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 I am late. Again. January 1 was 19 days ago. But, as the saying goes, better late than not at all. Or never. I do not like to use that word, so not at all seems the more applicable usage. 

Those of you who have been following the RCVman saga for the last two decades or so, have the pretext, but in case you missed it, here is how it all started. Round about 2006 or so I was hired by a Seattle company, RacerMate, Inc, manufacturers of the CompuTrainer indoor training system, to create their new instructional videos. And to assist at various events, mostly Ironman Trithlons, doing demonstrations at the event Expos. In 2006 at the incredible Ironman Canada race weekend in Pentiction, BC, Canada, I had the idea to film the entire 112 mile one-loop bike course and show it at our booth at the Expo, sped up 75% or so, to see it all in one quick viewing. After a full day at the expo, capturing the 112 miles, and then doing post production in our Motel room, by the next morning it was ready for presentation to the tri world. 

And it was a hit. Drawing crowds to see this new bit of video intel. The signature climb of this famous course runs past Richter Pass and up Yellow Lake. Here, the course elevation changes significantly providing a serious challenge to Pros and Age Groupers alike. I am riding the CT at the Expo and watching the video again as I had created an endless loop to play continually for the ten hours we were 'live' under the bigtop. My partner at the event, Roger, was engaged with several potential customers when a neighboring vendor, Frank Day, creator of Power Cranks, comes over, watches a bit and then says to me, with a hint of secrecy, how cool it would be to shoot the video on race day with all the hay bales, cones, volunteers, and road closures in frame. AND, he continued, if you captured GPS elevation gain and loss data as you film, your code team could conceivably marry the two so the end user would actually feel what you see on screen. One could practice on the exact course that one would be racing on come the next year. My initial reaction was something close to...

FUCK YES!

We are excitedly riffing on all the possibilities when up walks the IMC Event Director Graham Fraser. He takes one look at what we are doing, immediately 'gets it' and says 'very cool' or the Canadian equivalent thereof. A long sleepless night saw us back at the final day of the expo. I had long prior paid my $500 entry fee and was ready to race, but I had another card to play.

First thing at the expo I asked the whereabouts of Graham and went to visit. Keep in mind that the day before an Ironman event the host RD is busy. To put it mildly. Graham gave me five minutes to make my case, which was, natch, give me a Press Pass for the race tomorrow so we can film the course, capture GPS and create the prototype product. 

Graham. What are you going to call it?

Me. Haven't got that far, I'll consider it as we shoot.

Graham. You need to stay 15 minutes ahead of the lead rider.

Me. Can do.

Graham. I thought you were going to race?

Me. I was, but this is more important.

Graham. Hummm. What's in it for us? 

Me. However we format it, how about 5% of every sale? Or 10% of after break even gross. 

Graham. 10% and you have a deal.

Me. WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A PRODUCT YET!

Graham. OK, 8.5% You will sell a ton of whatever you call 'em.

Me. (Playing hard-ball just for the fun of it) This is a gift, you have zero risk, we do all the work. But, Hummm, yeah well, OK. What do we gotta do?

Graham. Go see Roch and he'll get you credentialed and ready to go. We already have it set up.

Me. You dog. 

Graham. Don't fuck it up.

Me. Do I get a rain check on my entry fee for next year? 

Graham. I'll think about it as you shoot.

Laughter.

And a product soon (by mile 56) to be called CompuTrainer Real Course Video was born unto a rabid audience calling themselves Tri-Geeks. 

Over the course of the following fifteen years, we would produce over fifty RCVs, and I would travel the planet capturing high-profile events partnered with Ironman Inc, as the RCVman.

This happy story, although slowed by growing pains, rain, and other assorted challenges, would come to a screeching halt in 2020 at the start of COVID. That was five years ago.

But what happened, you may ask, to all the video shot over that, stretching it to max, 25 years? It has been in storage, safe and mostly sound. What to do with it? There are really only three options. 1) Sell or license it to someone, 2) Toss it, or 3) Digitize it. 

Is there a Tri-Geek Ken Burns out there? Dunno. I don't have the heart to take the sixteen huge Pelican cases to the dump. Leaving option three as the most likely candidate. 

Me. Do you know how long that would take? The storage necessary? And then what? Do you really think you could, in your spare time (0) do a, what, documentary on it? 

Clock ticks off screen. 

FUCK.

Voice of Reason. Torch it. 

Me. Shut the fuck up Donny.

Voice of Rationality. Let it go. Move on. Most of it was crap anyway.

Me. You bastards, have you no faith? Fuck you both, I'm gonna...do...it. 

Silence.

Me. Thinking in thought bubble. FUCK. 

Voice of Reason and Voice of Rationality in two part harmony. Don't be a fo...ooo...ol. 

Me. Nope, The creative imperative and my faith in the artistic process will get me through, and somehow, someway this project will, one day, see a glorious and euphoric completion on a big screen somewhere. 

Silence.

Me: So stand back and hold my beer. Here we go. 

A canon blasts. 

That was on Sept 12 of last year. Since that monumental afternoon I have logged 67 pages of notes, transcoded over one hundred and fifty eighty-three minute Hi-Def cassette tapes into 6TB of storage, watching every frame along the way and all the while following along on my associated blog posts for back story and anecdotal reference. 

It has already been (another) wild ride. I'm excited about it. There are a few gems in every tape. Enough, I believe, to compile into a fun visual and tell a compelling story of that particular twenty-five years, an RCV Jubilee!!

Heck, just this morning I was in Kona, Lanzarote, Nice and Coeur d' Alene. I shot a lot of B-Roll at every event, interviewing the stars of the day and their amature counterparts in many exotic locations. This is the start of the narrative. Welcome aboard. 

I am so glad, right now anyway, that I won that debate.  If won is the right usage. 

And I think it is.