Biking The Arc de Triomphe Video

Either brave or stupid. I'm not sure which. But it sure is thrilling.

I actually did this ride back in the fall on only my second bike ride in Paris. I had no intention of doing it but once I reached the Champs Elysees it was right there so I figured, why not?

Yes, I've thought of various ideas for fixing a camera to my helmet and so far the only solution I have is duct tape. And kudos to you for knowing that such a set-up is called a gimbaled recess. What a 100 dollar word Bixa. More videos to come.

Ahh! You mean gimbaled!

Wasn't there a famous film called The Gimbaled Rally?

onlyMark - Was that the film with the very Shakesperean acting duo of Dom Deluise and Burt Reynolds?

Bixa - I just had to look up the definition of gimbal to get to the bottom of this. Now I understand why a gimbaled stove would be necessary on a boat, or a camera mounted on a bike helmet.

Nice bit of video, city bike riding is often good for a bit of an adrenaline rush.

I don't think gimbals should be necessary for a helmet mounted video camera, as the head is already mounted on a pretty sophisticated active orientationl system with closed loop control.

Gimbal mountings aren't particularly useful for that however. What they are good for is normalizing the mounted object relative to the horizon when the frequency of the disturbing motion is substantially lower than the natural frequency of the object mounted in the gimbal system. For higher frequency motions, the control must be active rather than passive and the human head is located by a very sophisticated active mechanical system with a feedback driven closed loop control.

Probably a better solution for mounting the camera would be something that would adjust it so that it was aiming where the eyes were pointed, rather than slightly higher, as would automatically be the case with a helmet-mounted camera.

It should be a snap to mount a helmet-cam that more or less exactly follows where the eyes are pointing (obviously when looking straight ahead). If the camera is aiming too high (or low etc.) just adjust its angle on the helmet.

At first I found riding on Euro cobblestone streets disconcerting and moreso because the bike I use there is an old French city bike without any toeclips or clipless pedals, just rat-trap type pedals. At first it felt like my feet were going to come off the pedals over bumps, but I quickly regained the confidence I had using that type of pedal when I was a kid. Also, at first the fat 650B French-spec tires seemed clunky and slow before I realized when when inflated to only 30 PSI or so they just soaked up the cobbles bounce. Now I love riding that old Peugeot over cobbles.

Looks like the low end begins at about 50-100USD. I think they generally record onboard to a micro SD card, so are autonomous.

I know someone that mounted a cam on his motorcycle helmet and broadcasts on his web page as he is touring about via a laptop he has mounted on the bike and the use of his cell phone internet connection. The view isn't bad from up there, but can be a little bumpy for example when he runs over brick streets downtown. I believe he just has it held up there on padding.

Edit to add: Do your loved ones know you are doing this? I have stood atop that Arc and I know what that traffic looks like. I am quite certain a smack or at the very least a very serious application of "the look" is due you for this one.