Freeze Frame!

 

For all you folks brought up in the video age, a "freeze frame" is just a still photo, in the middle of a video.  The new Go 3 camera I bought is designed for shooting video.  It comes with a mode where you turn it on and it comes up shooting in video mode.  Today, I wanted to see how it does with still images.

It just so happened that Joan and I were out for a motorcycle and scooter ride on an absolutely glorious day.  Yes, one in a row!  Sunshine, blue sky with puffy white clouds, temps in the upper 70s to 80º.  And not much traffic on a Sunday!

We rode south from Hart Ranch, west into Custer State Park, through the park, and then north on Hwy 89 (that parallels the western border of the park).  That's where most of these were shot... with the camera mounted on top of my helmet.  So, yes, pretty much the same perspective, and a wide-angle view... that's what you get with an action camera.  I cropped these images, didn't do much for color, density, or contrast, then reduced the size for use here.  I'm pleased with how they hold up to that...

 

Joan and I were riding reasonably close together - that's the wide angle perspective.

We stopped in Hill City at some picnic tables along the Mickelson Trail to have a snack and hydrate.  For only the second time since I've had the CTX, a guy came up to me as I was getting off the bike and said, "Great bike - how do you like it?  I have the NC model with the same engine..."  We talked for a bit.  He asked about the Dual Clutch Transmission; he said, "I should have bought mine with that, but I cheaped-out; it was almost $1,000 more for the DCT, so I got it with the standard transmission."  He knew about the bike, so it was mostly just making conversation.  He and his wife are here from Colorado, riding the Michelson Trail on their bicycles.

Back when I had the Vespa, people came out of the woodwork to ask about that scoot.  Much the same when we had the His & Hers Honda PCX scooters.  Not much to turn someone's head with the CTX I guess.  That's OK, the bike suits me well.

We left Hill City, taking the Old Hill City Road towards Keystone.  It wasn't long before we came up on a couple on a full dress Harley.  I could see the guy looking in his mirrors as we got closer... and he started riding faster and harder.  I had to chuckle, 'cause we were just having a pleasant ride; we weren't looking to "challenge" the Harley rider.  When we got to Keystone, he went straight and so did we - we were just looking for the most fun way (through the twisties) back to Hart Ranch.  He turned onto South Rockerville Road and so did we... a minivan with Minnesota plates got between us and the HD rider (turned from the other direction).  So now, the Harley rider had a scooter, a Honda motorcycle (with an engine half the size of his), and a minivan (with Minnesota plates) all keeping up with him.  At the turn onto Neck Yoke Road, the minivan went straight, but we turned right behind the Harley.  I am sure he was working hard, but not able to pull away.  Finally, when the turn onto Spring Creek Road came up, the Harley went straight, and we turned east towards Hart Ranch.  With no traffic in front of us, we cranked up the pace.  I followed Joan for much of the ride today - at first to get some photos, but then for the enjoyment of watching her run that Xmax through the curves.

A lovely day on the bikes!