Opening of Wainuiomata Hill Shared Path, New Zealand

https://d.tube/v/kiwibloke/oyunyshq

This was a significant event, especially those that live in this suburb of Wainuiomata. The only access into the area is by this road. When they upgraded the road from 2 lanes (1 up 1 down) to 4 lanes, there really wasn't any room for cyclists though there are those like myself that risked being brushed aside by vehicles. Walking/running up either side of this Hill on gravel had it's risks as well, but the workout you get from it made it worth while.

This shared pathway (pedestrians/cyclists) is definitely going to become popular and there are some concerns, mainly aimed at the cycling community which I can totally understand. It really comes down to common sense, I ride/race on a road bike and coming down here at 60km+/hr would be the norm, therefore using this shared path is not an option for me. This brings us to those who drive over the hill in vehicles, who yell at cyclists to get off the road and back onto the new created shared path. I will ignore them, safety of pedestrians on this path are more important and unless I purposely ride up/down at 10km/hr or slower I will stay on the road. The next few months as summer approaches will be interesting.

My grandson and I, enjoyed the sunshine, the community spirit, and this wonderful path that we walked on today.

Camera: Sony FDR-X3000
Video Editor: kdenlive on Linux Mint 64bit

Timelapse 4K UHD: Wainui Hill Summit, Meeting Great People!

This mornings walk was very unique, with the amount of cloud movement I just had to do another timelapse. I really didn't want to take it at the top of the summit but it was fairly windy and using a heavy camera tripod would've kept my camera stable. As always, my timelapses are free to use :-)

downloadthe 1280x720p(HDTV) 30fps
download the 1920x1080p(HD) 50fps 
download the 3840x2160p(4K UHD) 60fps

While shooting the timelapse, it was a good time to test my DIY Solar Panel setup. As predicted, it wasn't very effective at that time in the morning, delivering only 40mA at 4.85V.


The Walk:

I have to admit it, I didn't put any real effort into this mornings walk, more like a casual Sunday stroll.

That last photo is where I wanted to do the actual timelapse, maybe I'll take my heavy Tripod on the next walk!

Meeting Interesting People on the Hill:
(I didn't take any photo's of these people because that would've been rude)

Tania's 24Hr Walkathon:
I meet a really nice young lady named Tania, she had an extremely interesting story with a goal to walk over Wainuiomata Hill every day in 2018 and she achieved that WOW!!

She is doing a 24hour walkathon 15/02/2019 and I intend to support on that day. Check out her givealittle website. I'm going to shamelessly share this on all my social media.

https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/walking-the-wainuiomata-hill-for-24-hours

Mormon Elders:
2 really nice guys who stopped at the top of the hill to take some photos of Wellington Harbour. We had lengthy discussions on basically everything and it wasn't too religious in nature. I admire the sacrifices these guys take to come to our shores. One is from Texas, the other from Melbourne.

Very memorial day.

TimeLapse: Wainuiomata Mary Crowther Park, LH, NZ

Really enjoying creating these, need a better way to manage my time while waiting the 48mins necessary to capture the 600 images. Leaving the camera unattended during capture is not an option.

Download original 4K25fps here.

TimeLapse: Wainuiomata Shopping Centre LH, NZ.

What happens outside our shopping centre at 9am on a Sunday morning in the middle of winter, not a lot.

Well on this mornings ride I had a small crash. I went up a driveway that had a triangular piece missing right in the middle of it. My front wheel lodged at this spot and instantly stopped the bike from progressing any further, which resulted in me flying over the handle bars. A quick check over the bike no visible damage and a test ride in the car park everything seemed good.

24kms later I wasn't feeling too good, so I stopped at this spot for a timelapse opportunity and check myself over. The graze on my legs I fixed up fine (I always carry a full 1st aid kit) but a few of my ribs was making it uncomfortable to ride, time go ride home.

With this timelapse I changed it up a little from 2sec intervals to 5sec intervals because I knew it was a boring place to capture LoL. The only problem with doing this it took 48mins to create this 24sec timelapse.

Download/View Original 4K25 Here.

TimeLapse: Wainuiomata Mall Playground, LH, NZ.

Another forgotten folder. I remember this moment. Had a flat tire so I put the Sony on the ground, started the timelapse. I need to work on my "what/where to record" to get that money shot.

View/Download Original 4K25fps Here.

TimeLapse: Wainuiomata Summit, LH, NZ

I did this a while back and totally forgot about this folder full of 600jpgs.

View/Download Original 4K25fps Here.

TimeLapse: Wainuiomata Reservoir Waterworks, LH, NZ

I really do cycle up here a lot, at least twice a week.

As per my YouTube description:-
Experimenting with 25, 30, 50 frame rates.

VLC Playback results on my OptiPlex 9010 i5 8GiB desktop
- 25fps: smooth
- 30fps: coping but minute signs of freezing
- 50fps: way too jerky, was not worth keeping.
This is my 1st 4K upload to YouTube.

Camera Sony FDR-X3000: TimeLapse Mode 2sec Intervals

View/Download Original 4K25fps Here.

Creating 12sec TimeLapse Videos.

I'm going to start making 12sec TimeLapse video's. They are pretty easy to make/create and the results can be stunning if you get the timing right. As demonstrated in this clip, the moving clouds was ideal.

This is a re-upload that was taken down with a lot other videos when I decided to stop blogging. But I've had a change of heart and once again I've found blogging to be fun.

Creative Commons Licence
Attribution-ShareAlike
Basically as shown in the image

So yes you can download this and use it in your own projects, here's the link to get a better quality 12 sec 1080p50fps video instead of using YouTube.

View/Download 1080p50fps Here

Solo Ride Wainuiomata

Now that Kdenlive has been restored, back to video editing. This is a few weeks old but still experimenting holding the Sony FDR-X3000.

Snow in Wainuiomata ?

Clearing out some hard drive space I came across this small video. I have no idea what I used to create this, most likely a mobile phone so the quality is poor. Still it's proof that strange things can happen and I thought I'd upload it anyway :-)

Cycle Ride

hmm is our coffee time longer than our riding time LoL

I'm really happy at the kms covered this morning

This morning we had 7 in the group, the warm up circuit to Norfolk Street went really well. A nice straight line with Eric leading the group, Terina at #2 dictating the speed, Iha 3rd and myself at the rear calling traffic information up the line. The group is starting to learn the signals needed to travel on suburban roads which helps to keep us all safe.

We split up into 3 groups for various reason and finished of with a bit of chat at the village cafe.

Thoughts

At the cafe we was approached by a local and wanted to know if he can ride with us. He spotted our warm up ride earlier and of course we all said yes. We are not a club and we welcome anyone who enjoys social or serious riding.

We have 2 NZ certified cycle riders in our group, Iha and myself and we realize chances are the group is going to increase in numbers and it would be ideal to put another person through the course.

TriAbility 2018

Eric assisting us on how to layout the cycle transition area

day before the event, crowd control fencing gets installed

Shamefully this is all the photo's I took of this wonderful event. Being a lead volunteer kept me busy both days and I really enjoyed my role.

On the day of the event, I got to organize the volunteers for the 2nd part of the cycle leg. Moores Valley Road to Whitcher Grove up Reservoir Road to the turn around point at the waterworks.

The volunteers I got made me so proud, the way they encouraged the cyclists at crucial points along the route. It was a good idea providing a mountain bike so that volunteers can share the role as a floater for me, traveling up and down our route reporting back to me any problems. Having a trained nurse at the top turn around point which was also set up as a drinking station made my job so much easier.

Being out here we got to miss the "exciting controlled chaos" at the main transition area, ie where they change from swimming to cycling to running, and where the kids did there events. That is where most of the supporters and families would be watching, after packing up and returning we all got to see the end ceremonies, prize giving and closing speeches.

The free BBQ sausages for the volunteers at the end finished of the day nicely.

Can't wait to do this again next year!

PS for more photo's check out https://www.sportwainuiomata.com/

Wainui Hill Summit Walk

On today’s walk, once I had reached the top of the hill, I decided to shoot a timelapse of the clouds racing across Petone. It takes around 28 minutes to produce enough images to create a 12 second timelapse video so after a little snack, a drink and feeling well rested, I may as well record myself walking back down, and checking out the fantastic stabilization of this amazing camera.

Thoughts

Just noticed our 4k TV cannot play my recently created 1080p50 H264 videos directly from a USB key, needs to be investigated to find out what the problem is.

Chain Slipping Adjustment Test Ride 1080p50

The quality of this video after uploading to youtube is awful, oh well.

Recently borrowed a MTB for an upcoming family cycling event, and after working on the gears it was time to give it a test. Throw on the Sony FDR-X3000 for fun and lets go to a local track just 3km away from me.

The noise both tyres make while riding on a sealed road is surprisingly loud, good to know it disappeared once I hit grass. As you can see from the footage I don't like this style of riding, scares the crap out of me. Twice my foot slipped of the pedal (left hand side) and I nearly ended up in the bushes. Importantly, the gears worked well, no slipping at stressful times on the uphill legs.

Quick Ride to Brookfield

I'm enjoying these solo rides prior to the TriAbility group training runs. Gives me a chance to hone my action camera and editing skills, every video produced I'm trying out different techniques.

This ride I held the action camera, gave me new ways to view the ride, still work in progress.

Second Walk Recorded

I got invited to this challenge that closes very soon (duration of 1 week), which prompted me to get some km's under my belt.

Doing 12km was a bit too far, 8kms would've been more comfortable, it was extremely hot out there today.

I really like this Earth song by Nihilore and I'm going to use it on all my walk videos. So here's todays video of my walk:-

Next time I will take a drink bottle .. so needed it.

Thoughts:

• I like the idea of creating video's under the Unlisted Category, where the only way to access the video URL, is viewing my Endomondo Profile or by coming here to my Blog.
• On the subject of routes, I cannot see myself setting any up . Unlike cycling where it is all about beating your time over a set distance, walking for me should be enjoyable, and a different route taken on every outing.

First Walk Recorded with the Sony FDR-X3000

Really pleased how this video turned out, now just need to work on composition, I'm sure I'll get better as time goes by.

I don't get a buzz out of walking. It seems you put all this effort and a lot of time getting no where fast. But it is obvious a lot of people enjoy this activity, maybe I should try the bush walks around here, there is many to choose from.

I need to work on creating myself a route with a target of 8km at this initial stage, and attempting to walk the route at least 3 days a week (24km/week).

TriAbility Training Ride

After waking up to a really cold frosty morning, it really warmed up to a nice day for a training ride. It is a shame the numbers turning up to the trainings have dwindled down. For me to get any benefits from these training sessions I already do a ride either to Brookfield Outdoor Centre or up to the Wainui Hill Summit.

This is a just a small video with no GPS overlays, I've decided to do those on new rides.

Favorite Cycling Route for 2018

This 20km route is fairly flat and has a very small easy hill climb to contend with. A ride I can do at least 4x a week in the afternoon, to keep my km's ticking over as part of the Endomondo 2018km cycle challenge.

I'm feeling quite good at positon 5382 with 12,533 participants to date.

Cycle Ride Wainui Hill Summit 1080p50

I don't recommend carrying a cycle foot pump while riding over a decent distance, it was worth recording because I've never produced any uphill footage, and it was such a quiet morning (traffic wise).