Since 2015, when ‘Pedal Slip’ began, I’ve dedicated huge chunks of time to mountain biking and connecting with others in the MTB community. It’s been a massive part of my life and it’s incredible to think that a two-wheeled off-road vehicle has meant that I’ve managed to meet and hang out with some of the best people I now know. I’m incredibly thankful that I got into the sport when I did.
Before bikes, I’ve had a long standing interest in graphic and web design and even used this to generate some money to help me get through university whilst studying. I’ve never had any formal training but it’s something that still interests me today and when I’m not working or riding bikes, I’m probably on the computer doing something creative.
That’s where the two collided – Pedal Slip. Although this site has been through many iterations, some with slightly different focuses than others, its always been a place where I can let some of that creativity out when I’m not riding.
Filming rides was natural progression and it was only a matter of time before I got a GoPro and tried my hand at creating some edits. The first ones were awful and it took me some serious learning and practising to get better. Now, whilst running To The Trail with George, videography is a key creative outlet for me… though it is something I’ve been struggling to find the time for recently.
Between updating this website, working full time and riding my bike, I’ve found it hard to edit videos. There’s a lot more to a 10 minute video than meets the eye. For a typical video, lasting around 10 minutes, I’ll probably spend around 3 hours editing the footage, about 20-30 minutes finding the right music and then another 30 minutes to an hour making sure I’ve put in the little things like logos (not to mention colour correction!). After that, it’s usually about a 45 minute wait for the video to export and then another half an hour to upload it to YouTube.
Then everything’s done, right? Wrong. It’s a small YouTube channel so there’s few viewers that watch each video, so we promote our videos by sharing them to various groups, pages and places on the internet. Call that another hour of work once it’s all done.
Then it’s rinse and repeat because the next video is due in a few days. So, if you’re following the channel: thank you! It means a lot to me. If I don’t manage to get a video out from time to time and seem to have lost interest, I can assure you I haven’t… it just takes a while to get each one done because there’s slightly more than meets the eye.