Pleasantville


mayberry
Half of my commuting trips involve a MUP of some sort, and I have been noticing a theme of sorts with the people I encounter on the path. It is a wide, paved network of trails that run along Interstate 25 (North-South) and to Garden of the Gods to the West, but not so close you see or hear traffic. There are runners, dog walkers, baby strollers and a large warren of rabbits, who have caused me much grief over the years.

Rabbits aside, the theme of the MUP seems to be something like Pleasantville when compared to commuting on the road. The road is the busy bustle of people trying to get to work on time, reading the paper, texting, shaving, applying makeup in their cars, while the MUP is like Mayberry – everyone says hello, is polite, thanks me for warning of my approach (on your left), and this is encouraging. It’s like I go back in time on these trips, wishing that life outside of the path could be this simple and pleasant.

There’s dog walker guy, whose dalmation mix sits when I approach, then gets up and continues his morning walk when I pass. Dog walker couple always says ‘morning’ and comments on the jersey du jour, and then there’s hot mom (she occasionally has a jogger-stroller, and if she’s not a mom, she’ll be known as hot aunt) who just smiles at me as I ride by. About half the folks are plugged in to music of some sort, so they never hear my approach, but they never hog the median and wave back as I wave to pass.

I don’t mind taking the road, and actually prefer it, however there are just some days when work has been a real grind or I don’t want to deal with traffic (Fridays). These are MUP days, and I like the vibe. If I listen very carefully, I can almost hear Andy Griffith whistling that certain tune.

I am awaiting my helmet cam in the mail, and will post some commutes as soon as I can. Anybody who has experience in getting this from camera to internet and adding music, your advice and input are welcomed, and am curious what you all see on your rides/commutes. What are your preferred routes and why? Did you have one too many slices of pizza the previous night so the long or hilly route follows to burn some extra calories, or are you in a hurry to get where you are going so you take the shortest route?

7 Comments

  1. Around here (and I assume in many places) MUPs are only for recreation because they simply don’t lead you anywhere. I find that to be a great use though, since it gets people outside and on their bikes, no matter what their confidence or bike are. So I don’t often ride on the paths, and stick to the roads.

    Enjoy the new cam! I got a GoPro 960 recently and love it. I just use Windows Movie Maker for putting clips together, but there are plenty of big fancy programs that can do more complicated things.

  2. I’m used to riding on the road too, but I’m looking forward to my new commute which will be primarily on a path. Sometimes I just want to relax and take it easy!

  3. From June-Sept here, I’m more relaxed on the roads! Once the snow melts and things warm up, the MUPs are just a pita for trying to get anywhere without startling the ipod zombies or nearly running over the dogs on 30ft leases.

  4. I got a ContourHD camera. I’ve only edited a couple videos but it was pretty easy if time consuming using iMovie. I think it was mostly time consuming because it’s currently recording in 1080p which is probably pretty unnecessary but very, very pretty. iMovie let me add text and wipes and such like pretty easy (since editing a 20+ minute ride down to interesting bits requires some kind of indication of why the scene is shifting). I didn’t add any music but it being an Apple product I imagine it’s pretty easy. Posting to youtube is even easier than the last time I uploaded a video (taken from my cell phone).

    For routes, it all depends on how much climbing I want to do. Some routes involve less of it (or less sustained climbs). I have a really nice path near my house but it’s basically an East-West only route and terminates oddly in places, though they are going to extend it to the south of downtown soon. Multi-use paths can be perilous though — there was a high profile case here of an elderly woman being startled by a bell of an overtaking cyclist and jumping into his path and dying from the injuries. 🙁 So I worry every time I overtake because sometimes people just don’t hear my bell (either due to head phones or something I can’t identify) and look startled when I pass, even when I pass usually at 10 mph or less.

  5. I got a ContourHD camera. I’ve only edited a couple videos but it was pretty easy if time consuming using iMovie. I think it was mostly time consuming because it’s currently recording in 1080p which is probably pretty unnecessary but very, very pretty. iMovie let me add text and wipes and such like pretty easy (since editing a 20+ minute ride down to interesting bits requires some kind of indication of why the scene is shifting). I didn’t add any music but it being an Apple product I imagine it’s pretty easy. Posting to youtube is even easier than the last time I uploaded a video (taken from my cell phone).

    For routes, it all depends on how much climbing I want to do. Some routes involve less of it (or less sustained climbs). I have a really nice path near my house but it’s basically an East-West only route and terminates oddly in places, though they are going to extend it to the south of downtown soon. Multi-use paths can be perilous though — there was a high profile case here of an elderly woman being startled by a bell of an overtaking cyclist and jumping into his path and dying from the injuries. 🙁 So I worry every time I overtake because sometimes people just don’t hear my bell (either due to head phones or something I can’t identify) and look startled when I pass, even when I pass usually at 10 mph or less.

  6. I got a ContourHD camera. I’ve only edited a couple videos but it was pretty easy if time consuming using iMovie. I think it was mostly time consuming because it’s currently recording in 1080p which is probably pretty unnecessary but very, very pretty. iMovie let me add text and wipes and such like pretty easy (since editing a 20+ minute ride down to interesting bits requires some kind of indication of why the scene is shifting). I didn’t add any music but it being an Apple product I imagine it’s pretty easy. Posting to youtube is even easier than the last time I uploaded a video (taken from my cell phone).

    For routes, it all depends on how much climbing I want to do. Some routes involve less of it (or less sustained climbs). I have a really nice path near my house but it’s basically an East-West only route and terminates oddly in places, though they are going to extend it to the south of downtown soon. Multi-use paths can be perilous though — there was a high profile case here of an elderly woman being startled by a bell of an overtaking cyclist and jumping into his path and dying from the injuries. 🙁 So I worry every time I overtake because sometimes people just don’t hear my bell (either due to head phones or something I can’t identify) and look startled when I pass, even when I pass usually at 10 mph or less.

  7. Yeah the 1080 is really quite unnecessary unless you actually plan to make high def films with real processing and are patient enough to wait days for it to compile. I looked up the Vimeo SD quality, and convert my clips to be no better than that, since that’s where I’m uploading it to.

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