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August 12, 2018
LAWNBR 2018 Video Slideshow - ThiEYE Camera
Here's the third of the slideshows of my photos from the Los Angeles World Naked Bike Ride back in June.
Filed under California,Cities/Urbanism,Cycling,Naturism-Nudism | permalink | August 12, 2018 at 08:02 AM | Comments (0)
August 10, 2018
"Ignite"
Just released, this video documents the 2017 Burn. 2017 was my 11th time at Burning Man, and that makes the narration in this video seem a bit over the top...because I've been there and seen it and I know every second of this video is just real. The only "special effect" in this video is that it was shot at a high frame rate so that it could be slowed down a bit to make this.
There's no great voiceover narration to thrill you as you bike across the playa. No dramatic music. But the excitement is the same, nevertheless. It's just hard to convey the feelings in a video. I can still recall clearly how stunned I was by the first Burning Man I went to. It was bigger, brighter and louder than what I was prepared for. Today, Burning Man has about twice as many attendees as it did in my first year and the technology has leapt forward. If 2017 had been my first year, I probably would have needed a bucket to catch my melting brain.
Filed under Burning Man,Photography | permalink | August 10, 2018 at 07:16 PM | Comments (0)
August 6, 2018
Los Angeles World Naked Bike Ride 2018
The Los Angeles World Naked Bike Ride for 2018 took place on June 23. They do it in two loops, the first loop being shorter than the second loop. The day started out completely overcast with a bit of drizzle, temps in the 70s, despite trans-100 temperatures back home in the desert.
I've accumulated a number of action cameras and knew this would be a good opportunity to do some comparisons while getting a ton of photos of the other riders. The complete set of photos is here.
I used four action cameras:
- ThiEYE (link to photos) on my helmet, facing rearwards for both loops.
- Lightdow (link to photos) on the handlebars facing forward during the first loop.
- GitUp (link to photos) on the handlebars facing forward during the second loop.
- And GoPro Hero4 Silver (link to photos) mounted above the rear wheel facing rearwards for both loops.
As you will see, quality was all over the place, but the GoPro tended to do the best under the varying lighting conditions. The full sun came out on the second loop.
I have prepared video slideshows of the photos from each camera, but I've only uploaded two three. Due to upload limitations at Vimeo, I won't upload the others until sometime in September. Here are links to the two three that are up:
Los Angeles World Naked Bike Ride 2018 - Lightdow Camera.
Los Angeles World Naked Bike Ride 2018 - GitUp Camera.
Los Angeles World Naked Bike Ride 2018 - ThiEYE Camera.
They both all end when their batteries died. The GoPro had the longest battery life. It was the only camera still running at the end of the first loop. It ran far longer on the second loop than the other cameras, but died just as we came to the intersection of Silver Lake and Sunset Boulevards. Next year I think I may try hooking it up to a USB battery so I can actually photograph the entire ride (for the first time ever).
Below are some of the more interesting shots, IMO.
That's Rocky and his husband.
This guy happened to park next to me. It was his first WNBR.
This guy stayed dressed like this for the whole ride. The ride is clothing optional and a lot of riders wear some clothing, but to be 100% dressed in serious bike rider drag on a fun ride like this seemed weird. Creepy almost. He certainly looks uncomfortable to me.
There were a number of Metro Bikes in use. Some riders covered the seat as they are supposed to; some didn't.
This little guy rode the first loop only and was our only child rider. Usually, we have a few kids, but only one this year. He was accompanied by at least four adults and it looked like they must go on rides together quite a bit. He was a good rider and communicated well with those around him.
The LAWNBR is conducted with the close cooperation and supervision of the LAPD. In prior years they would run us "like a funeral" (in their terminology), meaning they stopped traffic for us at most intersections and gave us right of way. The downside of that is the line of naked riders would stretch out further and further as the faster riders at the front left the slower riders behind, so occasionally the cops would stop all the riders until everybody had caught up. That could mean standing in the street for 10 or 15 minutes sometimes. This year, we were supposed to handle intersections as just ordinary vehicles, with a few exceptions. So a lot of the photos here are shot while we are waiting for a light to turn green. Once we got to Sunset Boulevard on the second loop, and we began the long straight run back to the end of the ride, the cops stopped traffic for us at almost every intersection. Maybe we were behind schedule.
Spiderman's costume lasted the length of the ride pretty well. Sometimes full body paint shows some wear and bare spots before we get to the end.
You get to see more than just naked bike riders while doing the LAWNBR.
Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions building.
This guy. I had a brief discussion with another rider about whether the guy knew he had a glaring typo in his sign.
The Victor Clothing mural with Anthony Quinn.
Passing the Bradbury Building.
Coming up on the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
Waiting at a light near the LADWP.
Between the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Disney Hall.
Electric skateboard. He wasn't with us at the end of the ride, so maybe his battery ran out.
The double-wheeled bike on the right is supposed to float better on sand, the rider said. He brought it from Florida. I have to admit, he never got stuck in any sand during the naked bike ride.
Couldn't find matching shoes or saddle, I guess.
The guy on the phone would later be seen drinking a foamy beverage from a brown bottle. He must've had a supply in his backpack.
We didn't get to go right up the middle of Chinatown this year.
The Los Angeles State Historic Park has re-opened.
This bright red seat might work for that other guy with the bright red trim.
Jim practicing to be a North Korean dictator.
Just so you know I'm not the only nerd on the ride.
The passengers on the Amtrak bus from Oxnard get a special greeting.
They held us all at the rotary where we enter the Los Angeles River Greenway Trail.
In the several years I've done the LAWNBR we've approached this intersection from just about every angle, both on sidewalk and on pavement, due to construction. But, finally, all construction is complete. We approached it from North San Fernando Road this year.
Out of the rotary and onto the bike trail.
Dodger Stadium is up on the other side of that hill.
We often see kayakers on the Los Angeles River and water birds, but I don't recall seeing geese before.
A major stopping point on the L.A. River bikepath.
This is where they hold us after we exit the bikepath.
These guys with matching skin tones and bikes.
I think L.A. Tourism should adopt this rider as their new "Welcome To Los Angeles" maiden. Postcards, posters, billboards. They'd love her in Iowa.
Filed under California,Cities/Urbanism,Cycling,Naturism-Nudism | permalink | August 6, 2018 at 07:46 PM | Comments (0)
