Categories: Defining MomentsNostalgiaTechnology

On Rule #74: Going Unplugged

If rider A rides 30kph toward rider B who is riding 22kmp, at what time with they lay down The V?

I think the most exciting Christmas present I ever received as a child was an Avocet 30 in what must have been 1989. Being in Minnesota and it being December, it meant my bike was going nowhere near the road any time soon, so I kept the silver dollar-sized computer in my pocket wherever I went, just so I could look at it, touch it, and imagine how much I was going to look like Greg LeMond now that I had this computer. My heart broke a little bit that next summer when I realized he had abandoned the Avocet in favor of a Ciclomaster CM34 with a built in gradient meter and altimeter. Perhaps this signalled the beginning of the end of my love affair with data on my bike; it faded almost as soon as it had begun.

I have a Garmin 810 which I use primarily on rides with whose routes I’m unfamiliar, or on any gravel ride in the mountains for safety reasons. It makes me feel like I’m riding with my iPhone on my handlebars. It probably has Facebook on it. While riding, it serves as a constant distraction; how much have I climbed, how much longer is the climb, where is the next turn. Even when I know a turn is coming up and precisely where it is, I still find myself distracted by the little changes on the screen as the directions flicker across.

The background noise serves as constant static between me and the sanctity of the ride, always there simmering just below the surface. What bothers me about it is that these questions are raised by the availability of the data, not by a need to have the questions answered. Brad Wiggins reportedly crashed out of the Giro d’Italia because he was staring at his power meter data, wondering if it was accurate. This was not a relevant question to be asking when descending a mountain pass in the rain.

Riding is one of the few opportunities we have where we can escape the internet, data, and the noise of our daily lives. Data has its place in Cycling, but there is an undeniable liberation in untethering and riding just for the sake of riding.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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Oli says:

Dec 23 2015 at 9:36 pm

@edster99

Nope, that's completely wrong it means the overlap on the drops is arse-backwards and the tape will roll and look shit in short order. No matter what way you wrap your tape don't ever wrap it top to bottom...at least not if you want any sort of Velominati cred whatsoever.
Chipomarc says:

Dec 23 2015 at 10:45 pm

@Oli

Nope, that’s completely wrong it means the overlap on the drops is arse-backwards and the tape will roll and look shit in short order. No matter what way you wrap your tape don’t ever wrap it top to bottom…at least not if you want any sort of Velominati cred whatsoever.

Agree with with you Oli.

Shouldn't be any question on taping bars. Back in 1986 Steve Snowling's book shows the correct way how to tape bars. Always from the bottom up.
pistard says:

Dec 23 2015 at 10:59 pm

@Oli

I hear your toilets flush the wrong direction too.

We used to change direction at the levers, overhand on the drops then underhand on the tops. Modern wrap doesn't creep so much, but I still put a layer of hockey tape down first: shit ain't going nowhere.
RobSandy says:

Dec 24 2015 at 1:15 am

@edster99

There’s a reason electrical tape is called electrical tape. It’s because it is used for electrical jobs, FFS! Start at the middle, tape to the bar ends, seal in place with the plugs. What is WRONG with you people !!!

Whoa, whoa whoa...everything else I've seen/read says start from the bar ends. Start from the middle of the bars and finish at the ends? Wow.

Seductive, the dark side is.
Oli says:

Dec 24 2015 at 4:33 am

@Chipomarc

But what would Steve Snowling know? He does it the same way as Frank!
Chipomarc says:

Dec 24 2015 at 9:34 am

Anyway, time to get back on topic - which was the benefits of training with a power meter and uploading data to WKO
Haldy says:

Dec 24 2015 at 10:51 am

@Chipomarc

Anyway, time to get back on topic – which was the benefits of training with a power meter and uploading data to WKO

Jeez..think he can get Pandora on one of those?
frank says:

Dec 24 2015 at 11:12 am

@Haldy

@Chipomarc

Anyway, time to get back on topic – which was the benefits of training with a power meter and uploading data to WKO

Jeez..think he can get Pandora on one of those?

I bet the numbers never match! A rider with one number is always sure. A rider with two numbers is never sure.
frank says:

Dec 24 2015 at 11:22 am

@Oli

@edster99

Nope, that’s completely wrong it means the overlap on the drops is arse-backwards and the tape will roll and look shit in short order. No matter what way you wrap your tape don’t ever wrap it top to bottom…at least not if you want any sort of Velominati cred whatsoever.

Finally we can agree on something!

Just as a matter of course, I slapped some Benotto tape on the bars of my Bianchi for a while in the summer. I wrapped those your way because they don't have adhesive. New tape has adhesive so the unwinding this is irrelevant. I've never had a tape job unwind, and I've done my fair share of trying to rip the bars off going uphill.
Chipomarc says:

Dec 24 2015 at 11:28 am

@frank

@Haldy

@Chipomarc

Anyway, time to get back on topic – which was the benefits of training with a power meter and uploading data to WKO

Jeez..think he can get Pandora on one of those?

I bet the numbers never match! A rider with one number is always sure. A rider with two numbers is never sure.

That's why you should always ride with three computers and do a running average as you go.