The bicycle as a camera platfrom

Can we marry up the two, where a bicycle can be used as a camera platform? The short answer is yes, the long answer, well that’s what we are discussing for the final entry for March…..

One of the things we need to be careful of is that cameras are a little fragile, having an expensive camera strapped to you, during an off bike experience, is not good for the camera, it’s not good for what parts of us, get impaled by the shards of plastic most cameras are made of either. In a good camera case, mounted to the bicycle, it works very well, as the case will protect the camera to a large extent.

The big advantage to the bicycle, is that it has a very wide view. Amd your moving at 15-30km/h which means you see more then if your busy driving a car, and it’s possible to see more potential subjects or places to take photographs.

There are some small issues, and one of those is weight, this is much easier these days when cameras are mostly lightweight plastics, rather then the metal and glass of older cameras. The 200mm lens alone from my film gear outweighs my 70-300mm Canon lens, with the T5 attached. Bicycles are also much lighter then they were previously, although your typical Hybrid or All Terrain Bicycle is still going to be fairly heavy.

The ideal method of carrying your gear is the rack and pannier method, the rack fits over a wheel, could be the rear or front. I have a rear mounted on the Norco, and a pair of Panniers to go with it. Although the camera bag gets strapped to the top with a couple of large bungee cords, if the bike crashed the padded case would protect the camera gear. Other things that don’t need such protection, like tripods, can be stored in the panniers, along of course with other stuff you might need, like some food and extra water. A couple of spare tubes, etc.

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I always carry a spare tube and the tools needed to repair a flat, for longer rides I may carry two or even three tubes. I’ll wear my bike shorts, as it prevents chaffing, even under long pants. I tend not to carry a lot of other tools, but it depends on where I am going as well.

This weeks image is the Norco on a trail, somewhere in Toronto, I think it's the trail that runs between York Mills and Lawrence, just East of Leslie.  I did a fair amount of riding along that trail that summer.  

Until Next Time.

W