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3. Tsampa!
3 months ago
2. Journey as Destination - HD
3 months ago
Many people don't understand why some choose to travel on a bicycle. I was one of them... then I tried it. Now I don't want to do it any other way.

This video is an attempt at providing a glimpse into the challenging, exciting, and incredibly rewarding world of cycle touring.

The clips are from a Summer 2007 trip, about 4500kms from Kashgar, Xinjiang, to Dali, Yunnan (in China) crossing Tibet along the way.
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167 Likes
  • Gregg Havens 3 months ago
    Dave, Quite an exciting ride. Loved the music... what do you use?
  • Dave A 3 months ago
    Thanks!

    Not sure what you mean by what I use, so I'll just say everything:

    Shot on a Sony HDR-HC7, edited mostly in Premiere, but 3 clips were motion stabilized using After Effects. The main audio track was mixed in Soundbooth.
  • Blanche 2 days ago
    Haha!

    What you use, is the same I use....

    'Bicycles are like drugs
    and we're peddeling them ' :>
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  • Perez 3 months ago
    Great!
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  • Alice Peapods 3 months ago
    What a great ride.
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  • Adam Gerritsma 3 months ago
    Thank you for taking us on your amazing journey!
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  • Ben Crossman 3 months ago
    This is awesome.. music is great! I recognise the Refused track at the beginning, what else did you use for the soundtrack?
  • Dave A 3 months ago
    Thanks! Yep, good ear. Songs are:
    1) Refused - Tannhäuser / Derivè
    2) The Music - Walls Get Smaller (Fierce Panda Version)
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  • Paul Klinger 3 months ago
    Man, that was incredible....Thank you for posting the great footage. The cows in the road reminded me of driving in mexico back in the late 70's. Great choice of music :)
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  • diwao 3 months ago
    Awesome ride!
    Can you tell us what kind of the camera mount did you use?

  • Dave A 3 months ago
    I had a front rack on my bike (you can see it in the 2nd shot of this video). All I did was tie down the camera with 2 bungee straps, resting on a couple spare bike tire tubes on top of the rack.

    It worked pretty well, but it was fairly jittery-- if I did it again I would use more padding under it.
  • diwao 3 months ago
    Thnx. I want to create handlebar mount.
    Of course I'm afraid of jittery... I would like to see how it works with cro-mo frame, carbon fork and carbon handlebar.. ;)
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  • Blueman 3 months ago
    Incredible!
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  • jtkerb 3 months ago
    I'm blown away. Where's next?
  • Dave A 3 months ago
    Haha, I like how you think!
    Not sure yet.. Argentina, Iceland, something like that!
  • jtkerb 3 months ago
    haha, I like how you think even more. Both high on my list! Gotta work on makin some paper first though. Random question: is it easy to outfit a typical mountain bike with those touring bags or is some special frame or extra work needed?
  • Dave A 3 months ago
    It's not too tricky-- what I used were some racks from a company in the states called Old Man Mountain. I recommend them highly-- they mount on the axle (no frame modifications necessary) and are very strong and durable. The front rack also attaches to the front fork stanchions, and the rear rack attaches to either the V-Brake bosses (if you have them) or to the seatstays. They're not the cheapest option, but at least they won't break.
  • jtkerb 3 months ago
    really appreciate the advice. thanks.
  • diwao 3 months ago
    Some other parts you should pay attantion while building expedition bike:
    - Tubus (racks),
    - Ortileb (panniers),
    - Schwalbe Marathon XR (indestructible tyres ;) )
    - DT Swiss (stainless spokes)
    Make sure that your wheels will be able to handle the additional weight of luggage.

    I would go to Chile with crossing the Andes to Argentina :)
  • Dave A 3 months ago
    Good advice, diwao. Tubus are well-liked because they're steel so can be welded if they break on the road. The downside is it seems all their racks require the special rack eyelets on the rear dropouts. It is almost impossible to find a MTB frame that has those.

    Riding a touring bike (with the larger wheels) outside of Europe is not a good idea. Spare parts will have to be shipped from home to wherever you are. My friend wrecked his 26" rear wheel in the middle of Tibet and was able to get a replacement within a day (not a good one, but it worked).

    On the other hand, we met someone who was on a touring bike and two times in two years had to wait WEEKS to get a replacement 700c wheel sorted and mailed to him from home.

    If you're heading out in the middle of nowhere, especially on rough roads, my suggestion is a Reynolds 851 steel MTB frame. Can be emergency welded, nice and flexy, and is sure to be able to take the extra weight and constant torture of the bumpy roads.
  • Dave A 3 months ago
    nevermind, I see Tubus makes a QR-adapter!

    I still don't think it would have worked for me though because I was running (cable) disc brakes.
  • Larry McKurtis 29 days ago
    I also really like Xtra Cycles.
    That's the route I'm taking on my next trip.

    And always go with steel.
    Steel is Real.
    I broke my frame on my last trip and thanked god it was steel, as it was welded that day.
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  • Evan Andersen 2 months ago
    I had to hold my breath when you passed that purple van on the left while on a curve to the right. You can see the camera tilt from you pedaling hard to get around it -- I was right there pushing the pedals with you. Great job with this -- amazing footage.
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  • michael baca 2 months ago
    wow cool. refused huh. they will never die
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  • Peter Quiambao Jr. 2 months ago
    Man, the only thing I could think during this whole video is, "Damn, if he's doing this trip by himself, he has to walk back and get his camera after every shot. Damn."

    Great video.
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  • rick fiduccia 2 months ago
    I have a Sony HDR-HC7, maybe I need a bike now? On second thought you keep posting and I'll keep watching. Great video!
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  • Albornoz 2 months ago
    I can describe this video with just two words: REALLY EXCITING.
    Excelent job!
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  • express49 2 months ago
    Awesome ! My heart is still beating fast!
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  • Dennis Koomen 2 months ago
    Great video! Beautiful shots at the beginning and a nice downhill at the end. When you go to Argentina cycle the Aqua Negra pass between Chile and Argentina.
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  • Juan Polo 2 months ago
    Great video Dave! The first images are amazing, but if you let me, in my opinion the final sequence it's a little bit long, but in general, the video is ok. Beautiful travel.
  • Dave A 2 months ago
    Hi Juan, thanks for your feedback! I agree with what you say. That is the problem with editing a video to the music, I suppose. That's why I'm jealous of people who are good at making or editing their own music to fit a segment!
  • Juan Polo 2 months ago
    Really! I agree with you. The music is quite important part of the final video. Everytime I edit, I think that music can do aproximately a 50 percent -and maybe 60 % in some cases- on the final video. But it's necessary ;)

    Greetings ;)
  • Dave A 2 months ago
    Yep-- 50% at the very least!

    This epiphany first came to me when watching "The Follow" episode of BMW Films from a few years back. There is an action driving segment where rather than the stereotypical screeching tires and high-paced music, all is silent except for a nice classical music piece. It turned the chase into something subdued and beautiful, which was I never thought possible.
  • Juan Polo 2 months ago
    Sounds great! I'm going to look for these episode and I will watch it. I hope we can see another of your videos like this.
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  • Cyberstryder 2 months ago
    Going through that heard was funny. Nice editing job.
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  • Mark Kammel 2 months ago
    wow, and yes, the heard was definatly my fav part
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  • Michael P. Steeves 2 months ago
    Oh my legs hurt for you.
    Great video.
    I might opt out for a scooter for this trip.
    Do you think it could make it?
  • Dave A 2 months ago
    a scooter would die a quick death on some of these roads! You'd need a proper off-road touring motorbike to make it, something with a big gas tank too...
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  • Krzysztof Jeziorny 2 months ago
    Bravo! Exciting travel, and a fine video edit.
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  • Kyo Suayan 2 months ago
    Nice one! Did your tire blow up on that last evening shot with sparks on it?
    There are some shots where you appear pretty distant from the camera.
    How long does it normally take to shoot those type of clips?
    Your tips are much appreciated. Thank you!

    -kyo-
  • Dave A 2 months ago
    Hi Kyo,

    I rode part of this trip with a friend, and the rest solo. Most of the static riding shots are from a tripod, so I would ride off for a few minutes at most (not too far that I couldn't quickly ride back if a car came by, to make sure the camera wasn't stolen!). Any shots that are handheld or have zooms or pans is one of us filming the other.

    The sparks are actually just me fooling around-- I was rubbing the metal pedal cleat on the ground while cornering :-)
  • Kyo Suayan 2 months ago
    Dave,

    Thank you for sharing these tips.
    The footage is inspiring and the landscape amazing.
    Well done!

    -kyo-
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  • Santi Trujillo 2 months ago
    wow, great. Be careful with the cows! hehe
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  • roka 2 months ago
    Did you go on this trip all alone? The landscape is great! Thanks for sharing.
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  • Robert Lyon 2 months ago
    REFUSED! Love using that in my stuff too.
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  • chris leppla 2 months ago
    pretty incredible man, looks like it was a great trip!
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  • monso 2 months ago
    awesome video.wonderfullllllllllll.
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  • Todd Burleson 2 months ago
    Wow; I can barely breath still; my heart was beating so fast. This was tremendous! So much involved in making this move. I would love to hang out with you!

    TB
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  • milko romero 2 months ago
    great video!!!
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  • Beligun 2 months ago
    Awesome t Video Dave! especially like the way you build up to the downhill sequence.

    I went to Tibet in 2007 as well but for hiking. Your video reminded me of the places I had seen, really inspiring.

    Tell me, in the last scene what's causing the sparks on you bike?


  • Dave A 2 months ago
    Heh, that's just messing about-- it's the SPD cleat (if you're a non-biker, it's a way to clip into the pedals so you can also pull up on the pedals) on the bottom of the shoe -- I was leaning on it hard as I went around the corner. Was lots of fun and looked cool in the dim light of dusk.
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  • Todd Sansom 2 months ago
    Great story. question, did anyone else lean on all the turns at the end? ;-)
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  • jebbz 2 months ago
    great video and nice downhill. 3:45 is scary :O
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  • Dan Valentine 2 months ago
    Wonderful.
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  • Oliver 2 months ago
    Thank you for sharing the film, Dave.

    How do you beat that though?

    You've made me want to scrub up my bike and get cycling again, although I think I'll stick to the Ramblas until I get a bit more confident!


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  • fronque 2 months ago
    Wonderful video. I highly recommend iceland for your next trip.
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  • Ris Lynsey 1 month ago
    Incredible title, incredible video; incredible sport!
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  • Larry McKurtis 29 days ago
    Word dude.
    Bike touring is definitely captured well here!
    It's always nice to meet a fellow cyclotrekker.
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  • kkfung 21 days ago
    Steady camera works. Wonderful synchronization between music and video. If Vimeo has more videos like this, no one would visit any other video hosting sites any more.
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  • Blanche 16 days ago
    Wow Dave!

    You describe exactly (worths and movie) the place where my hart is : cycling the world on a bicyle!

    Thanks!


    Want to see some off the stuff I made (not as good) or the rides I rode?

    my weblog with movies on Youtube is Cycling the world on a bicycle >>

    sammoresam.spaces.live.com/
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