I’m not sure how many times I’ve watched the end of 1992’s Milan-San Remo. Sean Kelly chasing down Moreno Argentin in the closing kilometers, in the rain, is the stuff of legend, and the advent of massively multi-player online networking, i.e. the internet, has increased our access to these sorts of motivational moving pictures in a way that previous decades only promised in half-baked sci-fi films.
The internet is a magical place, where each of us can be a star/hero/goat for +/- 15 minutes if the prevailing winds are right, and we’ve done something sufficiently attention grabbing. Cheap, helmet-mounted cameras are the great equalizer, a technology of the people that takes super-rad video production out of the hands of the professionals and straps it to your head. So what if 99% of this proletarian cinema is vomit-inducingly hard to watch?
My own interest in the larger video genre we might call “action sports” has me regularly disdaining the offerings of network television for the attention deficit stoking media of the high speed interweb. I have watched strangers shred gnarly singletrack, climb boulders in South Africa, France and Australia, and descend the world’s great descents on bikes just like the ones I ride.
As an aside, how did anyone make an action sports video before dubstep came along?
This week’s Group Ride wants to know what YOUR 3 minute ride video looks like. Imagine a friend of yours is recording your exploits, or perhaps that you are motivated (and narcissistic) enough to do the job yourself. Where would you be? What would you be riding? And, what music would accompany your heroic efforts?
Image: Sean Kelly at the 1991 Nissan Classic – John Pierce, Photosport International
Mine would and is the steepest climbs in San Diego’s downtown area. Concrete paths to the sky. I included the link to one.
http://youtu.be/mU6PYbi1MsQ
-Scott
the music would be my favorite Pandora station “naked city” radio by DJ smash and it would be some of the more sub threshold induced sections of dirt road I have here in upstate ny. nothing crazy just riding along at a good clip switching lines that I see fit for my 700×23 road tires. pretty sure I shouln’t ride my road bike on them but that’s half the fun
The Arenberg Forest, with Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” playing in the background.
Easy. In yellow, dropping the leaders and heading alone through the mad crowd up Alpe D’Huez, Aerosmith playing Dream On.
The King is directly responsible for me becoming a cycling fan and eventually a racer(I use the term racer loosely). Excellent choice with the 92 milan san-remo. As far as documenting myself, its all been done before so…..I’ll just photo shop my face over King Kelly’s from the 86 paris-roubaix and submit that. Cheers!
This is easy: It would be sunrise, I would be ascending Alp D’huez at 15mph with Also Sprach Zarathustra blasting in the background. Of course this is all in my dreams, you understand.
Three minutes …
Peter McClelland Memorial prologue
Fuji D6
Jimmy Barnes belting out ‘Driving Wheel’
Hitting the finish before the music stops …
Thanks for the opportunity to dream.
Philip Glass’ Satyagraha on a nice wooded gravel stretch in a river gorge.
I’m on my gravel bike, a steep rolling stretch in the Driftless of SE MN, “Driver 8″ in the background.
Last 2kms of Flanders or Het Volk(Now Nieuwsblad) rolling a 53×13 like it was a 19t on a Ridley Noah with Paul Van Dyks Forbidden Fruit BT food of love remix blasting in my mind……of course I have a 2 min gap on the next rider…..
I’ve found that dubstep is perfect for the slow technical single track climbs.
I’m on my all purpose Ti touring/cross rig ripping up an all dirt 20 mile stretch of 300 year old road crossing the Green Mountain divide between Stratton and Arlington, VT. singing out loud “I’m So Glad” by Cream. Anytime but dead of winter which is NOT when you’ll see a bear rear up on hind legs to strike the fear of g-d in you!
While necessary to poach the yellow on Alpe d’Huez, my song of choice is Total Particle Reversal by Only Living Witness
Or alone on the Carrefour de l’Arbre with Big Takeover (Bad Brains), Malfunction (CroMags), Today Was A Good Day (Ice Cube).
In the woods in New England in the fall – listening to Van Morrison (anything). Great Kelly win – he was a beast. When I think of Kelly, however, I think of how Lemond tuned him up in ’89 Worlds (and Fignon and Rooks). I’d also rather listen to Kelly than Phil/Paul in current races.
a 10 lap scratch race with Flight of the Bumblebee as the soundtrack. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QV1RGMLUKE
I don’t listen to music while riding. I have plenty to listen to – traffic (if I’m on the road), mechanical sounds from the bike, gravel under my wheels, friends talking, and all of nature (birds, deer lunging in the brush, rattlesnakes warning).
I view music as an intrusion like some people view bike computers.
But if I wanted music to accompany my video, let’s see – Ride of the Valkyries as I win an mtb DH KOM.
Deep Purple’s Highway Star in the background while the oxygen starved brain is making hundreds of little split second calculations in a hectic and very aggressive points race.
Same driving soundtrack. But it’s sprint set up time from a small break in a tight crit while the main pack is burning through workers to get you back.
But nobody will ever see my riding. I’m too sh!tty of a rider to subject anybody to 3 minutes of my low wattage cycling.
Every time (almost) I see a classic cycling shot it’s John Pierce that took it. He’s awesome! Would love to have a day in his studio to see his complete inventory…..
Ah, guys, the Spring Classics started today. We don’t have dream, the real racing has started.
That’s easy — the road: Pacific Coast Highway somewhere near Big Sur (as sometimes featured in the ToC); the soundtrack: “Wish you were here”, Pink Floyd.
Going down lower Brown Canyon trail in the foothills of the Huachuca mountains on my Niner MCR. There would be no music. When watching helmet cam video by every day riders like me, you should expect the same thing as a home movie. I just do it for fun, and in case someone is thinking of visiting my area and is interested in what the trails and roads are like.