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Little wheels make little birds fly - but not before you've caught them on camera! A Waxwing, as shot by Benson Tongue
MY Friday and I have become a known sight on my local mountain.
Nobody recognizes anyone on a regular big-wheel bike but a yellow Air Friday gets everybody's attention.
Over the last few years I've taken to carrying a digicam, along with a tele lens, for wildlife and landscape photography.
I pack along the camera and either go fast, trying for a personal best, or laze along and look for nice pics. Alternatively, I may try to go fast, realize that on that particular ride the best I can do is slow, and then use a bird as an excellent excuse to take a break.
The only problem has been that the birds are usually too distant for a really good pic. You can cycle up to them without much problem but as soon as you get off your bike they'll generally take off and perch at some far-off place. Not good. More high powered optics would help but how to take it along?
Using an old favorite saddlebag to solve a new-fangled problem
After pondering long and hard, I've developed what I think is the solution to the problem. The first problem was what to do with the scope. I've got a 65 mm scope which has a protective case and I found, much to my delight, that it's a perfect fit in my old Carradice Camper saddlebag. I made a quick and dirty PVC standoff from the seat post to keep the Carradice from hanging too far forward and also stretched an elastic net from the seatpost to the rack in order to further pull the case back.
My tripod collapses into a small package and is pretty lightweight, even with the head. Looking from it to my bike and back again I started to wonder. Could it be that the tripod could slide between the drops and butt against the head stem? Yes, it could! Even without anything to secure it the tripod won't move (beyond a little rattling). Just to be safe, though, I secure one end with a toe strap and wrapped the stem tube with handlebar tape for protection and as an anti-rattle measure. My Canon G3 resides in the front bag. Because the scope is hung off of my saddle it's protected from shock and vibration just as I am, which is a nice feature that only the Air Friday can give. The camera has to put up with some vibration but nothing more than it has handled in the past.
All in all, it's a nice way to safely carry your precious optics without having to do much in the way of modifications. The bike still handles well and the tripod adds no more weight to the front than a moderately filled handlebar bag would. As an added "plus" I get to carry even more weight up the mountain and get that much fitter as a result!
For more information, follow this link http://www.bikefriday.com/bf/photography.