigger XC version it will be ideal for a bit film that is quick to edit to get posted on the blog,

Ideal for some filming while riding, rather than going riding to film...