Postcard shots are everywhere you turn here. Rude rock trail
Rude rock trail.
I might be in NZ...but you can still Huck to Flat like it's the BEAST coast!
This is what I do all day. Forks forks and more forks! It's lots of learning.
My Comute to work. Real good fun.
Scrub a dub...Rude Rock. Super fun.
The ride home....hard to keep your eyes on the track with mtns like those!
Sticker from the workbench...thought everyone who's ever done trail work would appreciate!
The Blueshark office, lots of character!...and bit similar to Chucks....
fox wall of fame
Co-worker and budding videographer Ross Mackay.
Tear 'm appart and make 'em happy!
The rest of my ride to work.
View from the trail to work.....
My riding is improving, I've had a few crashes getting used to the terrain but I'm starting to feel the confidence coming back! Can't wait to get on my TR 450 this weekend!
hint hint....Next Blog post....Diaries Down Under episode with Kelly McGarry and Mike Hopkins!!!
I left California on Sunday night, and after a 12 long hours we touched down in Aukland, from there I passed through Customs with no issues and hopped on my flight to Queenstown, from there I jumped on a rickety old bus. The driver smashed his way up the side of the mountain, charging through the switchbacks with confidence.
Queenstown airport
Aukland, Very Dramatic eh?
bad photo but it gives an idea of the scale of the mountains here
welcome to Wanaka!
Al had a bit of work to finish up before he could swing down to get me so I spent some time just chilling on the beach. Wanaka is really cool town, there's gravel paths everywhere, and they get used A LOT. Everyone and their grandmother has a mountain bike and uses it to get around on in addition to recreational use!
Lake Wanaka
Al my soon to be Boss had me over for dinner with his family, quite a view from the dinner table!
I'll work on some riding photos soon, it's a bit hard to snap them of yourself when riding solo!
I met up with Ella and Brian (some college friends) in Costa Mesa. They were incredible hosts and I had a blast! Shuttle runs on the famous telonix trail, trail riding in San Juan, and A big Laguna classsics ride!
We even went stand up paddle boarding around the harbor!
building up the bike
meet Gus, pretty rad little dude!. Nice hat buddy!
Loading up for an Epic San Juan trip. Brian likes his van too.
Little walk about the harbor bit.
Yes Miss, I would like to check 3 bags, yes all to New Zealand please..
Good times Brian and Ella you both rip! So much fun! Thank you!
This fall I had the opportunity film with Jarad Kleinberg of Madkats Productions. As we began planning out our shoot, the fact that I had just graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from Clarkson University came to light. Upon learning of this Jarad asked me if I would be able and willing to build a cable camera setup if he funded it.
Fore those of you unfamiliar with the purpose of a "Cable cam" It is akin to a Zipline. The trolley of the zipline however is powered, so it can move up or down the cable under it's own power. The Trolley holds the camera and as it moves up or down the length of the cable it allows for unique, very long "Dolly Shots".
I began asking questions about how "awesome" the device needed to be, the answer kept coming back, as "awesome as we can make it". After a lot of studying and searching for materials ad a few rough sketches I began ordering and building.
The Original Sketch, I stumbled on this after I had finished building the device. It was kind of a rewarding feeling to know that my little sketch had become a reality!
Concept Drawing I sent to Madkats after the first day of thought, and sketching
Quick Description of Cable set up so Jarad could buy the necessary parts.
The initial rough assembly. It weighed quite a lot at this point.
The tilt and pan servos were installed before any weight saving efforts were made, as function was the number one concern.
Close up of the Pan servo and gears.
Unfortunately the ratio of pinion (Little) to spur (big) gear wasn't small enough and didn't offer enough torque and resolution on the tilt/pan function. New pinion gears were ordered and installed and worked beautifully.
Close up of the tilt with small pinion and cutouts on the gimball
The Whole Shebang. Finished.
One controlled is used to control the pan and tilt of the camera gimball while the other controls forward, reverse, and braking of the trolley.
Center Drive pulley
Motor controller, motor and pinion gear installed.
The right stick controls Tilt and Pan
She measures roughly 3 ft pulley to pulley.
I really enjoyed this project and was very pleased with the final product. To be able to put my engineering knowledge to use in conjunction with an interest I already had was a great experience. Working and building with my hands has always been important to me.
I will be making another one this summer/ fall when I return from New Zealand for my own use.
Here's a little clip of a short test I did with my younger brother snowboarding in the back yard. Please select 720 (Hd) for the video quality.
Stay tuned as the Madkats boys will soon be releasing real deal photos and video from the cable cam and our recent test session!
