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Today (6/24) UncleMTB and I rode Big Boulder, 3rd and 1st Divides at Downieville. There must have been 75 or more people at Packer Saddle at 10 am, and we didn't even see the A+ mtbr group. Fortunately, however, we seemed to be the only ones doing Big Boulder, so we had the trails mostly to ourselves. It was hot at Packer Saddle, even hotter on the trail, and according to Accuweather it hit 99 in Downieville today. The climb/hike-a-bike up to the top of Big Boulder seemed especially difficult, probably due to the heat. But once we started down the other side we remembered why we put up with that climb!
I've been very frustrated lately at how the helmet cam flattens and smoothes the trails so I decided to try taping my old lipstick cam to my toe. Results were mixed for several reasons: too much bouncing around, the sun was directly into the lens most of the day, lots of dust, and too much contrast in the forests due to the sunny skies. An overcast day would be much better. The Pauley Creek babyhead jeep trail footage was just some serious bouncing around and the faster we went, the worse it looked. The view with the tire and fork directly in front was kind of cool, especially when going down a switchback, and a few scenes in narrow low vegetation looked usable. However, the low angle made us look very slow. We hit over 30 mph on 3rd Divide and it looks pretty slow in the video. Since we were concentrating on the video I only took a few photos. We did run into a bevy of beautiful biking Betties (perhaps at least a dozen) at the end of 3rd Divide and UncleMTB was in heaven. It was nice to see so many female mountain bikers out having a good time.
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Victor (right)
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Long, steep, hot climb to Big Boulder Trail
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On the way to Big Boulder
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On Big Boulder
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UncleMTB in heaven
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Don't try this
I've been very frustrated lately at how the helmet cam flattens and smoothes the trails so I decided to try taping my old lipstick cam to my toe. Results were mixed for several reasons: too much bouncing around, the sun was directly into the lens most of the day, lots of dust, and too much contrast in the forests due to the sunny skies. An overcast day would be much better. The Pauley Creek babyhead jeep trail footage was just some serious bouncing around and the faster we went, the worse it looked. The view with the tire and fork directly in front was kind of cool, especially when going down a switchback, and a few scenes in narrow low vegetation looked usable. However, the low angle made us look very slow. We hit over 30 mph on 3rd Divide and it looks pretty slow in the video. Since we were concentrating on the video I only took a few photos. We did run into a bevy of beautiful biking Betties (perhaps at least a dozen) at the end of 3rd Divide and UncleMTB was in heaven. It was nice to see so many female mountain bikers out having a good time.
Victor (right)
Long, steep, hot climb to Big Boulder Trail
On the way to Big Boulder
On Big Boulder
UncleMTB in heaven
Don't try this
