And now the work.
For years I would cut the highlight video and orchestrate a special advance-view spin session. Bare bones (fat cut away), with an audio assist by whatever set list I happened to be assembling at the time. The idea, way back then, was to promote upcoming triathlon events, it being the golden age of the sport, by showing fresh video of new events. This, of course, implied that speed was of the essence, so my editing style was one of rough cuts with a live feel rather than long, slow (and dramatic) cross-dissolves. I would sometimes get home from an out of state, or out of country, event and have the video ready for show in two days. We used the marketing approach that the soon to be Real Course Videos, where finished products included the GPS embed files to simultaneously change the resistance of the CompuTraier to mirror every hill, bump, ascent, climb and gradient chance automatically. One could, and many did, ride a course indoors before actually racing it live. The advance showing to my spin group was just the video, sans GPS, but they were always entertaining, challenging and of course, fun.
Without a complete historical analysis as to why this incredibly cool concept failed after a relatively short ten year life span, the forward-looking evolution soon became the PowerBarn videos, highlights from our rides, trips, adventures and indoor training sessions. I am very pleased to say that they are now in their fifth season. They are timed out to accompany the bread and butter workouts known respectfully as the 2x20. In them I, as producer, director, writer, editor and distributor, am allowed the one thing that every artist dreams of; Absolute creative freedom. Which is, as you may expect I was going to admit, is sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse.
The potential for success is always just a cut away as is the reality that the rush for completion can often feel like the train has left the video tracks. I have found however that the runaway freight train can find its way back to the rails, and will, as long as the engineer, conductor or even the US Marshall riding shotgun, has the courage and presence to stay with it. Ride it out. Not to let go. Keep the faith and keep on pushing. Hang on.
We never know just how close to completion, close to the finish, near our goals we are. This, should we decide to quit, call it off, or abandon the project. Dan Millman often had his characters, Socrates in particular, remind students that once we begin - it is best to finish.
With all this as back-story, today I begin the project of assembling the rather large amount of media captured on the 2019 Olympic Peninsula Cycling Tour into something with entertainment value. I am going to test a new format using the 60 minutes of our typical spin class as the count-down timer. I may also experiment with audio moving closer to the standard doc format. Don’t know yet and as every project takes on a life of its own, where the energy and dynamic flow are channeled to front and center, this one has the potential to be special. I will afford it that respect as the goal, its spirit. The theme will be simple; capture the experience, show and tell, create something that will encourage participation and inspire what we all have varying personal understandings of what we call the WOW factor.
As much as our little ride was a soul enriching, refreshing trek into the wilderness (and back) this is the part that I really like. Documenting it.
That epic journey is now officially underway.
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