Mountain biking with LF

[Josh Z.]

Actually yes, but so far only once... It was actually a mountain bike camping ride out to a local canyon. I carried everything on my back in a LowePro Pro backpack. The tripod (14lbs including head) was strapped to the back of the pack, sleeping bag, groundpad, extra clothing, and water was strapped to the sides of the pack. In the LowePro Day Trekker I had the smaller stuff such as matches, more clothing, map, flashlight and beer. That fits on the back of the pack around the lower half of the tripod. In the end the whole thing weighed 68lbs.

The bike was my trusty RedLine Monocog (rigid signlespeed), and the trail was 7 miles each way. Of course, getting out there was the hardest part as we decided to leave after sunset with no lights as there was a full moon. Though on the way back the next morning, I was no longer burdened with the heavy beer... Just a minor hangover...

All in all it worked out pretty well, but I would never do it again with all the camping equipment and tripod on my back. For the most part it was hold on and don't break, otherwise the pack had so much momentum in it it just wanted to carry me off. And the tripod was so large that everytime I hit a decent bump I would smack the back of my head into it. Without the camping gear and tripod, the pack only weighs some 23lbs, which I would think is very doable. A bob trailer would have really helped in this situation...

[jonathan smith]

I got my bike fitted with some folding baskets which hold my 8x10 camera and cloth, holders, accessories. The lenses go in small individual shoulder bags on my person (I limit it to one or two if I'm riding the bike). The tripod is a compact model not really appropriate for 8x10 but, hey, I am just careful when I make the exposure and have had no problems with exposures even in the 8-10 second range.

The tripod is bungeed onto a flat rear fender that was installed on the bike.

It works quite well.

One idea I am mulling over is to make the bike the tripod; the seat comes right out and could be replaced with something that I could screw the camera onto. Then maybe some sort of bracing bar to help the kickstand. But I'm doing ok as it is.

The big advantage is I can explore at a slower pace, and take my equipment right up to where I want to shoot, rather than finding a place to park and hauling it all over.

[Scott Fleming]

Used to be an avid mountain biker. Gave it up due to neck problems. I recommend a rack system. Carrying weight on your back while biking is a drag and it raises your center of gravity which is dangerous to you and your equipment ... not to mention uncomfortable. The problem I see is the shaking and vibration. Will shake the bejeebers out of delicate equipment.

[paulr]

a lot depends on how rough the trails are. if it's just jeep roads and things, you could probably get away with a backpack, and some improvised way of attaching the tripod to a rear rack.

the tripod is the tough part. i imagine you could use one small and light enough to backpack with, bungee it to a rear rack with the spikes sticking way out behind you, and maybe one of those orange ribons tied to it so you don't impale the cameraless NORBA guys when they try to pass you.

for any kind of rough trail with a big load, rack mounted panniers give the best bike handling. low mounted front panniers have some weight distribution advantages, but i don't know if they make them for mountain bikes (especially with suspension forks)

plenty of desne foam padding should isolate the gear from vibration and the ocasional unplanned landing.