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.
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@frank
Every true Cyclist should be expected to routinely ride more than 8 hours a in a day.
Sucks for big rides. I was hoping to be able to do a mid ride recharge during the Dirty Kanza (200 miles er.. 320 KM) this June but now it's back to the drawing board.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: full wallet in center pocket on all rides. I never know when I'll feel like swinging by the library and will need my borrower's card. I've used the same wallet since I started carrying one. Thin as, Velcro closure, doesn't come open.
I carry a Cateye wireless computer in my left jersey pocket. I like to track total time and distance, plus know how many KMs are on parts. This allows me to do that, while keeping my bars and stem clean.
I'm on a computer all day long. Being in the saddle is time to get away.
@Ron
Agree with the one wallet. I did the thin bike wallet and big main wallet for off bike life before.
But would find myself going to pay to cashier for a week's worth of food and debit card would be in other wallet.
I live almost on the Canadian / U.S. border it's easy to head across for nice riding roads and Mt Baker so I ride with my passport quite often and always worried about losing it on a ride.
@chuckp
Precisely!
I don't look at my Garmin Touring whilst riding as I can't focus on the screen without optical lens - and then I wouldn't be able to focus on the road ahead unless I fitted variable focus lens which are ridiculously expensive for my Rudi Rydon II shades.
I don't need a HR monitor - If my heart is beating faster than my cadence rate then I know I need to go steady! All I use the Garmin for is to figure out what route I just took at the end of the group ride cos I spend most of the time staring at the wheel in front in an effort to avoid being dropped.
@sowtondevil
I used a HRM back when it was still relatively new technology (late 80s/early 90s) and I was racing. Had utility to help keep you from overtraining by quantifying your thresholds and limits. Useful for individual efforts like a time trial. But more a sado-masochistic measuring device. On long climbs, seeing how long I could hold 180bpm and drop everyone. Or knowing you were about to explode and be left on the side of the road. I remember once seeing my heart rate go to 200bpm (not just a spike) and I didn't go into cardiac arrest. That was kinda cool.
FFS, what would Merckx say about all of this technology - BS? I only want the speed and the distance and the speed is never fast enough and the distance is never long enough. Take your next ride and leave the Garmin/phone/cyclometer at home. you'll see and hear more than ever before - and never miss a beat. PS - the world is not going to shut down if you aren't available for an hour. You aren't that important, neither am I. I don't own a cell phone - people can call me at work or at home, between that, I'm out riding and don't want to talk to you anyway.
I love my garmin! (and I'm not going to apologize for it, I don't even feel sorry for it)
Technically it's not my garmin. I bought it for my husband, and he bought me a camera. After three weeks we swapped.
Unlike most, I'm not really interested in speed (most of the time it's not even on the display), but I want to see my HR (and distance and time and then some other stuff just for fun (I like numbers)). Speed is useless, today I went along the river and there was 'a bit' of wind, 26km/h going out 37 km/h coming back. It's good the 26km/h wasn't on the display...
In general I have no problem killing myself, but I find it very difficult to retain myself. Most of my rides are scheduled training rides (not that I'm any good, hence the training), and then the HR is necessary. On the long(er) weekend-rides, I need the HR-monitor not to go too fast (which would be contra-productive, according the training-schedule-guy). It's not that I should continuously check it, but I'm supposed to glance at it from time to time (however trying to hang out with the big guys is so much more fun).
Also, let's be honest, the thing brought me to places which I would never have found by just following my nose...
As for my pockets:
left: ziplock with mini-pump, Co2, tire patch kit (with spare money, tire leavers, patches and dafalgan), mini-tool and spare food (which has melted and frozen and I really have to be desperate before I'm ever going to eat it)
middle: ziplock with money, card, house key and phone (with special ringtone for my husband, the rest I ignore) and a spare tire
right: food.
@bea
This post tapped into one aspect that can change my perspective on choosing a good cycle-computer. @bea “the thing brought me to places which I would never have found by just following my nose…” Building legitimate routes is not always a straight forward process, especially on gravel and forsaken roads.
@chuckp
Bullshit. Of course you can. If you can't roll over smoothly and maintain a steady pace you're not the shit-hot rider you think you are. There is always one jack hole who tries to pile on 4 or 5 kph when they roll over, which gives everyone the shits but that's just inattention and/or not knowing better. Seen riders with garmins, power meters, all sorts do it.
You need some sort of device to tell you how fast you’re going.
Nope.
SRM PC8... just go pro (and burn a hole in your wallet).