September 2018 Orlando Critical Mass Ride

click here to view directly on YouTube
click here to SUBSCRIBE

It's been a while since I attended a Critical Mass Ride. At least 6 to 8 months. While I really enjoy attending these things and riding with 3, 4,or 5 hundred like minded riders, the last Friday of each month has a strange habit of creeping up on me without notice and as a result I usually remember that this ride is taking pace at the last possible second - which is always too late to attend. That is, when I DO remember!

I hadn't really planned or considered attending this month's Critical Mass ride but a friend brought something to my attention the day before. A documentary video about the phenomenon that is Critical Mass and it's organizer is being produced for an Orlando area community web site and they wanted someone with a drone who could shoot aerial footage of the ride. I have a couple of drones so I confirmed that I could attend and do it. With a day's advance notice I surely wouldn't forget this time.

With bike locked & loaded, batteries charged, and drones packed and ready I made the 10.5 mile ride on my bike Friday afternoon to the starting point at Loch Haven Park. The original plan was to do the ride and shoot a few random aerial scenes of the riders along the way, then hand off the video footage to the producer of the documentary. Simple enough. But then I figured, since I am going, I may as well bring my other gear as well, and shoot a bunch of various shots, both aerial and handheld, and use them in a video of my own creation in addition to supplying the aerial footage for the documentary.

The result of what I did is what you see above.

Until next time....

It's been a little while since I've ridden in one of the urban mountain bike rides in Orlando. I used to participate in these rides pretty religiously, so after seeing the Facebook reminder posted by the ride leader last week, I decided to go. It was pretty much business as usual: Approximately 20 miles in distance over just about any and all types of terrain that an urban jungle has to offer. City streets, alleys, grassy transitions, brick roads, staircases of various heights & lengths (lots of them), and a few drop-off ledges just to name a few.

I decided to make a return visit earlier this week with some camera gear on board. I figured I'd try to catch some various random shots of the riders doing their thing. Leave me a comment and subscribe for updates on future content if you like this sort of thing!

click HERE to view directly on YouTube
click here to SUBSCRIBE

Red Hot & Boom Fireworks & Urban Bike Ride

click here to view on YouTube

The City of Altamonte Springs hosted it's annual Fourth of July Red, Hot & Boom fireworks & concert show this past Tuesday night (July 3rd). The weather turned out to be fantastic despite a threat of light rain forecasted earlier in the day. In typical fashion, the fireworks show was first class and spectator attendance was high as to be expected. Most of the roads surrounding the show's venue at Crane's Roost Park were either restricted to one-way traffic or closed off to motor vehicles altogehter.

Note that I said "closed to motor vehicles". But not bikes!!! With all the road closures and crowd congestion there was no better way to get around than on my bike. I have to admit that all the congestion etc. made for a pretty fun and technical Urban Assault riding environment as well! The fireworks show was scheduled to begin at about 9:30pm so I set out about 2 hours earlier to get a bit of riding in and check out the location & spots. I took my camera & drone along as well to get some various shots of the area.

I arrived at the Crane's Roost area around 7:45 and rode all around the area until 10pm without really stopping except to launch the drone for a moment a couple of times and once to chit chat with some police officers for a quick moment.

All in all it was a fun ride with some great sights & sounds.

Peace.