Adding A Speedometer To Your Bike Touring Videos

Adding A Speedometer To Your Bike Touring Videos

A few weeks ago, when I was obsessing over electric unicycles, I found a video that showed a really cool speedometer overlay that showed how fast the unit was going as the video was playing.

It was really cool to see the speed match up with the pace of the video! It made the video a bit more interesting to watch as you can see where the rider slowed down or picked up his pace.

I then decided to find out how they did it and discovered that it wasn’t all that hard. In fact, it was pretty easy!

And here I was thinking about rigging up another camera dedicated to watching a GPS (before I lost mine) or iPhone as I descend down another mountain. Luckily, there’s a way to do this in post edit.

The Tools

You will need the following things.

  1. A camera. Preferably an action camera like a GoPro or even a Garmin Virb if you have one. Be sure you have this mounted to capture the moment.
  2. A GPS that syncs with Strava or Strava app installed on your iPhone.
  3. The Garmin Virb Edit software. Download it here.

The Process

This is what you’ll need to do to make all this work.

  1. You will need to ride your bike.
  2. When you’re ready to capture the ride footage with speed data, turn your camera on.
  3. Start your GPS or Strava app if it isn’t already started.
  4. Do a couple of loops in order to use it as a way to sync both the footage and GPX file.
  5. Ride to your heart’s content!
  6. When you’re done, stop the video.
  7. Stop Strava app or stop your GPS.
  8. Download the video footage to your computer.
  9. Upload your Strava activity online or sync your GPS to Strava.com.
  10. Log into Strava from your computer and click on your new activity.
  11. Select the little wrench icon on the left hand side of the page and select “Export GPX”. This will download the GPX file for your ride.
  12. Stat Virb Edit.
  13. Sync the video footage with the GPX data.
  14. Add your speedometer and other overlay if you have it, such as a heart monitor or cadence. None of which I have.
  15. Export your video.
  16. Enjoy!

Share & Comment

Pretty cool, huh? Now I can finally show you guys how fast/slow I’m really going down these hills.

If you found this useful, share this with friends or let me know in the comments below. I’d like to hear from you if you’ve tried it as well.

Happy rolling (on your bike and camera)!

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