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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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.
I just took delivery of a new Edge 500. It already has way more data options than I will ever need and I'll make darn sure it makes no sound. That said, I'm excited to start using it and trying to figure out what all that data means post ride. I may even ride with it in my jersey pocket if that will work.
Time, clock, distance, speed. Anything else is superfluous.
I admit I ride with my garmin alot when training. But when it's a big all day ride and especially somewhere new I either leave it at home or throw it in my back pocket because I do like seeing where I rode on a map once I get home.
I love riding on the motions and the emotions from the variables while out, being weather, scenery or gasbagging with mates.
@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
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.
@RedRanger
@Ben
I'm a dedicated 500 user and have chewed up and spit out a bunch of 'em. And awfully tempted to go to the 25. I can't see the damn things nowadays anyways when I'm riding. Cheers
Motorola running android..check
Strava app on said moto...check
Space in middle back pocket...check
Job done...all the data I could need, no frickin strava beeps to contend with (hence my love of solo rides) and none of the data viewed until home, bike cleaned and relaxing with a post ride recovery ale.
@Velodeluded
shouldn't that space be reserved for a mini pump and a small multi tool?
I've been dedicated to uploading every ride to TrainingPeaks/WKO for years so if I'm going to be away from home base for more than a day I take several Garmins just in case.