Cycling with gear (at the ready)

tirediron · May 9, 2015

So... today's task was photographing members of the Wounded Warrior Run as they competed in an ultra marathon. This particular event took place on a 10km (7 mile) loop that follows the shore of a lake. Since it is a nice, wide path for the most part, I decided to take my bike and ride "against the flow" to allow me to get where I wanted to be. It worked well enough, but... riding with the 70-200 mounted was a bit of a challenge; I had my back-pack with me, but I didn't want to put it away and take it out each time, so I settled for strapping inside the pack's waist-band and hooking the tripod foot over the top. It worked well enough, but it was hardly ideal.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this better, and by 'better' I mean more securely (for the gear)? I know there are various holsters and such, but this isn't something I do often enough to really justify buying more gear.

TCampbell · May 10, 2015

I'm thinking a sling strap (e.g. Black Rapid, etc.) EXCEPT you'll still have the camera wanting to swing around to the front if you're riding. To help with this, I think a second short cord with a quick disconnected (e.g. a carabiner) that you can attach to your side (e.g. belt-loop, etc.) so that it's held at your side while riding, but you can quickly disconnect it to shoot when you stop for photography.

tirediron · May 10, 2015

Thanks Tim! I was using a BR, but the carabiner idea might be the extra bit I was missing. I'll have to play around with that today.

AceCo55 · May 11, 2015

How about an elastic material a few inches wide that wrapped around your body. Use velcro strip fastening to close the loop in front so that the whole thing wraps over the camera/lens holding it next to your chest/abdomen. To stop the wrap from falling when you unzipped the velcro, maybe safety pin it to the back of your shirt or backpack.
Just thinking out loud!!

tirediron · May 11, 2015

That might work too; sort of a home-made Cotton Carrier chest rig. The carabiner worked, but allowed a bit more movement than I felt was ideal, so maybe a little bit from column 'A' and a little from column 'B'... Thanks!