Wednesday, November 2, 2016

An experiment, Parts 1 and 2

I’m trying something new: producing quick-and-dirty video guides to some local bicycling trails. 

Two early samples are attached, below.

This all is fallout from last May, when I got an e-bike --- a mostly-pedal bike with a user-controllable electric motor assist.

I wrote about the initial experience here: The first 100miles are the hardest... (Fred gets an e-bike) 


I’ve now ridden about 1,400 miles; I hope to hit 1,500 before I park the bike for the winter.

The videos are intended to complement the usual written descriptions and still photos that many trail- and rail-to-trail sites offer; the videos let riders preview a given trail, end-to-end, but via time-lapse, to save time. A trail that might actually take an hour to ride can be previewed in about 7 minutes. 

This way, a rider can quickly get the gist of a trail --- surfaces, elevation changes, scenery, and so on. This should make trail selection easier and more reliable.


  • Video 1: The Northern Strand Community Trail (south to north@8x). This trail starts out in an urban area, passes through the heart of Malden City, then crosses woody suburbs to arrive at the salt marshes of Boston’s North Shore. It’s a very pleasant ride.

    See Notes/comments section on Youtube for more info on the trail itself; on the hardware used for the video; and so on.

    If the embedded video is too small/crappy, try the native link: https://youtu.be/0nA5LkUpfQk






  • Video 2: What's beyond the end of the Northern Strand Community Trail? The Northern Strand Community Trail currently (Oct 2016) ends at 826 Lincoln Avenue, Lynn, MA 01905;  42.460122, -70.988838 . But the old railroad right-of way continues for some distance. This video follows the old right of way to downtown Lynn.

    The right-of-way is undeveloped and has potentially dangerous sections. See the Notes/comments section on Youtube for more on the trail; on the hardware used; and so on.


Once again, if the embedded video isn't OK, try the native link: https://youtu.be/-9QZbR-5sb0 

Hope you enjoy!

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