The Travel Channel Academy

I love video, but I don't have a whole lot of experience with it (just look at my website:-)). That's why when I learned of the Travel Channel Academy I got excited and immediately booked a spot in their class in Washington DC. It's taught by a guy named Mike Rosenblum who is seen by many as the leading proponent of 'short-form video' in the world. Mike has an extensive video and film resume and his take on the world is that video has progressed to a point where just about anybody with a little training can put together broadcast quality product. That opinion appears to get him a lot of scorn from certain areas of the broadcast community.

At first, I was a bit skeptical about this approach, after all don't you need a trained eye to be an video 'artist'. Well, as I sat there in class I began to realize that's not the case. In my class sat absolute newbies to video and people trained at film schools. If I learned one thing, it was simply that those with extensive training and fancy camera's were just as capable of putting together a pile of crap as the rest of us. Seems the more training most people had the worse the crap they put out, didn't make sense.

That's what made this class interesting. I got to watch the work of 40 people scrutinized and critiqued. On our first go around, there was a lot bad video, even from smart people. The second time around, however, not a bad video emerged. Yes, people who had never touched a camera before actually made some very interesting stuff, that only would have been better if they had better microphones and recording techniques.

I hope to figure out a way to incorporate more and better video in my travels in the future. It will be trial and error to figure out what works and what doesn't, so I hope you'll be patient with me. In my opinion a photo might be worth a thousand words, but a short video can increase that exponentially.

The Winds of Change...

are blowing!! WIth my neck feeling a bit better, I decided to take a ride down to visit my friends at BMW Grand Rapids last Friday and maybe test ride a bike or two. Before the day was out I had traded in my LT on a new F800GS. I've only put on 400 miles or so, but it's the bike I should have taken around the world. I really like this bike a lot!!

I have been seeing the F800GS since Ekatrinburg Russia. My initial take was that it looked like a nice bike, but seemed a bit top heavier than the Dakar. Now that I have had a chance to ride it, I will agree that it weighs a bit more and probably is a bit toppier, but it's handling characteristics are very good and I doubt it will be much more of a challenge to get across a deep river than the Dakar.

That aside, the changes in this bike are very significant and make the maintenance much easier. It also retains the 21 inch from wheel, which I prefer for 'adventure' travel. Oil changes go from complex and time consuming on the Dakar to very simple and straight forward on the F800GS. Changing and adjusting the chain is much easier and it has a smaller diameter sprocket, making it easier to fit a spare in the pannier. Access to the shock, lights, horn are all easier. They've done away with the buttons on the handlebar mount. (my ABS button was mounted there on the Dakar and raising the bars broke the wires, a situation that damn near killed me in Iceland). They've added a computer which gives you some nice information, including outside temp and two trip odometers (the later is a very nice feature, given how many GPS's I've gone through). The lights are hugely improved and I can actually see at night so I don't feel compelled to add more lights. The alternator has grown in size, large enough to run all my gear. There is easy access to the accessory plug. BMW put a normal chain guard on this time and included fork guards, basic stuff that should have come on previous F bikes.

Yes, there are a couple of things missing that I would have liked. Tubeless tires lead the list here, followed by no EWS (which I have heard will be option on next years model), and finally typical hex bolts for attachments. A real tool kit that addresses the needs of the bike would be nice too! The rear subframe bolt looks beefier, but I'll still remove it and through bolt it.

I can't speak to any known problems about the bike, but from my stand point the bike is HUGELY improved over the previous generation and performs accordingly. Going through the list of upgrades I'm finding I'll need to spend less too. One thing I won't be upgrading this time is the shock. I had a bad experience with HyperPro and I won't go down that road again. Besides, if the shock blows it will be covered under warranty.