I'm trying to work out how to carry a scope on my bicycle in a way that lets me deploy it quickly, for birdwatching.
Aka quickscope cyclobirding.
At first I'd just stick the scope in a pannier and strap the tripod to the bike rack. But the tripod would rattle, and assembling scope and tripod at each stop is too slow. I want to be able to do many short stops.
My setup now is:
- Piece of foam cut to size, strapped to rack
- Scope strapped on top of that
It works surprisingly well but the strap is a bit fiddly and it's a little more wobbly than I'd like. The orange strap is not elastic so it can rattle loose a bit if it's not perfectly tied from the start.
I'll try to get some "Voile straps". They seem much better:
I'd also like to create some sort of "sideways roll cage" for the bike rack so I don't smash the scope if the bike falls over. Until then I'm just being extremely careful.
In general, cycling and birding go great together!
