Another scenic ride in the Sierra foothills/mountains (pics & video)

[luv2climb]

Yesterday I took a ride from Colfax to Gold Run in the Sierra foothills and mountains of Placer County, CA. This was my first time riding on these roads. I took Rollins Lake Road to Norton Grade, which descends for a little bit before climbing up to Magra Road, which has some more ups and downs until it reaches Gold Run Road and the town of Gold Run at 3,250' elevation. It was warm enough to ride in shorts and a T-shirt for the entire ride. Gotta love California! :D

It was also the first ride with my new GoPro "Chesty" chest strap camera mount. As the first 3:18 of the video shows, it's probably not the best mount for a road ride. Either that, or it's not the best mount for a female cyclist. :p:D;)

The rest of the footage is from the ContourHD on the helmet mount. It would have been a shame to have all that beautiful scenery cut off by the lower POV of the chest mount. It's also a little less shaky.

Somehow the chain catcher got knocked out of position and I didn't notice it, and as a result I dropped my chain when I shifted from the middle to the small chainring. Of course that was caught on video! :D

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/141890803

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0aiKIc5Sas

Some pics
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/GoldRunRoadatHiSierraDrive.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/GoldRuntownlimitsign.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/MagraRoadatRiverRidgeRoad.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/NortonGradeRoadatRollinsLakeRoad.jpg

[CyborgQueen]

Love it!!

I am not familiar with camera set ups or how versatile they are. Instead of mounting the camera on top of your helmet, have you considered putting it on the side of your helmet instead? The film may come out weird, but if you change the view in a video editing, it should work (but it'll come out Vertically instead though...). Wasn't sure if you can "flip" the camera and it can mount in any direction.
That way the camera will be lower, and more of your eye level than on top.

Nice to know that I'm not the only one that gets a little squirrely while climbing. :-)

[luv2climb]

Thank you. :) The ContourHD has an adjustable lens that lets you compensate for odd mounting angles, so you wouldn't have to change the orientation of the video in the editing software.

My main concern would be making sure the view isn't obstructed by the helmet itself. I don't know if other cyclists have used that mounting location yet, so maybe I'll try it on the next climbing ride.

[luv2climb]

Here's yesterday's sufferfest. Once again, the scenery at the higher elevations looked like the mountains instead of the foothills.

I rode from Newcastle to Foresthill via Hwy 49 and Old Foresthill Road. That meant descending down into the canyon and climbing back out, both ways.

When I got to the bottom of Indian Hill Road I noticed that I'd only ridden 49.4 miles and climbed 4,841'. Unacceptable! I wanted 5,000', so I rode up Chantry Hill Road and the two side streets, then rode through old town Newcastle, dropped down to Taylor Road, and climbed back up to old town via Old State Hwy and Cypress. 51.74 miles and 5,062' of climbing. Much better! :D

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/145804973

Captured on video were two (hopefully) friendly motorists honking as they passed me on climbs up Foresthill Road, and a motorcycle passing me in the dirt on the side of the road. I heard him coming and looked to my left, expecting to see him in the lane. I didn't think to look right, so I didn't see him until he passed me. Startled me a bit!

I tightened the straps on the GoPro "Chesty" chest mount strap, so the video is a little less bouncy. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8ybG-CxYl0

Top of descent out of Auburn on Hwy 49
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6787972725_3e61c281e4.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998767@N07/6787972725/)
Hwy 49 in Auburn 8% grade sign (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998767@N07/6787972725/) by kittyz202 (http://www.flickr.com/people/29998767@N07/), on Flickr

Bottom of descent
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/viewfrombottomofOldForesthillRoad.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/AmericanRiverfrombottomofOldForesthillRoad.jpg

View of snow-capped Sierras from the parking lot of Worton's Market in Foresthill
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/wintertimeviewfromWortonsMarketparkinglotcloser.jpg

Turnaround point
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/roadbikeandWelcometoForesthillsign.jpg

Funny antique store sign in Newcastle
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/funnyantiquestoresigninNewcastle.jpg

[bellissima]

luv2climb, I just love all those areas and the climbs you ride! You are very lucky ;)

[luv2climb]

Based on your profile, you probably have some good riding down there too. ;) I do love our tall pine trees though. I start seeing them at just under 2,000' elevation.

Here's a video with music from both descents into the canyon. I mixed the raw audio with the song so you can still hear that it's a bike descent, not a car driving down the hill. :D This is footage from the helmet cam, so more of the scenery is visible.

http://contour.com/stories/hwy-49-and-old-foresthill-road-descents-1-29-12

At the end of my ride, I met a very friendly kitty in Newcastle when I stopped to take the picture of the antique store sign. My helmet cam was still recording, so enjoy the sounds of her adorable purr-meows (turn up the volume!).

http://contour.com/stories/very-friendly-kitty-at-the-end-of-a-long-bike-ride

[rubysoho]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who meows at kitties. :D Cute cat! Beautiful scenery and I love your bike.

[missjean]

Lovely photos!
What was your max speed on that downhill at the beginning of the YouTube video?

[luv2climb]

Thanks. :) According to the player section of my Garmin page, my max speed on that first descent was 33.3 mph. It's too twisty and not steep enough to get any real speed going, but it's fun nonetheless. :D It's a good place to practice your descending skills, but I'm still careful because some of those turns are pretty tight.

[luv2climb]

Here's a short clip from Sunday's ride that I didn't include in the longer ride video I posted earlier in this thread. I like this one because the GoPro chest mount really shows the effort and suffering involved at this point in the ride. This was the last few miles of that ride, and I was good and tired so the suffering was increased accordingly. (caution heavy breathing!) :D

This is the climb out of the canyon towards the town of Auburn on Hwy 49. The battery on my GoPro died mid-climb, but not before it captured the best suffering on the whole climb. :D

I edited out all the loud motor vehicle traffic. I often do that for the versions of my videos that are too long for YouTube or Vimeo. When I watch them I like to hear less motors and more suffering/shifting/braking/birds, etc.

http://vimeo.com/36041423

[Savra]

Oh I love your post!! I used to live in Grass Valley and now live in NY. There is nothing like the geography of the west. I took it all for granted while I lived there but would jump at the chance to go back. Enjoy. Keep the pictures coming.

[luv2climb]

Thank you. :) I'm going to (hopefully) buy a new mountain bike today, so this weekend's ride will be a dirty one, with pictures and video as always! :D

[Savra]

:) When I lived there I only had a mountain bike. With all the hills and dirt tracks I didn't understand the lure of road biking. :) You can't bike around there without a 2000' elevation climb. Here in NY a road bike made more sense. Now I love both.

[luv2climb]

Here she is! All set up for some good climbing and singletrack fun! :D 2012 Trek Wahoo Disc 29 (Gary Fisher Collection). It feels heavier than the Rockhopper Expert I had back in 1992, so hopefully it climbs as well as that bike did.

The LBS wanted to install all the accessories but I told them I would do it myself because that's part of the fun! :D

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s66/hardmf1/2012TrekWahooDisc29GaryFisherCollection.jpg