Remembrance Sunday

bjork · Post by **bjork** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:27 pm

quote:
Video of the classic bike run (filmed with my nice new helmet cam) can be seen

Enjoy!

Have just watched the first few minutes, I'm impressed by the lack of camera shake, is that something built in? Or is it the deportment lessons paying off

bjork · Post by **bjork** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:36 pm

quote:
SWMBO remembers her favorite uncle who died at Dunkirk.

That's in the past & we cherish our German relatives now, our granddaughter, her divorced mother & their family.

Cheers, Don.

Hi Don, I know you're all a bit pre-occupied with the new tenants of the Whitehouse over the last week or two, but do you have any similar remembrance events over there? I would have thought you must have, but I don't know of them.

Steve

Don Madden · Post by **Don Madden** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 2:17 am

Today is a national holiday in the US with government, schools & banks closed. Most private businesses do not close. We have ceremonies honoring our fallen comrades at national & local levels.

Most of us are looking forward to a change in American policies but I do not expect to ever see world peace. At least, on both sides of the Atlantic, we should not fear our close neighbors.

Cheers, Don. Edited by - Don Madden on 12 Nov 2008 02:18:28 AM

fishsponge · Post by **fishsponge** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:31 am

alanjennings: the run was actually rather well organised, but being only a small run, there was no "back runner", so the people up front had no idea we had become separated! As for us lot not having a clue where to go to catch up with them, that's all due to us few individuals assuming we would just follow the guy in front and not have to know the directions!

So, all in all, it was well organised, but it just wasn't to be for the first 10 minutes, at least!

As for the video quality being a bit blurred, this helmet camera is very small and also only cost £129.99, so we shouldn't expect TV quality from it. Perfectly watchable though, in my opinion, and i can't afford a better one!

bjork: what is this "drop off" system you speak of?

Also, the lack of camera shake is because it was mounted to my crash helmet, not the bike... the human body is great as a shock absorber!

Eric · Post by **Eric** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:07 am

Its sometimes also called the Leader and Tail-end-Charlie system.

The basics are that the Leader stays at the front of the group and Tail-end-Charlie stays at the back. Whenever there is a change from the obvious straight-ahead route, the rider travelling behind the Leader pulls over in a visible and safe position to point all bikes in the correct direction.
This bike is called the Marker, and when Tail-end-Charlie comes along the Marker rejoins the route in front of Tail-end-Charlie. As the journey progresses each rider will find that they in turn become the bike behind the Leader, are left as a Marker and then rejoin the route in front of Tail-end-Charlie once all others in the group have passed.

Thats the basics and it generally works but there are sometimes exceptions.

paul knapp · Post by **paul knapp** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:57 am

Well Fishy, you said to enjoy, and that is definately what I did
It certainly didn't look blurry to me, considering the equipment you were using, and the rather unstable adverse conditions.
We always use 'corner marshals' here, accredited by the police, to ensure a smooth ride so we don't get lost.
I had forgotten what water on the road looked like
.
That is scenery I will never get to see (unless that King wotshisname from Nigeria comes good with my 10K million share of US$ dollars he promised)
What I noticed, was that the leaders picked such tiny, narrow roads on which to travel, no room for error with an oncoming vehicle or all those wet leaves.
Are the motorists always that obliging in letting motorcyclists in front (as you neared the museum)?
Down here, they would bunch up so close when they saw you coming along, just to squeeze you out.
Keep the videos coming.

Paul

fishsponge · Post by **fishsponge** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 3:17 pm

Eric: that sounds like a great system, but having someone organise such a system and having everyone follow it is another matter! lol, i think it would be tricky to have that level of organisation on a lot of the runs...

paul knapp: Marshalls are a good idea, but this run was nowhere near large enough to warrant it... if we'd had marshalls, we wouldn't have had anyone to actually do the run! lol

Glad you liked the video, anyway

As for the leaders picking narrow roads, all the roads around here are either "narrow" as you call them, or main 70mph roads, so we don't have a great deal of choice - personally i thought the route was pretty good given the roads around this area!

As for the leaves etc... this couldn't have been predicted. The route had already been planned, and the day chosen, but the night before we had rather a lot of rain, and almost unprecedented wind levels, so the leaves came completely by surprise!

And finally, as for the car drivers letting us through/past etc... this is done by almost every motorcyclist in the country as far as I know. We're not a rowdy bunch by any means, it's just a done thing. Car drivers, i think, just assume that if a motorbike is behind them, they'll soon be in front one way or another, so they don't seem to mind.

I will keep the videos coming too, but as we're entering winter now, there will be fewer and fewer events to film... i'll do my best thogh!Edited by - fishsponge on 12 Nov 2008 3:22:13 PM

alanjennings · Post by **alanjennings** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 6:25 pm

Don't get me wrong-the quality is reasonable-but my wife is VERY keen on photography and she spoils me when I look at other peoples "filems" !! The "drop off" system is WONDERFULL ,many a rally trip has been spoilt in the past for me, especially when on an "outfit", and I have been left behind and "Lost!" Bjork--the further I ride the better!! I would like to equal Stewart Jenkinsons mileage--750,000 on his Vincent-but I've a LONG way ot go!!

rex.webb · Post by **rex.webb** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:17 pm

"EXCEPTIONS" not the word i would use.
The Drop off system works if all on the run agree to it.If only one dare not stop when its there turn the system fails.I can remember many "Jampot Rally Runs " where it worked to perfection making the run a pleasure to be on.

bjork · Post by **bjork** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:59 pm

quote:
bjork: what is this "drop off" system you speak of?

Also, the lack of camera shake is because it was mounted to my crash helmet, not the bike... the human body is great as a shock absorber!

The system is as Eric explains, and as he says, usually works very well. It does need a quick briefing beforehand to explain it for first timers, but like anything else if they don't listen.......still better than playing chase the leader any day. It takes less time to explain to the riders than was lost in that first stop in the video-honest!
I think Eric's last line was a little dig at someone for a recent run I missed.

The camera still impresses me (not too hard I know) I knew it was on 'yer ead, but still expected more wobble. What fork oil do you use?

Paul, if you want leaves and trees and narrow lanes, our run would impress you even more, it was mainly through Charnwood Forest and we'd had the same weather Fishy mentioned. We didn't do a video, but it may be on 'Police, camera, Action' soon.