Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Hangin' with legends

Thanks for your patience.

Here at last is Episode 3 of Life on two wheels, the vlog.



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In this episode I meet up in northern Florida with three Vespa legends. Ken Wilson, Jim Mandle, and Bill Leuthold.

Here are links to their rider profiles:
Bill and Ken are bloggers and (extreme) long distance riders and explorers. Jim is a rider, licensed Adirondacks guide, Adirondacks philanthropist, and a blacksmith.

I consider each of these men legends because each of them embraces life without reserve, following their passion with gusto. This is something every one of us could stand to learn from.

You'll get to know each of these guys in the course of this, and the other episodes in this Florida touring series.

To see Ken's and Bill's take on this little adventure check out their blog posts:

Ken Wilson's original Vespa LX150 was painted over by talented modern artist Tyler Ramsey, here are some links:
Stay tuned for additional episodes chronicling this very special tour.

In the meantime, here is the map Ken made showing our travels:

Copyright Ken Wilson

12 comments:

redlegsrides said...

Pretty steady pic while walking...are you just hand holding the camera? and did folks give you weird looks as you walked by? Well done entry by the way....

David Masse said...

Thanks Dom.

The camera is a high capacity iPod I bought that I use strictly for video blogging. I mount it on an iKlip contraption that serves as both a tripod and a selfie stick. For some reason selfie sticks stabilize the movement. One challenge with the iPod is that it isn't as easy to focus your eyes on the lens because the lens is tiny and when you use the front camera, very difficult to see.

I also use a Panasonic Lumix point and shoot camera that I can control using an app on my iPhone. My experience with this latest video exercise is that I plan to use the iPod whenever possible because the format lends itself so well to integrating in a video production.

The learning curve remains very steep. Integrating the many audio elements remains a challenge because the audio levels are all over the place and there doesn't seem to be a magic wand that smooths the volume.

That said, Final Cut Pro is turning out to be a great platform for producing these videos.

Lastly, integrating clickable links in a YouTube video has its own layers of complexity that I am only now coming to grips with.

Hopefully the quality of my little videos is improving as I struggle to tame the beast.

SonjaM said...

Nicely done, David. Where do you keep your camera while riding?

David Masse said...

I hang my point and shoot camera from a lanyard around my neck. That's a trick I learned from you riding in Vancouver, for which I am truly grateful.

I have figured out how to manage the camera one-handed.

SonjaM said...

Handling the camera is indeed the more difficult part, especially when your are (and I am) a southpaw.

Very smooth talking in front of the camera by the way, you're a natural.

David Masse said...

Actually it occurs to me that this may be one of the few tasks where left-handedness actually helps since right-handed picture taking assumes a throttle lock (which many riders don't have or may be reluctant to use to take photos) so right-handed people have to use their less competent hand.

And thanks for the kind words. The fact is that I have quite a ways to go before I am comfortable filming myself and speaking in voice overs.

Bill Leuthold said...

I truly enjoyed seeing the first video of the fun time we had along the Gulf. Looking forward to the others to come.

Steve Williams said...

Well, I have mixed feelings about the video. First, you left me wanting more. Damn it. It's like the end of an episode of a TV show I like and I have to wait until the next week to see what happens. So I guess that's a good thing holding my attention that way.

Technically, you're in the flow. Or getting close to something that just works for you. And the red scooters look great.

My only criticism -- I wish you would have moved the camera closer to the monument so I could have read what was on there. Otherwise, great job. In future issues I expect to see some blacksmithing. And Rocket flying along at 85mph!

David Masse said...

Bill it was a privilege to meet with you and ride in your company. I hope that the coming episodes don't disappoint.

David Masse said...

Steve that's high praise indeed.

Maybe I'll drop in for a visit this summer and you can show me around the sticks. Bonus points if Paul joins in.

By then my production skills should have improved and I'll be able to do you justice.

Dave aka fledermaus said...

Steve,

Having ridden with Bill, he's pretty hard to catch, mostly just a blur at WOT. Just sayin'

David Masse said...

Dave a story that didn't make it into the blog is that on the final stretch west to Cedar Key Bill dropped out of sight behind us. Jim who was riding behind me expressed concern that Bill might have run into a mechanical issue. Bill and Ken don't use headsets o we couldn't share our concern with them. I flagged Ken to stop. Ken was unconcerned "Ahh that's just Bill being Bill" he said, and we rolled on. A short time later Bill passed us doing 85-ish most likely as the road did some gentle twisties on the way into the town.

The copyright in all text and photographs, except as noted, belongs to David Masse.