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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azryder says:

Dec 22 2015 at 2:21 pm

I have a Cateye Strada Slim. I try to find the smallest usable computer I could. I like to see what time it is(is this a 1 hr ride or 3?), and in general what speed I am managing, so as to keep it consistent, but rarely ever look at any other function.

I run with Strava on the iphone, back in the jersey, tucked away. Never look at it, until the ride is all done. End Ride.

Most of the people who are Garmin enabled do seem to be too plugged in. And the wanks with an iphone 6 on the bars should get a good talking too. Ridiculous. They couldn't find the "V-way" with all the help in the world.
DeKerr says:

Dec 22 2015 at 2:26 pm

@chuckp

@frank

When you go to the front of the line, just keep the rhythm. The pressure in your legs will be different but it is the same as riding on a flat and maintaining speed up a false flat; you just apply some more pressure to the pedals and keep the legs turning over as they were.

The data in this case is really just the result – train your body to feel what it takes to shift between an incline or taking the wind on the shoulder. It can become very intuitive.

If you’re riding with experienced racers and you’re all familiar with each other, I’d agree you can do this. But I honestly don’t think this works for most “average” riders on most “average” group rides.

But then again, this isn't a community for "average" riders, is it? Now before anyone gets too pissy with that statement...

A Velominatus welcomes all cyclists but is observant of Rule #3 when doing so. Part of the way of the cyclist is learning how to use the V-meter (and avoid whatever the hell @Chipomarc has going on in that photo up there). Can you feel whether or not you are going XX.xx km/h? Probably not, but you can feel how deeply you are drawing on the V-bank and for how long you can sustain that withdrawal.

So far, the only thing valuable a head unit has every told me is what I already knew by listening to my legs and lungs.
Barracuda says:

Dec 22 2015 at 4:22 pm

@frank

@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.

You're right, I'm both !
emerson says:

Dec 22 2015 at 4:29 pm

If a rider continues to rely on a computer and never developed a feeling for estimating speed and distance, then of course it is not a good idea to ride on feel with any group. Developing a proven feeling for time versus distance allows a rider to intercept and chase on effort alone, without actually seeing any other rider(s) up the road. I hope that you agree with this ChuckP.
Barracuda says:

Dec 22 2015 at 4:31 pm

No amount of Data or beeps from my Garmin was going to let me catch this prick last night !
DavyMuur says:

Dec 22 2015 at 4:52 pm

I'm pretty sure that bicycles are around a little bit longer than speedos, hrms, power meters etc. It is possible to ride on the front, or simply enjoy/experience your ride without any of that shit. Speed, HR, watts... It's all relative!

On a lighter note; does anyone else think that froome is the image of Jimmy Somerville (of bronski beat/communards)?
DavyMuur says:

Dec 22 2015 at 5:11 pm

P.s. I forgot to namedrop all my kit. I use a very compact gps unit and sensors to record my shit. But when I'm on the bike, I'm on the bike. I try to concentrate on not falling down.
frank says:

Dec 22 2015 at 5:42 pm

@Veni, vidi , et cecidi birota

First post, been vouyering a long while (is that a word)

Over 20 years have used many varieties of speed, cadence, HR etc etc, even a heads up unit.

In the end I figured I dont need any of it. If I cant remember a ride I will go back n do it again. Alhzeimers is wonderfull, I go new places n have a new wife everday. No racing anymore so not trying to prove my V commitment.

I abide by most of the rules and try hard everyday to do better.

Cheers one n all

Welcome sir!
chuckp says:

Dec 22 2015 at 5:44 pm

@minion

@chuckp

@freddy

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?

Nothing worse than someone on a group ride who doesn’t know what speed the group is riding (even if the group is just two or three of you) and tries to do it based on “feel.” Sorry, but you can’t “feel” speed.

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.

If I tell you to ride at xx mph, you can do that based on "feel"? I seriously doubt it. And a one mph difference makes a difference. That's my only point. Per one of my other posts, if you're riding with a bunch of other experienced riders and you all have more or less the same experience, then fine. Y'all ought to be able to ride together perfectly well. But that's not most riders or most rides ... speaking generally ... not speaking to you or this group.
frank says:

Dec 22 2015 at 5:44 pm

@RedRanger

If you go the other way it makes a V. What you did is technically the right way but do you really want one of your three contact points to be Anti-V?

@Oli

@frank

The tape is totally the right way.