I hadn't really thought about a video camera changing the way I ride, after all, how could it? The camera had been a present at Christmas, and I was going to use it primarily for filming mountain bike jaunts. Popping it onto the bars of the daily commuter was almost an afterthought, but one which went along the lines of thinking, "well, if anything happens at least I'll have it on camera."

It wasn't until last month when a reader emailed with a link to his videos on YouTube, and commented on how having the camera on the bike filled him almost with a sense of calm when riding that I began to think about how the couple of months had been for me with a camera on-board.

And I had to admit that it had changed my outlook to a certain extent.

I was never the most vocal of outraged cyclists, seeking confrontation for acts of random stupidity by motorists, pedestrians or other cyclists. The worst I could be expected to impart was a slow shake of the head and perhaps a steely glower. I think I once half-heartedly declared my frustration at a cyclist jumping a red light, and a couple of times chased cars to the next lights to find out why they had beeped at me (in both instances it simply seems to have been because I was in/on the road).

With the camera on the bike I seemed, without noticing, to have adopted a calmer approach to even my admittedly low-key annoyance. Knowing that I possibly had the incident on 'tape' meant that I let the instance go, safe in the knowledge that I could show anyone exactly what happened, and would likely be able to read the number plate, and easily tell the make and colour of a vehicle.

Wht is even more strange is that I'm not sure I've really done anything more with this information than look at it afterwards and confirm that I wasn't being stupid, but was rather the victim of some daft, impatient, or potentially dangerous action of another.