How to Ride report??

[SeanF]

I used an Asus eee netbook on my recent RTW ride, and don't regret it. From my experience, the internet cafes in the developing world are not conducive to being productive; usually full of cigarette smoke, ashtrays and twitchy gamers, and the computers themselves are nasty. I did use them occasionally when wifi wasn't available. Every time I inserted a USB drive into one of them I wanted to slip a condom on it first. But for the minimalist, a netbook, cord, converter brick, and outlet adapters could be too much clutter.

As stated, the longer you wait between the event and its documentation, the fuzzier the details get. I was very bad about this when documenting my ride. Even daily scribbled notes describing the day's highlights would be enough to jog memories.

When I read a report, I don't really care about daily miles traveled, max and min temperature, etc, but more about events, interactions with locals, internal and external struggles, the stuff that describes the human experience.

Cheers
Sean

[tobster9]

job done, I went and bought a netbook yesterday, little 10" acer thing, should be good if it lasts, so I figure I might as well bring the helmet cam too, I will have to sacrifice my only spare pants but thats what spare pants are for...........thanks for everyones 2c

[kclark]

One thing I like is when people attach the .gpx file to the report. That way I can download it and do that ride if it is that interesting.

[Pedro Navaja]

Here's what I do:

1. Track my ride with SPOT. I use the SPOT site and Spotwalla.
2. I take pictures of interest along the way route if I find things of interest.
3. I take more pictures at my destinations.
4. I write on paper at the end of the day before going out for the evening.
5. When I am out for the evening I will write the events of the evening that night or the next morning at wake-up.
6. When I get home, then I start composing the ride report, select the pics for the report, then publish the work.

[yaw]

I haven't written a report yet. Wish I had on my ride through Death Valley and Southern Utah. Just realized my iphone has a voice memo on it. Along with photos you could simply voice record your notes for access later. Has anyone done this?

[Two Wheeled 'Tard]

I carry a laptop with my on all my long-distance (greater than one week) road trips, usually I just seek out some wi-fi and take a day off to write up the week's adventures.

[Two Wheeled 'Tard]

Originally Posted by SeanF

But for the minimalist, a netbook, cord, converter brick, and outlet adapters could be too much clutter.

Protip: Almost all laptop power supplies can take both 110 and 220 voltage, actually most will happily run on anything from 100v to 240v. All you need is the physical plug adapter and you can go around the world.

[One Less Harley]

I took a cheap refurbished Acer netbook, put it in a duffel on the tail, packed in a soft case, plus some clothes around it. It did well on the TAT a couple of years ago. 5,000 miles and it still works. Just uploaded the ride report when WiFi was available. Did the writeup at night. it take some effort and may get in the way of nightly beer drinking........ It's good to do a RR and post as you can go back and jog your memory of the ride.

[ride4321]

I carry a Macbook Air and update while I'm taking a break, eating or at the end of the day if I have wifi. The nice thing about keeping a live report is others can make suggestions on places to see or roads to ride. I don't do much planning and often travel alone so it comes in handy having suggestions thrown at me and uploading pics and writing gives me something to do at night. When I am traveling with others it's harder to keep a live report.
The Macbook Air takes up hardly any space and is a SS hard drive so it can take a pretty good beating on the road. Apparently the keyboard is beer proof also, don't ask how I know.

[Double H]

Originally Posted by tobster9

Hmm..Im heading down baja way and would like to blog some of the stuff I see and do, how do people blog their rides? is everyone packing netbooks or laptops? or doing it through an iphone etc?

Any suggestions for an easy way to blog with pics etc, maybe its simple enough to go to an internet shop and up load pics from a cam when shops are available...............

thanks

I traveled to Baja last year on the white (coast) bus from BC.
There were 6 of us, and we rode hard every day, sometimes well into dark. That doesn't leave a lot of time to blog after diner and cervesas, so I kept small details on a notepad and made the trip report when I returned home.

If you are traveling solo or with a partner, you should have time to do a daily blog via laptop, and it will give you something to look foward to at the end of the day.

[erockmapquest]

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=596215

[GSF1200S]

My idea both for RR and for remembering the day is to use a gopro.. as a camera. Bear with me here..

The great thing about a gopro is the waterproof enclosure- it can sit out in all the elements and be perfectly fine. I have noticed in many RRs that when things get really fun (a great trail for instance), the photos stop. Same with rain or if someone gets flustered by challenges that day. I know that I will be the same way, and I am much less experienced in dirt than many of you so prolly even worse. A waterproof p&s can remedy some of this (especially if tethered to bike or rider), but now you deal with either stopping or taking photos while riding.

I figure having pictures along the way will be a great way to remember the day and then write about it. I purchased a timer controller from cam-do to hook up to the GoPro Hero 2. The controller can be programmed to turn the Hero 2 on and then off for minutes, hours, days, even months. The controller fits in the waterproof extended door attained when buying a gopro accessory. You put the gopro in one shot mode and set it up on a 5 second delay. I have the controller setup to turn the gopro on and off every minute (comes stock this way actually). The gopro will last 2 days (of riding) this way, with the Bacpac charging the other bat off the bike. At the end of a riding day of say 6 hours, I will have 360 pictures of that day. They go straight into a folder of that day, along with any pictures taken by my DSLR and my P&S, my track log (gps), and any writing I do on the laptop. I can then open that folder in a photo viewer and quickly go through the pictures to refresh myself on the day- and I have them forever. They can all be synced to my GPS log (being careful of timezones) and thus I will know where every picture was taken. I have debated setting a 5 minute delay to cut down the pictures, but while more pictures may be a bit to deal with initially, I will get more keepers if I keep it at the 1 minute mark.

I know that the gopro isnt great as a camera, but you can easily lens-correct the fisheye, apply sharpening and color modifications, etc via quality software (even Gimp which is AWESOME and free will do all of this). The main purpose is to remember the ride- not make ansel adams level pictures. Plus, I have the opportunity to take some video in a particularly good area, complete with the bacpac to increase recording time to 4+ hours.