Walkin' The Dog Into The Tritonman Triathlon

GoPro Hero2 camera I tested out on today's ride.

I was rolling west through San Marcos well before 0600 this Saturday. About time for a darkish ride again. Roads were all quiet with the streetlights and local business showing the way.

I had mounted up a GoPro Hero2 camera to the SOMA handlebar and would be doing some testing today. Got it from Paul Nevin last week. Years ago I had tried out a GoPro and they sure take great pics. The downside was all the visual controls were on the front, making it near impossible to operate from the normal bike mount. ( Newer version of the GoPro...v.3 or v.4, have solved this by offering remote controls to the bike rider). Now I think I've solved the ON/OFF situation with a camera setting of PowerON Mode (when you turn the camera on, it automatically starts taking video).

Rode the route at ease, working the GoPro front on/off switch as I needed a video clip. Stopped along the beach on several occasions and used the hand held method to do a few pano shots. Still overcast as I made my way up Torrey Pines climb to a banana break at the top. Did see the usual Saturday UCSD gruppo rides hammering northward along UCSD campus.

Stopped to take a clip of the Tritonman Triathlon on Mission Bay.

Traffic detour on Mission Bay Drive. They let bike through with specific instructions to keep left. Looks like a triathlon today. I managed to stop near Fiesta Island and take a nice shot as some of the leaders were smoking by. Later found out that the event was the 9th Annual Tritonman Triathlon sponsered by UCSD. Slowly made my way on the Ocean Beach Bike Path to the turn around control at the Bacon St. 7-Eleven.

Stopped over at Dog Beach on my way back to get a few shots of the dogs and surfers. Overall gloomy day at the beach. Made my way around Sea World and back onto Mission Bay Drive. No sign of any detours as the triathlon was all finished up. After Rose Canyon, I wandered thru the UCSD campus on this Saturday.

 Local cyclists on a gloomy overcast day at Dog Beach today.

Picked up a MTB rider hammering northward thru Torrey Pines. We hooked up with some racers going up the climb to Del Mar. I hung in there and managed to get some video shots. Parted with the tall MTB guy and encouraged him to get into long riding again, as he said his road bike was broken. Made the turn onto San Elijo Road and finally Manchester over to Olivenhein. Followed Rancho Santa Fe and tried to catch a few racers ahead, but a red light stopped that effort.

Feeling OK at this juncture, I hit the few other climbs that led me back to San Marcos.  Ended the day with 43 video clips of the route. This amounted to over 2.3 gigs! Think I'll put it all together into a video recap ride of the route?

Video recap of the route.

 
Cloudy most of the day

Hi: 74     Lo: 41
87 miles


-randorides