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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frank says:

Dec 21 2015 at 7:38 pm

@Ben

Recently purchased a Garmin Edge 25. It’s small, wireless, cheap ($100ish) and tells me everything I need to know and nothing I don’t (speed and distance). It’s perfect. Except for the battery life, a mere 8 hours and you can’t recharge on the go.

What I want are less features and more battery life. If I get hopelessly lost, I can pull out my phone.

That is insane to me, a computer with less than an eight hour battery life. Every true Cyclist should be expected to routinely ride more than 8 hours a in a day.
frank says:

Dec 21 2015 at 7:42 pm

@RedRanger

You wrapped your bar tape backwards, and did you really put a RED Garmin on a V-painted bike?? So close. So far.

@Neil

Time, clock, distance, speed. Anything else is superfluous.

V, V, V. You know it when it happens. That is all you need to know.
freddy says:

Dec 21 2015 at 8:05 pm

Ditched the computer two years ago. iPhone in the middle back pocket logs my ride on Strava. I'm good...except for one thing: gauging the group speed when it's my turn at the front of the pace line. Thinking about a RFLKT or something else that works with my phone to display speed. My bike has ANT+ so that's another possibility. Am I going to hell?
Dave says:

Dec 21 2015 at 8:27 pm

The sleeper here is Suunto's Ambit line. I have the 2. #3 is current model. There is no equal, except maybe Garmin's Fenix, for customization and minimalist rules-compliant aesthetic. Most of the time the only thing on my screen is navigation.
Chipomarc says:

Dec 21 2015 at 8:50 pm

Nothing ruins a good bike ride as much as power meter going wacky.
Chipomarc says:

Dec 21 2015 at 8:54 pm

@Mikael Liddy

As someone who is prone to not feeling the phone buzz in my back pocket, the ability to see when the poop has hit the paddles with the Velominippers at home & my presence is required elsewhere is attractive.

So happy I'm retired, single, and have no friends = I really don't have to deal with incoming calls.
frank says:

Dec 21 2015 at 9:28 pm

@Velodeluded

@RedRanger

Nah.Lezyne sac with all I need in left pocket, sundry scoff in right, ALWAYS phone plus card in middle. If I load them any other way the ride ain’t going to feel right.

So funny. Pump, sealant, and allen in the middle along with ziploc with cards/cash. Phone in right, house key and - if I'm riding from home - garage door opener in left.

Longer rides, some food gets spread out along with it, but no food or keys in middle pocket with money; if circumstances dictate that I need to get into my middle pocket, circumstances allow that I make sure I hold onto the valuables.

I never carry any more gear than that. If I am on a remote enough ride to merit a tire, it gets toe-strapped to the saddle.
frank says:

Dec 21 2015 at 9:35 pm

@Barracuda

@frank I ride harder and faster with my Garmin 800 on my bike, BUT, I have more fun and less stress and enjoy the ride more without.

Says it all I think

This brings up my major problem with Strava, heart rate monitors, and power meters in the hands of people without the background or discipline to understand how to use them. (I'm not saying you're one of them, but I'm also not saying you're not!)

Strava and the segments and KOM's (which are widely misused as a term to describe more than just having the fastest time up a hill, FFS) promote rampant overuse of high intensity, never allowing for an easy ride up a climb without trying to go for a PR or KOM. It settles in and grabs hold of your competitive spirit.

HR and power are the same, so long as you don't have a good coach who can really help you understand your maximum and your thresholds, and then it all focuses on discipline and true - genuine - training. Which is a very cool, rewarding process and some of us have experienced it to great satisfaction.

But training is its own liberation; the liberty of riding untethered is something else entirely. The freedom to go butt-ass slow, or to lay down the five up a monster grinder just because the legs have a little Merckx in them that day.
frank says:

Dec 21 2015 at 9:39 pm

@Chipomarc

FFS. We are very far apart on this!

@Bruce Lee

I sure miss working out the best way to wrap, attach, and/or hire computer wires on a bike, said no one. Mounting a computer that included cadence was always a total PITA back in the day. Instead of just one wire to the sensor you had two. The only winner was the zip-tie companies ’cause dozens, hundreds died for the cause. Garmin is our friend, right?

I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords.

I have OCD, so I liked getting the cables perfect. Greg LeMond did not have OCD, and was happy to have his all fuqed up.
frank says:

Dec 21 2015 at 9:54 pm

@Major VVald

I mounted my Sigma underneath the handlebars so even if I wanted, I couldn’t look at it while I rode. Just like texting and driving, it’s just not a smart move while out thrashing the pave. I never needed a computer to tell me just how bad I’m sucking at that particular moment, I can feel it and immediately apply more V. Just cool to see if I set a PR for the route at the end of the ride, and what my top speed was. If I ever signed up for Strava I suppose it’d do the same thing, but then I might feel the need to Cat 6 everyone…naaah, I’ll just stay with the stupid computer.

Pro tip: slide your ID and credit card under your bibs on your left leg – stays there all ride and won’t fall out accidentally when you grab that last gel shot out of your jersey pocket. Plus you don’t have to look like a dorktastic contortionist as you try to extricate said credit card from your back pocket at the cafe for your espresso.

There is so much beauty in this, I don't know where to start, apart from suggesting that a credit card under the bibs seems wildly uncomfortable. I will try it.

@uptitus

I took my computer off years ago. Felt I was riding for the numbers, distracting my attention from the joy of the ride. What a liberating feeling! Don’t plan to go back. All that’s on the bike now is a Timex watch (no bands) stuck to the top tube (or the stem) to tell time of day and remind me when to drink (every 10 min or so). Never ride w/a cell phone, either. On return I trace my ride on MapMyRide and log the distance. That’s all I need. I’m free to focus on the ride, body mechanics, breathing, pedal stroke, position, form, etc. And I’ll claim my cycling has improved a lot since going sans computer.

I like this guy. The V is strong with him. (I only assume a male gender due to the use of the name 'uptitus'; a female would obviously be 'uptitae'. If that assumption is wrong, I apologize and also you should learn fake latin.)