English
One Tuesday Evening at Goodwood Motor Circuit
You may ask yourself why I was at Goodwood Motor Circuit on a pleasant Tuesday evening! Well it wasn’t for the cars or the motorbikes that frequently hurtle around the 2.4 mile track, at great speeds I might add, or to see learner pilots taking to the air in their single propeller, single engine planes, or to see drivers taking to the skid pan trying to control their vehicle on the oil covered tarmac, but instead it was to spend an evening with fellow competitors racing push bikes.
Goodwood Motor Circuit (known as Goodwood) is a great venue for bike racing. The track is extremely smooth, around 12 metres wide and around 2.4 miles in length. It’s virtually pan-flat but this does not mean it’s an easy ride. Usually when racing we tend to have a strong Westerly wind to contend with especially coming into the chicane and start/finish straight. Also the chicane also spices things up a bit especially on the last lap as a mass of cyclists try to get through the chicane first.
Goodwood is also a great starting area for many of the youths here in the South as its traffic free and almost 100% safe and with a wide track means they have plenty of room to race. The facilities are also good with ample car parking/toilets etc.
Anyhow, enough of the blurb, I was here to race. Fellow Wiggle riders Jon Cannings and my partner, Nikki Wheeler, were also here to race. At 7pm the riders were called to the start line and after a quick rider de-brief we set off to race 12 laps. The weather was good, sunny and not too hot and with a nagging wind along the back straight, the race was going to be hard.
At Wiggle we get to see many new products and we do like to try them out before placing these onto our site. One such example came from a company called Camsports. Camsports manufacture small video cameras of all types and one that came to us was called the Nano Wireless Video Camera.
It’s a small barrel type camera measuring approx. 20mm in diameter and 70mm in length. It came in a box that had many fixing methods such as velcro straps and velcro stick-on pads for attaching to bikes, helmets, cars etc.
Tonight I was going to test this device and see how it tackled recording a cycle race. Before finding the final position for the camera I did have a few attempts on locating the best position for this camera so you could see the best view of the action. I tried fitting to my helmet, but I found that it was better suited stuck to my stem. This gives you a clear shot of what I can see and as you can see by the video it worked out very well.
The photo below shows you where I stuck the velcro stick-on pad that the camera is fixed too and after watching the 10 minute video I think is most probably the best position to place this camera.
Once Keith said what was needed to be said, I pressed one of the two buttons to start recording and set off soon forgetting that it was on. The camera weighs next to nothing and is very small. I also used another longer velcro strap, which comes with the box, so to securely hold the camera in place just to make sure that it didn’t shake around when I got out of the saddle. The recording time is about 1.5 hours and can be charged via the USB port on your PC. The file format opens up in Windows Media Player easily and the device acts as an external drive, just like a pen-drive (plug-and-play). One cable links the camera to your PC and that’s it. Job done.
The footage I took was just over 1.5 hours and captured the entire race, but I had to edit the footage using Windows Movie Maker to ten minutes to get it up on you-tube.
If you are still unsure of the quality then take a look at the “Home Movie” and see the quality for yourself. I have taken out the sound as all you can hear is the wind rushing by the camera. The camera is best used on a sunny day to get the clearest picture.
VIDEO
About the Race Footage.
Firstly you see the start of the race with a Team Wiggle rider (Jon Canings) heading for the front of the bunch. Race continues on and you can see how we as riders move around in the bunch.
At 2:05 you see Jon again as we cycle down the Lavant straight.
At 2:37 Jon appears to the front to take the lead from me (Richard Pearman) as we approach the chicane as I slip back into the bunch behind two Brighton Mitre guys.
At 3:25 we cross the start/finish line still all together.
At 3:30 Tom (No. 137) from Upgrade bikes slips by on the outside of the bunch.
At 3:45 the bunch has swelled as the event is a handicap event and we (the 3rds) have caught the 4ths.
At 4:15 you can see my partner, Nikki, riding on the inside of the bunch in wiggle colours (No. 9).
At 4:40 I’ve now positioned myself alongside Nikki.
At 5:15 I’m now in a break of four riders heading fast down the Lavant straight.
At 5:50 still in the break but heading into the chicane ready for the sprint for the prime. Graham Wyatt attacks as we enter the chicane I chase as we exit the chicane.
At 6:10 I’m closing the gap
At 6:15 I’m ½ wheel short of winning the prime.
At 6:16 race continues.
At 6:28 more shots of JC bum!
At 7:10 Jon fancies a chat with me.
At 7:20 riders are attacking as the final laps are looming.
At 7:40 I ride up to Tom from Upgrade.
At 8:05 Andy Redding from i-team puts his hand in the air to let everyone know he has punctured. This is the last lap as well. What a pity.
At 8:15 it’s the final lunge down the Lavant straight. I’m now riding next to Phil Peters.
At 8:50 race crosses the start/finish line for the last time.
That’s the footage.
The page on the Wiggle site for the Nano Wireless Video Camera can be found here
Richard
