Cycling is a healthy sport, great cardio and low impact, especially on the knees. But, for me, another important part of this sport is getting out into the mountains, clearing my mind and taking photos.

Most of the photo taking is done with my mobile phone, which works for most situations, but it is nothing like bringing along a dedicated camera, with a larger sensor and better controls with manual options. The balance is finding a camera that is rugged enough and compact enough to meet those needs. The camera I had in mind needed to be significantly better than a mobile phone, otherwise for me, it is not worth the effort of carrying along extra gear. It is up to you where you draw the line for compromising size/weight. For me, the Ricoh GR was a perfect fit for this job.

At first, I tried putting the camera in one of my jersey pockets, but it was a little cumbersome to take out and put away when shooting on the fly. Then I tried a few over the shoulder strap options, but traditional over the shoulder camera straps are not designed to hold a camera in place while in a semi-tucked riding position. I ended up finding something called the Speed Strap from Mettle Cycling.

Clearly, this was designed by a photographer that happened to be a cyclist too. The strap is minimalistic and doesn’t interfere with the normal routines sitting in the saddle or getting up out of the saddle and going for it.

Now, finally, there’s a smart way of combing two of my favorite pastimes, cycling and photography.