50:1

The ratio.

The ratio?  Cars to motorcycle.  Well, for part of my outing today.

I wanted to try my new 360 camera today.  Joan said she needed to do some shopping, so this is a good time for a solo outing, where I can take as much time as I want to set up cameras on the scoot.  My plan: set up the GoPro as a helmet cam and the Insta360 One R on an extended stick for a first shot at a 360 video.  Then, I wanted to swap the 360 camera module for a 4k camera module.  If that doesn't mean anything to you, it is testing the 360 part of the camera, then using it as a more typical action cam.

I was originally thinking of some curvy roads, but since it has turned into a solo outing, I chose to do a "ride through" in Sturgis.  No stops; well, at least no planned stops on Main Street.

Leaving Hart Ranch, I turned north on Hwy 16, also known as Mt Rushmore Road.  On a Friday afternoon during the Rally, I would expect to see mostly motorcycles out on the road.  Nope.  The ratio as I rode on Hwy 16 and through Rapid City was at least 50:1, cars to motorcycles.  On a service road that runs parallel to the Interstate, it was more of the same.  Getting on the Interstate and within 10 miles of Sturgis, that ratio was closer to 10:1... still more cars than motorcycles, though.  That is really unusual.

All the predictions for Rally attendance have scaled it back, with most media outlets using that 250,000 estimate.  If what I saw on the roads to Sturgis has any bearing, the numbers may be lower than that.

As I rode into town, there was no backup on Junction Ave.  Even at the stop signs, I was never more than 3 vehicles back.  I pulled onto a side street, found some shade at the curb, parked, and mounted cameras: the GoPro on my helmet, the Insta360 on a stick out the front of the bike, giving it a bit of a "unicorn" look.  On one video review I watched regarding the 360, the main "con" the reviewer could come up was: "Well, you look kinda goofy with it mounted out the front."

Check.

I headed for Main Street.  A bit of narrative before the video: I was truly surprised by the size of the crowd - much smaller than I expected.  Typically, Main Street would have 4 rows of bikes parked (one on either side of the street, two rows down the middle) - only the first block of Main had 4 rowsl; the rest of Main Street had just three rows (only one row down the middle).  Sturgis has made some changes in curbing, making for a more open feeling mid-block, but eliminating some parking spaces.  Factor that into the fewer bikes, and still plenty of bike parking available.  Side streets were rarely even half full with bike parking.  This is significantly smaller for crowd size than I have seen here since 1990 - the 50th Anniversary of the Rally, and the first time the crowd was 300,000+.  It has grown each year since.

The video may be longer than necessary for those not into two-wheels; but it does give you a feel for what it is like riding through Sturgis during the Rally...


For full disclosure, the original file was huge; as in: it was going to take 3 hours to load up to YouTube.  I cut the video time and compressed it from 5.7k down to 1080.  YouTube will compress it further.  So, if the video isn't crisp, that isn't the camera's fault.  I was very impressed looking at the original footage full screen.  I like what the camera can do; I may have to use it more "sparingly"... like keeping the videos down to a minute or two.

Back to today's experience: here's a look from my point of view before heading downtown...

A screen grab from the Insta...

You can see the way the camera is angled off the front of the bike in that first photo, yet it doesn't show in that image above.  Interesting how the 360 aspect works.

Coming back after riding through Sturgis, it was still more cars than bikes on the Interstate.  It will be interesting to hear what the final tallies for attendance turn out to be.

Joan was telling me that she saw an interview on TV with Rod Woodruff, the owner of the Buffalo Chip Campground and Venue... while Woodruff said that numbers were down from previous years, the crowd this year seemed friendlier and more polite ... "People have been cooped up for months - they just want to get out and enjoy the Sturgis and Buffalo Chip experience."

I get that.

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I switched the Insta360 One R camera (that's a mouthful) 360 module (twin lenses) to the single 4k lens module, and made one more pass down Main Street, with the camera mounted on my helmet.  Comparing it to the GoPro Hero 5 Black (actually, a jailbroke Hero 2018 camera), the Insta blows away the GoPro.  Will the GoPro still get used?  Probably; as a second mounting (B-roll) situation.

I downloaded the video from the 4k lens module, compressed it to 1080 to keep the file size smaller, and uploaded that to YouTube.  Neat feature of this lens module: you can shoot it at the widest view, and change the focal length that after the fact.  You may notice that this video looks a bit more close up than the first (360) video.  Of course, with the 4k lens module, you don't get that cool option of changing the view from the camera.  Again, nice resolution, though.

Yes, the app gives you the option of adding music.

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In the "need to learn more" category: here's what the 360 does when the camera view is swung around looking back at the bike...

I describe it as "cartoon-like"; Joan said, "You look like a Weeble!"  LOL  No doubt a further extension would eliminate some of that extreme fish-eye look, but I find it amazing that the selfie stick out the front of the bike "disappears" in 360... look at the shadow in the bottom of that image, and you can see the shadow of the stick.  Yeah, that's me on my unicorn Vespa!  ;-)