Greetings from UK and a special request for help

[chazzer]

Hi everyone,

It will be two years in August since I returned to the UK. For the most part it has been a happy return although I still miss, and constantly replay, the memories of the epic rides across Chiba-ken, Kanagawa-ken, Tokyo (yes Tomin-no-mori!) and more besides (Sado and Norikura to name just two).

Since I returned, a new slimline chazzer model has been under development and this spring I am now at my lightest for quite a few years. What a difference it makes ! My daily commute (well two or three times a week!) to London and back gives me 56km of varied territory which has been a great help.

To celebrate, I entered the Argus event in Cape Town. If you ever get the chance to do this then I really recommend it. The world`s largest participatory timed event of any kind. Here`s how I did.

http://www.cycletour.co.za/

"I did 3hrs 50 mins and 35 secs placing me at 8,400 from 28,904 starters, 7,429 out of 22,520 men, 560 out of 1,909 in my age group and 96 out of 549 in my starting group. I am really pleased with that (in the top 30% of my age group) on what was a perfect day for the event. Meant a lot to me to wear my Tokyo Cycling Club jersey and ride my Anchor steel ......"

Here are some photos of the day before the event, when I had my Anchor kit on, and then the event itself with the pro riders etc. I have event photos to follow with the TCC jersey but these will take a few weeks to arrive.

https://picasaweb.google.com/wilcopix/CharlesArgus#5583290614427352642
https://picasaweb.google.com/wilcopix/ArgusRotaryCycleTour#

I also used a Contour GPS helmet camera and I am preparing a summary video. First time out with this kit and a few battery problems which meant I only got the first part down but never mind. Will post later.

Now, a request please. I realise that your thoughts will all be on domestic events following the tragic tsunami and the ongoing recovery across the country. As such, I hesitate to ask, but, before all this happened, I had already entered the Orchid challenge here.

This is a non-stop 36 hour ride in a two-man relay team from London to Edinburgh. Orchid focuses on men`s cancer. I have a few friends who have suffered from this over the years and I feel it is a good cause for a cyclist to support.

If you are interested then here are the details. I would really appreciate any help I can get to meet my fund target.

http://www.justgiving.com/Charles-Underwood0

Again, I am thinking very deeply about Japan at present. Luckily all my wife`s family are OK and I have no personal tragedies to relate. It seems to be the same for most of you and I am thankful for that.

I hope you all continue to ride well and enjoy the good times which will surely return

chazzer aka Charles

 

[chazzer]

An update.....

As promised, a few pictures from the Cape Argus event in March. I was wearing the Mk1 TCC jersey as I intended all along. Little did I know that, in the time between leaving London for Cape Town and arriving in my mother`s apartment, that my choice would become even more poignant.

You will see that I am using a helmet camera - a Contour GPS 1080p model. Mixed results so far, mostly due to my operating ineptitude. It is a good piece of kit but I need to become adept at battery changes and estimating battery life. I have recorded the start of the race and thought I had recorded the end but it seems I messed up! Anyway, I will post again when I have boiled all the footage down to something worth looking at.

In the meantime preparations for London Edinburgh are going well. I have already passed my sponsorship target but keen to hit the 200% mark. So, if you need an update then please take a look here.

http://www.justgiving.com/Charles-Underwood0

Oh, and if you need any further convincing to do this event at least once then here are the Argus shots in the gallery. This one is the famous Suikerbossie ascent which is a real killer climb towards the end of the route. I am proud to say that I cruised up this and no-one came past. Look at the blissful look on my face compared to those around

https://tokyocycle.com/gallery/member-galleries/p5868-cape-argus-2011.html

And here is Lance on the same climb last year!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M9rKbxfZbw

Hope you are all well, keep on climbing!

Cheers,

Charles aka chazzer

 

[chazzer]

Cape Argus video....

Well, here it is....I had about 90 minutes of footage which only covered the first half. I changed batteries, as I expected to do, but somehow the camera did not function after the change. Operating ineptitude on my part !

I have reduced this to about four minutes with iMovie on the iMac. Contour have their own software called StoryTeller which is neat but limited in the editing department. The cool thing about ST is that the GPS data is shown in a separate window so you can see the map as well as the actual footage which is helpful.

The helmet cam works well but I find that I am constantly hoping for a shallower angle so that the view is farther ahead on the road. More adjustments needed and probably need to mount the cam further back on the helmet. The latest addition will be a Bluetooth card that allows an iPhone or similar to act as a remote monitor to make such adjustments easier.

Still, it is no substitute for actually riding and the old skull camera still serves me well after all these years. The Contour is a great gadget though, if only as the ultimate aide-memoire!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqNMPm-B_ws

Cheers everyone,

Charles aka chazzer

 

[StuInTokyo]

Very cool, I did not think the angle was that bad, but maybe a bit more up would be better.

For me, I think the video would be more interesting if you could cut some still shots taken around the event into the video, just seeing everyone's lycra clad backsides got a bit dull after a while.

Looks like a great event, will you do it again?

cheers!