How I Film Road Bike Rides with GoPros and Edit on Mac Mini
Most weekends, I’m out riding. Sometimes it’s me and a buddy. Other days, it’s a small crew—five to ten of us rotating and pulling. And now and then, it’s a bigger group roll-out from one of the local bike shops. We hit the usual: Key Biscayne at sunrise, Robert Is Here, the stretch up to Riviera Beach. The rides are therapy. Filming them just captures the motion.
Here’s how I do it without overcomplicating anything.
The Setup: Two GoPros, Front and Rear
I keep it simple: two GoPros (Hero 12 Black), one mounted up front underneath my Wahoo Bolt, the other under the saddle or saddle stem. That gives me both forward motion and a clean rear view—perfect for group rides and catching drafting lines, breakaways, or those tight moments when the group gets spicy.
Both cameras shoot in 5.3K at 24 fps, with 10-bit color turned on. Everything else stays default—no flat profiles, over-sharpening or over-tuning. I want the footage to look how the ride felt: clear, fast, real.
The detailed settings…
Video: Standard
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 5.3K
Color: Natural
Raw Audio: Off
Wind: Auto
Shutter: Auto (unless you use ND filter, in which case you can sync it with your fps, of example 1/48 at 24fps)
EV Comp: 0
White Balance: Auto
ISO Min: 100
ISO Max: 1600
Sharpness: Medium
Lens: Linear
Hypersmooth: Off for Neewer 1.2 anamorphic, On for regular GoPro lens
ProTune: On
Encoding: 10-bit
Optional: Anamorphic Lens for Extra Width and 16:9 format
Sometimes I’ll throw on a Neewer 1.2x anamorphic lens on the front and back GoPro (see photos above). It stretches the field of view a bit and brings in a little more light and road. It’s got a raw, gritty feel—something between skate video and handheld doc. Great flares as well. But when I use it, I always turn off HyperSmooth—the stabilization otherwise results in warping.
Editing: Fast Cuts, Real Pace
Once I’m back, everything goes into DaVinci Resolve on a Mac mini M4 base model. It handles the high-res clips fine, no lag. I don’t spend hours color grading or adding effects, just some simple preset transitions.
• Scenes are 4 to 6 seconds max—keeps it tight and lets me sync to music easier.
• I edit to the beat of a specific song, something that rolls like the ride. I usually have the specific song picked before editing.
• Final video stays under 120 seconds. No filler. Just rhythm, motion, and light.
Where We Ride
It’s mostly Miami and South Florida. Key Biscayne is the go-to, but we’ll head south to Homestead (Robert is Here) or swing north for 100-mile ride to West Palm or further. Depending on the weekend, I might be riding tempo with a friend, rotating pulls in a tight group of ten, or hanging on with one of the faster shop rides.
Why I Film
I don’t film to make something cinematic. I film to remember the ride. There’s something about the sound of the tires, the wind off the causeway, the buzz of the pack—that’s hard to explain but easy to feel when you watch it back.
The footage doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to move.