Sharing my YouTube channel (amateurish, bicycle handlebar cam footage from my bike commute)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Due to the rail link to my place of work being unreliable in the last two years (there are a lot of improvements done on the line which sometimes shuts down the line for months), I have begun to commute by bike when the weather allows.
Now I have decided to revive my YouTube channel, shell out for a GoPro camera and handlebar mount, and to post videos of various routes that I use to commute.

My commute is between the towns of Reutlingen and Tübingen in South West Germany, over the Härten plain that’s between the Neckar valley and the Swabian Jura escarpment, between the valleys of the Echaz and the Steinlach, both tributaries to the Neckar river.
Now in February/March 2024 nature still looks a bit desolate but it looks like there will be an early spring this year.

Bike routes are in need of improvement in Reutlingen, but very good in Tübingen (the latter having a mayor who is a dedicated public transport, bicycle, and renewable energy geek, and it shows)

My videos are without narration, with very sparse German language one-line comments, without music, and a soundtrack that mostly has my e-bike motor working hard (my commute is 200 metres down, 160 metres up on the optimum route), the occasional exchange ‘rrring … thank you’ with dog walkers, and traffic noise whan near main roads.

In case you wonder why I use a handlebar cam instead of a helmet cam: Of course my head quickly svivels all the time in traffic; that would make for nausea in viewers.

I for one like to watch this kind of videos, but I also sometimes relax to train cab videos on boring lines … go figure, I am strange that way.

If you like this, please click “Subscribe” and/or “Like”.

You can also compare your own bicycle commuting experience in this thread.

My standard commuting route, in the morning
[https://youtu.be/balKCCmiF14]

Another route, late morning, taking advantage of a pizzeria en route (I am fortunate in able to often work from home in the early morning, then depart for work)
[https://youtu.be/boizBK5dY78]

Alternative route back home, with good views (I definitely would not take this with a non-ebike)
[https://youtu.be/cUvatfiaK2E]

Nerdish comparison of two partial routes
[https://youtu.be/SILSQVFZjWU]

Enjoy! (if you can)

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I wonder if folks could use these kinds of videos in front of a stationary bike?
Back in the pandemic days when I was doing most of my running at home on the treadmill, I watched plenty of runs that people filmed, so it was pretty cool that I could go for a run in London or alongside the Grand Canyon.

Hopefully your video series doesn’t end like my own GoPro running videos did–one fine afternoon in 2021 I tripped over a curb and fell in a way that cracked my shoulder in 3 places. My wife immediately declared that I can no longer run outdoors. But at least I managed to capture video of the moment!

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I like those random “slices of life” YouTube videos. part of what makes the platform great for me.

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^^ what he said !

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Another video, of another route

that I like less. I used this route this time because of the opportunity to breakfast at a farm store en route.
This route is well suitable for bad weather but I usually do not take it because a long stretch is along a main highway, and through a light industrial area (Gewerbegebiet). En route I stopped and took photographs of the region’s main historic Jewish cemetary.

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My latest video is a short one with the ride down from the edge of Tübingen’s historic center (not shown), down to and over the Neckar bridge, through a route dominated by bicycles, over part of Tübingen’s ‘blue band’ (an effort by the bicycle friendly town council and mayor for Tübingen to become as bicycle friendly as Dutch cities), down (for those at a hurry, start at 4:20) to the new underground parking garage for 1,100 bicycles under the main bus station, under the railway station’s forecourt.

Bicycle is the dominant form of transport in that area, and bicycle parking in front of the main railway station has become such a hassle that the city needed that underground garage for parking bicycles in two level racks. You can see in the video that the upper position in the racks is much less popular because using it takes some more time and effort.

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(Curses! iMovie broke the title card on export and I did not see that before uploading. So please disregard the broken title.)

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Huh, one of my first views of “Computer Graphics” was a program called Virtual Tübingen, where you could bike through a blocky version of the city.

Here’s the history of it (1995-2000).
Oh! Here’s an updated version from 2008; smoother, with more detailed buildings…

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The VR version has the advantage that you can cross the old town at a reasonable speed. The center is all pedestrian zone, with heavy pedestrian traffic. Unfortunately it’s not doable to do an action cam walk there because I’d have to blur hundreds of faces.

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Two new videos that have some differences to my ordinary route:

One, over the route that I take the day after heavy rain

starting in Tübingen’s underground bike garage

that shows from 27:30 why a couple riding too closely can be a bad idea (no grave injuries, apparently, in the rider who fell)

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Another, where I took an unusual route from Tübingen not all the way home, but through the Neckar valley to the neighbouring town of Kirchentellinsfurt, to take the train from there.

Interesting points:

From 3:00: shows the amount of bike traffic in Tübingen
At 4:40: shows the blue Fahrradstrasse markings that show the privileged status of bicycles on selected roads
From 13:12 where I got scared for a moment.
From 13:45: encountering a very nice enclosed recombent bike.
From 14:49: where I thought: kids these days…
From 24:00: encountering rail station elevators that were not designed with normal-sized bicycles in mind.

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Another two videos showcasing the new bridge that the city of Tübingen where I work opened two weeks ago. The Ann Arbor Bridge, also called Radbrücke West.

The bridge spans a major railway line and a road, and serves to better connect the parts of Tübingen north and south of the railway for bike traffic.

Architect’s rendering (picture source: City of Tübingen)

First video: Crossing the bridge from south to north, ending in the bike parking garage under the restaurant where I often take lunch (this is going to be a regular part of my noon trip to lunch and back)

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Second video: Split screen comparison of trip time from south of the railway to the southwest tip of the old town, at Haagtorplatz. It turns out that the time saving is about 3:45 minutes for me. Whether the aggregate time saving to citizens of Tübingen justifies the € 16 million price tag may turn out to the controversial later.

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A dozen or so years ago there was a horrible incident in MA, a seasoned triathlete on a $4000+ tri bike (ie. someone you’d presume was a serious rider & not just a mope cruising along who couldn’t hold a straight line) was hit, run over & killed by a ore-carrying tractor trailer. The police did a through investigation, producing a multi-dozen page investigative report, including both vehicles were caught on the red-light cam at the prior intersection but only one was seen at the next intersection. (As I remember, the bike turned left on his green & then the TT went straight when the light turned green for him). They found the tractor-trailer & found evidence, including tire sidewall damage consistent with it hitting his pedal including gouge marks (pedal height & whatever pattern was on the end cap of the pedals gouged into the sidewall of the TT tire & other stuff I don’t remember anymore). They believe he was hit by the tractor’s rear wheels, then fell under the truck & was run over by the trailer’s wheelsTT driver was indited for everything from felony hit-&-run to summary unsafe pass but somehow the grand jury, which has been said could indite a ham sandwich, returned a no-bill on all of it.

This scared the $#!t outta me & I bought my first GoPro as a result of reading about it; however, GoPro batteries only lasted about an hour back the (& aren’t much better today) which means it would only last for part of my ride before dying. I don’t know how long your commute is but Cycliq makes dedicated front / rear light/‘dashcam’ lights that are purpose built for cycling & have batteries that last longer than a GoPro’s does.

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I wore a GoPro on my chest during my outdoor runs for that precise reason.
I have thousands of miles of footage of slightly bouncy and slanted city streets and park trails.

This all came to an end with the Great Broken Shoulder Incident of 2021, where my toe caught the edge of a super tall curb while I was turning and I fell at some crazy angle.
After that my wife made it clear: No more running outdoors. Ever.
These days I run all of my miles on the indoor track at the Y.

And yes, I do have a few frames of GoPro video of me flying through the air, with my shadow doing its best Superman imitation, followed by a few minutes of me mumbling bad words as the gravity of my situation sank in.

Funny thing is, in the background of the clip that shows my flying shadow, I can see Rothman Orthopedic, where I would spend many hours doing my physical therapy. I would tell the physical therapist “See that light out there? That’s where I did this.”

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Yes, my GoPro Hero 9’s battery is good for an hour at most (at least when I use the stabilisation feature which is very good*). That’s why I replaced the battery cover with one to pass through an USB-C plug and load from a handlebar mounted powerbank.

I believe the accident in MA that you mentioned and the lack of indictment was discussed on the SDMB at the time. I considered the driver not being indicted very curious. Are cycling commuters perhaps considered ‘other’ in some locales in the US?
Personally I have not had any really bad experiences with car drivers, even with taxi drivers, but I give large trucks and buses a large berth, due to dead angles. Fortunately the vast majority of my commute is on bike paths or paved agricultural and forest roads.

*) you would not know from my videos what my poor os ischii has to endure. Sometimes when I get home I put off sitting down for a few minutes

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Just one little thing to think about now, before your channel gets big: how much information about your home address or exact workplace address could be inferred from the journeys shown in your content, if someone tried hard enough?

I think the content quality is great, BTW and I found it interesting just to watch how traffic works in a different country.

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It was.

No cyclists & pedestrians are full second, third, fourth class citizens.
I went to the po-po with GoPro video of a full sized (4-axle) construction dump truck that didn’t even cross over the center line. We have a 4’ / 1⅓ meter law in this state; he was maybe 4" from me.
At first the cop said he wouldn’t ride on that road. Given it’s one of two North-South roads in that town I didn’t have a lot of options & I am legally allowed to be on it. Then he said he couldn’t make out enough info to cite the driver. I showed him that when he backed up the video about 15 sec you could see him stopped waiting to turn out onto the road, the company logo was clearly written on the door & their internal vehicle # was on the truck as well. Shouldn’t have been that hard to contact the company & find out who was driving that truck that day.

I had a sargent / head of traffic dept in another town tell me not only would she not do anything but that her suggestion to me was to not ride in that town!!!

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A variation of:

You wore a short skirt, so you wanted to be raped, right?