Gadgets, gizmos and gear (part 1)

Lessons learnt:
1) I realize why people with kids don't spend much of their quiet time indulging in contemplative writing.
2) it took me longer than necessary to come up with this title, I need to spend more time indulging in contemplative writing

So aside from the various lessons learnt about my riding capabilities and the truly magnificent machine that is my ride, there were three key takeaways from my maiden adventure. Firstly, I need to take more photos. Secondly, if I plan to do more long-ish rides on my sportster, I will need a saddle that will be kinder to my tailbone. Lastly, a backpack is not a good idea; I need some form of carriers for my stuff.

Hence, this will be a three-part review of stuff; truly needed and value-adding (I am a minimalist) items that I have/am going to purchase based on informed or misinformed decisions or a "let's try this out and see if it works" approach.

I have to say this first one worked out quite well.

It is a GoPro also-ran, brand called 4K, for two thirds of the price. Features I liked:
- wifi connection for remote control or downloading images
- time lapse photo taking, one picture every 60 seconds
- a multitude of mounting brackets, most of which I don't understand, two of which allows it to be mounted to my handlebars and provides movement/adjustment along all three necessary axes; pitch, yaw and..... camber? Albeit minimally
- microSD card up to 64Gb, which will hold 8,800+ photos at maximum resolution 16M

Took it out today for a short ride, approx 130km to Simpang Renggam which took about 2 hours excluding a 20 minute coffee stop. The ride is mostly on the north-south highway, exit at 250 (Sedenak), hang a right after the toll and a left at the first T-junction. After that it is country roads for about 25km which brings you close to the Simpang Renggam exchange back onto the north-south. This is my usual coffee stop before heading back.

Set it to take photos at 8M pixels, which results in a bit of a low-res feel. Will try 16M pixels next time. Without the ugly time stamp as well. Here are some of the photos. Fairly boring scenery, if I do say so myself. But it is a good windy, low-traffic road for a quick Sunday morning ride.