Wherever I May Roam - One Woman Livin' on a DR650

[ThumperStorm]

Originally Posted by Merlin III

The issue is that you are taking your eyes off the road to take a picture. Once you hurt yourself, or worse yet hurt someone else, you can't take it back. It is final! Just ask anyone who as been in that situation if they wish they hadn't done it?

There is a woman in NH right now who was convicted of reckless manslaughter and sentenced to three years of actual jail time for answering her cellphone while driving, just as someone stepped out into the street from behind some bushes and was hit by her car. It was calculated that the mere couple of seconds that she took her eyes off the road was enough to make a difference as to whether or not the woman got killed or not killed. Interesting enough, there is no statute in NH about using a cell phone while driving. Her conviction was based on the fact that her behavior was reckless and that recklessness cost someone their life.

Everyone of you know or should know that any motor vehicle is a lethal weapon and if your actions hurt someone you are going to be held responsible. If a scene is worth taking a picture of why not stop and enjoy it. Why would you want to just fly by it, point and shoot with a camera, maybe getting a good shot and maybe not?

People glance away from the road all the time. Do you never look at your gauges while driving? Do you never look to the sides or behind yourself? I mean be real, nobody can stay totally focused on anything 100% percent of the time. Making responsible decisions is part of life. That women was wronged. Someone doesn't know not to walk in front of cars and she is the bad guy? I call

[achesley]

Enjoying your report and pictures. I'm like you in that I take pics on the move off my bikes. Probably about 70% of my trip pics are on the move., using just my left hand, pointing the camera that way and doing a few shots using mainly side vision and not really doing more than an instant of looking to the side. I keep my camera in an open tank bag and just dump it there very quickly if need the left hand back on the controls for up coming stuff. LOL , I don't take pics when surrounded with STUFF ha ha ha ha. Lots of practice makes it easier and safer. ;-) Keep them coming lady,. lovin it.

[Brunssd]

Clamp one of these to your barkbuster (or handlebar) and mount your camera and you're all set. It's a fine, economical piece of kit. I've had one on my KLR for years.

http://www.campmor.com/ultraclamp.shtml



Disregard the spotting scope - hard to use on a bike, I'd guess.

[Ladybug0048]

I've been taking pictures on the fly off my motorcycles since the 70s. The first camera I started doing this with even had a manual film advance, no digital, no power, no batteries.....

For me what works is keeping my camera on a lanyard around my neck. When I see something I want a photo of I simply grab the camera and point and shoot. I don't bother to look at what I'm pointing at so no taking my eyes off the road. When shooting scenery and things along the way while riding pointing in the general direction is really all you need to do. It's amazing what you can get from doing this. Most shots I take in my ride reports are done on the fly because like Jim said it wouldn't get done otherwise. I started doing this for exactly the reason you mentioned, no shoulders where you want to grab a shot and I wanted those shots.

I'm right handed and used to do this using a throttle lock but about 6 or 7 years back I started riding bikes without throttle locks so I tried doing this with my left hand. I mastered pointing and shooting with my left hand very rapidly within about 5 shots. I also discovered using my left hand for the camera and keeping my dominate hand on the bars it felt like I was in more control that using my left hand on the bars.

Now about the lanyard around the neck: Some people fear wrecking with a cord around the neck and a camera hanging off it. I have wrecked plenty (dirt) with the camera hanging there and it has never got caught on anything or caused any problem. It just kind of flops around along with me. I have more fear at the thought of having a camera in a jacket pocket, held in place so if you fall on it your are hitting something hard, like falling on a rock.

The down side of having a camera hanging out there is in cold weather the battery will lose power sooner. Watch for dust and bugs on your lens.

Like everything taking photos on the fly can be dangerous or you can make it as safe as anything else. Common sense should dictate when it's safe and when it's not.

Keep taking those photos and sharing them with the rest of us.

[Feyala]

Wow, I leave for a few days and this turned into a huge debate!

I agree that inattentive driving is a huge problem! Lots of people are killed, or kill others or animals due to negligence.

However, most motorcycle people I've seen (with the exception of some braindead stunters) recognize that, at the very least, motorcycling is a dangerous activity which should occupy a majority of one's attention. The punishment for failure is usually death, so I feel this serves as a good incentive.

That said, we all do stupid shit on bikes. Personally, I scratch my nose, speed, look down at my instruments, enjoy the scenery, look for signs, ride at night, ride some sketchy roads, use headphones, pull over on narrow shoulders, ride in shitty weather, etc etc. I consider myself pretty safe because I try to only do one stupid thing at a time. I don't ride without full gear, even down the street. Other people decide the risk they're willing to take differently than I do. I trust that they're adults who can make their own decisions.

I'd like to get back on track and away from this debate. I am super busy riding Death Valley with Pete and his friend Nip currently, so updates will have to wait a bit, but here's a teaser from a "road" we went down today!



So not a road...

[Ratman]

I teamed up with Nip from a ride with Bud a couple years ago. He has the place in Lone Pine where I'm staying. LD and I got him into dirt bikes and he now has a DRZ400. Also an Advrider rider named Feyala was going to be in the area so we asked her if she wanted to do some Death Valley with us.

Fey showed up last night around 11pm after making a Sierra Crossing from Fresno Via Lake Isabella. We spent 10 minutes saying hi, and then went to our zonck out stations.

The morning broke with a beautiful clear sky, and an unblemished view of Mt Whitney. That's Mt Whitney right of center next to 2 little peaks...maybe 20 miles away.

From DV Oct 2012

We went for coffee 2 blocks away at Micky D's and then sorted out what we'd take on our ride today. We left about 10am and went to Cerro Gordo at 10000 ft some 25 miles from Lone Pine to the east. Of course the ride was great, an easy dirt climb with Fantastic views to the west. How's this?

From DV Oct 2012

Cerro Gordo is a defunct mining encampment. For the last 15 or 20 years there has been a private restoration going on, and you can actually reserve a room or the whole place if you want.

From DV Oct 2012

From DV Oct 2012

From DV Oct 2012

Fey had a front brake on her DR650 feeling iffy. She looked and found one of her front caliper bolts missing. Bob, the caretaker, came up with some bailing wire and we wired it back together so the caliper couldn't rotate off the disk like it had done which gave her the weird feeling. Done. Worked all day...

From DV Oct 2012

So now it was time to take the 10 miles down the other side of the hill. The east side wasn't a graded side, and was fairly challenging, especially, to Fey as she's only been riding in the dirt for half a year or so.

She was nervous all day but never dropped her bike once. We actually spent a few hours on about 25 miles of that dirt road....some of the time we were lost, but we eventually found the way out on Saline Valley Road to Hwy 190. When we got to 190 we had another 30 minutes of Daylight and just about 30 miles to ride. Fey lagged behind to get some sunset pics. Nip and I headed for the barn as it was going to be cold soon. As they say...a bit nipplely.

Sure enough to end a good day, as Nip drove down Main street, a cell phoner turned directly in front of him. Luckily it was a near miss reminding us of what we all know.

[Jettn Jim]

AWESOME DAY!!!

[NomadGal]

Originally Posted by Feyala

First word that came to mind seeing this was....Crap!

[Utah Bones]

[AJxr]

wow! that cerro gordo place looks awesome

[LittleWan]

I was planning on working on my own RR today, but something made me click on yours instead...

You're so much fun, I just read the whole thing - starting from page 1!
Furries!

I'm so glad you got to meet and hang out with Larryboy, Nixels and Ladybug0048 - 3 of my favorite ADVers!
And you're in Death Valley today - awesome!!


If you ever find yourself back in Idaho, go to Idaho Falls and stay with Questor and MotoAdventureGal (they offer tent space).
I think you'd really enjoy meeting them (and vice versa).
MAG rode her DR650 to South America and she's very involved with women's motorcycling and moto-journalism.
She would be a wonderful person for you to talk to. (don't you think, GISdood?)


Looking forward to reading about your experiences in DV...
kelly

[Ratman]

....so I'm filling in for her....
Today we went to see an Ashram house up on the side of a Mtn. Built by a cult of some sort run by a guy named Wolfe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Ashram_Movement

This place is about a 2 mile hike from 6500 feet to 8500 hundred feet....maybe higher. We left about noon and only had to ride about 10 miles...5 mile of light sandy 2 track with a side camber to most of it. Again Feyala was pressing her confidence level. Of course, it didn't help any that it was an 80 degree angle down several hundred feet, if she strayed a couple feet.

She screams like a baby inside her helmet when the going gets iffy, but she keeps going. My hat's off to her.

We were headed toward this canyon.

From DV Oct 2012

20 minutes brought us to the trail head. Fey was so happy to be off the bike she gave me the salute, and Nip can hardly contain himself and celebrates a glorious day.

From DV Oct 2012

Were going to climb to an elevation equal to the base of the big rock cliff on the right.

From DV Oct 2012

After a half hour climbing I would use any excuse to stop for a bit.

From DV Oct 2012

This year is the year for Pinon nuts. It happens every 6 or 7 years. This year the critters cant eat or store them all. When a cone hits the ground some nuts fall out and there are many just laying there to be picked up.

From DV Oct 2012

We climbed for an hour and a half....with some 5 minute breaks. We crossed a stream and went thru tree tunnels. Finally we arrived at a damned nice building....a bit out of repair, but a building that could be brought back if someone wanted to.

From DV Oct 2012

We sat around for an hour resting up and enjoying the scene before we started back down at 2:50pm. down was easier.

From DV Oct 2012

From inside looking out...

From DV Oct 2012

It only took 40 minutes to get down to the bikes....gotta say I was whipped. As I type this at 8:20 I know my legs will ache walking back from Micky D's the 2 blocks to Nip's place. If you want to play, you got to pay.

From

Fey was white knuckle on the way down, but again she's willing to learn.... and again she didn't drop the bike. What's not to like about that?

On the way back we went thru the
Alabama Hills of Lone Pine. It about a 2 mile square section of weird rocks where Hollywood has made countless western and sci fi movies, commercials and all sorts of stuff. It's quite spectacular. Here's an example....there are more in the album....

From DV Oct 2012

A few minutes more and we were home at 5pm. Nip had a Halloween party to go to, but I couldn't make it. Lady Fey went to see what happens at a Halloween party in Keeler, Town of 50 folks, maybe.....should be good..

Here's the rest of the album... new picks start at the white house just after the red Studebaker...
https://picasaweb.google.com/1051334...eat=directlink

[Horton]

Originally Posted by Feyala

. . .



So not a road...

Originally Posted by NomadGal

First word that came to mind seeing this was....Crap!

Wrong.

First word that came to mind seeing this was. . .Gas!

[Ladybug0048]

Ratman, thanks for the update on what Fey has been up to.

Fey, it's clear your riding skills are getting better every day, just as I expected.

Waiting to read about that Halloween party. I hope you got pictures.

[BSkye]

Originally Posted by Horton

Wrong.

First word that came to mind seeing this was. . .Gas!

........think "perspective" is the first word that comes to my mind....

Hi, Fey

B.