Fat Tires, Tiny Drones and the Far End of the Galloping Goose

End of the Galloping Goose trail.

There are probably more dignified ways for a 51-year-old, 300-pound man to explore Vancouver Island than on an enormous fat-tire e-bike with a tiny drone stuffed in the saddlebag.

I just haven’t found one I like better.

Over the last little while, this ridiculous bike has managed to get my old fat ass into corners of the South Island I’ve wanted to explore for years and somehow never did.

Apparently the secret was pairing a fat guy with fat tires.

Who knew.

And lately, one of my favourite things to throw in the saddlebag before heading out is the DJI Neo 2.

No big drone bag.

No controller.

No elaborate plan.

Just the bike, the Neo 2 and whatever part of Vancouver Island I feel like pointing myself toward that morning.

That simplicity is turning out to be one of the things I like most about this little drone.

The Drone I Actually Bring With Me

I love my DJI Air 3S.

It’s the drone I use for commercial work, it has the better camera system, it handles wind better, and it gives me considerably more flexibility when I’m actually going somewhere specifically to shoot aerial photos or video.

I’m actually tempted to start bringing it on some of these bike rides because I’m finding some absolutely beautiful places.

But the Air 3S turns it into a drone mission.

Now I need the drone, controller, batteries, somewhere secure to carry everything and a little more thought about where I’m stopping and what I’m shooting.

The Neo 2 is different.

I can literally chuck it in the saddlebag and forget it’s there.

Then I get somewhere cool, pull it out, launch it, let it lock onto me and keep riding.

That’s a pretty compelling feature.

Riding Across the Selkirk Trestle

One of my favourite recent Neo 2 clips came from somewhere considerably less remote.

The Selkirk Trestle.

If you live around Victoria, you know the one.

It carries the Galloping Goose across the Gorge between Vic West and the Selkirk waterfront and is one of those places I’ve crossed plenty of times without necessarily stopping to appreciate just how cool it looks.

Especially from the air.

I pulled the Neo 2 out, launched it, let the tracking camera lock onto me and started riding across the trestle.

That was pretty much the entire production.

The little drone followed above and behind me while I rode across the wooden trestle with the Gorge stretching out on either side.

And the footage is gorgeous.

Frankly, it makes a 300-pound guy riding an enormous fat-tire e-bike look considerably more cinematic than he has any right to look.

That might be the Neo 2’s greatest technological achievement.

Then I Took the Bike to the Other End of the Goose

I’ve wanted to explore the western end of the Galloping Goose for years.

The Goose is such a weirdly varied trail.

Around Victoria, parts of it are basically transportation infrastructure. People commute on it. Kids ride it. You’re passing houses, roads and businesses.

Keep heading west and eventually the entire character changes.

By the time you’re out around Sooke Potholes and continuing toward Kapoor Regional Park and the historic Leechtown area, it starts feeling considerably more like you’ve left town behind.

Trees.

Rock.

River.

Long stretches without much of anything.

Exactly my kind of place.

Leechtown itself has a cool history. The area grew out of the Vancouver Island gold rush in the 1860s after gold was discovered along the Leech River.

There isn’t much of a town left to visit these days, but I’ve always thought the history of the area was cool and wanted to get out there.

So I finally did.

All the Way to the Red Gate

I rode past the Kapoor area and kept going beyond the official end of the Galloping Goose until I eventually hit the big red gate at the edge of the CRD watershed.

And for reasons I can't entirely explain, getting to that gate felt pretty fucking cool.

There was no grand destination waiting for me.

No pub.

No coffee shop.

Nobody handing out medals for middle-aged men who successfully used electric assistance to propel themselves into the woods.

Just a big red gate saying, essentially:

That’s enough, Ryan. Turn around.

Fair enough.

I took a picture.

Apparently I Was Also in Cougar Country

Another thing you start noticing when you get that far out is the wildlife signage.

There are warnings.

There are pictures of cougars.

There’s even cougar artwork around Kapoor, presumably in case you somehow missed all the other subtle hints that you’re now sharing the neighbourhood with animals considerably better equipped for wilderness living than you are.

I also noticed that almost everyone else I saw that far out was travelling with somebody.

I was not.

Excellent planning.

I’ve got some experience around bears.

Cougars are a different story.

My highly developed cougar-response strategy would probably involve shitting my pants, hitting Turbo mode on the bike and then possibly shitting my pants again.

Although, in fairness, I’m roughly 300 pounds and riding what appears to be the largest fat-tire e-bike ever constructed.

I have to imagine a cougar taking one look at the whole operation and thinking:

That seems like a lot of work.

Even if you take me down, how the hell are you getting me home?

And Then the Neo 2 Backed Into a Tree

Naturally, this remote little section of Vancouver Island was also where the Neo 2 decided to remind me that obstacle avoidance is not magic.

For a drone with collision avoidance, this thing sure collides with a lot of shit.

I stopped along the trail to get some tracking footage.

Pulled the drone out.

Launched it.

The camera found me and locked on.

Everything was going beautifully.

And then the Neo 2 started backing up.

Straight toward a tree.

I watched it happen.

Tree.

Drone.

Gravity.

Down into a little gully it went.

That’s super.

So now I’m kilometres from much of anything, standing beside a giant e-bike while my tiny flying camera is sitting somewhere down a bank.

At 25, climbing down there probably wouldn’t have registered.

At 51, you look down first and think:

Fuck. Now I have to go get that.

Pick It Up, Dust It Off, Carry On

I climbed down, retrieved the Neo 2 and gave it the highly technical Vancouver Island Drones post-crash inspection.

Still has all its pieces?

Yep.

Propellers approximately where DJI intended them to be?

Yep.

Turns on?

Yep.

Good enough.

I climbed back up, launched it again and carried on.

And then the stupid little thing proceeded to capture some of my favourite footage from the ride.

That’s the part I love.

Sooke Potholes From a Completely Different Perspective

The footage from the western section of the Goose has a completely different feel from the Selkirk Trestle.

At Selkirk, you’ve got the city, the Gorge, boats, waterfront and this beautiful old trestle beneath you.

Out near Sooke Potholes, it’s forest and rock and river.

If you know what you’re looking at, you can actually see part of the Potholes down on the right near the beginning of the footage.

Then the Neo 2 just follows along while I ride.

Again, there isn't much filmmaking happening on my end.

I’m riding my bike.

The drone is doing the complicated part.

And that's kind of the point.

This Is Where the Neo 2 Makes Sense

There are plenty of drones with better cameras.

I own one.

If I brought the Air 3S out there and deliberately set up some shots, I could absolutely come home with better aerial imagery.

But there’s a decent chance I wouldn't bring it on every ride.

The Neo 2 comes with me because bringing it requires almost no commitment.

Throw it in the saddlebag.

Go.

If I find something interesting, I have a drone.

If I don’t, it spends the day quietly bouncing around behind me.

There’s something really useful about a camera that doesn’t require you to plan your day around it.

It’s why I think the Neo 2 works so well for biking, hiking, family adventures and basically anything where flying a drone isn’t supposed to be the main event.

The Best Camera Might Be the One in the Saddlebag

The photographer in me obviously appreciates better sensors, better lenses and better image quality.

The practical side of me is starting to appreciate something else.

The best camera in the world doesn't capture much sitting at home.

The little camera you brought because it weighed almost nothing and didn’t require a controller might.

That’s where the Neo 2 keeps winning me over.

I don't necessarily head out thinking:

Today I am going to create drone content.

I head out because I want to ride somewhere.

Then I get there and think:

Holy shit, this is beautiful.

And suddenly there’s a flying camera in my saddlebag.

The Fat Guy Exploration Program Continues

Getting the e-bike has made me want to explore more of the trail systems around Victoria and the South Island.

There are places around here I’ve driven past for decades without ever really seeing.

Now I’m starting to work through them.

The Galloping Goose has been fantastic.

There’s still the Lochside Trail.

The E&N.

And plenty of other places where I can probably get myself farther into the woods than good judgement would ordinarily recommend.

I’m sure I’ll bring the Air 3S along eventually and do one of these rides as a proper aerial photography trip.

But there’s something really appealing about keeping it simple.

Fat guy.

Fat tires.

Tiny drone.

Go see where the trail leads.

Preferably without making me climb into another fucking gully.

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