GPS as Bicycle Computer

Posted on 2006-03-18 by frank

This morning I went on my first ride with the Garmin Edge 305. It collects cadence, speed, heart rate, and position, and saves them for upload and analysis on the computer after you’re done exercising. So far I’m pleased with it. I’ve been waffling for years on getting GPS, and also on getting a bicycle computer with a cadence sensor. It was nice to be able to kill two birds with one stone with the Edge 305.

The unit it surprisingly small. It’s about the same size as my Motorola flip phone, and feels a lot lighter. The display is easy to read in all light conditions, including bright sunlight. The data it collects is also quite spiffy as displayed on MotionBased, though I suspect I’m also going to want to also save a copy of the raw data locally so I can mess with it myself. I bet you could do some interesting analysis in a pretty app using Core Data and and maybe Core Image.

I have only two minor complaints, and am hopeful both of them could be addressed in a software update. First, and more importantly, the unit doesn’t provide the capability to inspect current position, or the position of a waypoint, so there’s no way to pinpoint your location on a paper map using this bicycle computer. Seems like that would be an easy thing to add, especially since the Forerunner units appear to have this ability, and the software for these seems nearly identical. Second, and this is just a minor quibble from my years of using Cateye bicycle computers and being used to their features, I like my current speed display to have a little arrow showing whether I’m above or below my average pace. This unit has the ability to display both average and current speed, but that’s a little bit more than I want to see when I’m riding; I just want to know if I’m off the pace.

When I’ve used the Edge 305 for a while, I’ll try some of the more advanced features, like uploading a previously-ridden route to race against myself.

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GPS Killer App

Posted on 2006-03-13 by frank

I love maps, I work with GIS-like applications nearly every day, and I’ve always been fascinated by GPS, but never quite enough to spend the money to buy one. This weekend I got an email from one of the Sunday riders, and it’s launched these semi-related interests from passive to full-on geek/gadget/cycling gear fetish in under 10 seconds.

At present I have a simple bicycle computer that tracks my speed and distance, and a simple heart rate monitor that logs my level of effort. After my rides, I manually enter these data in a spreadsheet of my own creation. I’d always been satisfied with this arrangement, until I saw the grass on the other side of the fence, and is it ever green!

Randy has got a Garmin Forerunner 301. Check out the integration MotionBased has achieved with this thing — all I’d have to do is buy a GPS, place it on my bike or my person, and ride like I normally do, and instead of capturing two separate but related data and entering them manually in to my spreadsheet, I connect the GPS to my personal computer and the results magically show up a webpage where everyone can see how hard I’ve been working, or how aggresively I’ve been slacking! Brilliant! If I haven’t caved in and bought one by then, this thing is DEFINITELY tops on my Christmas list.

Updated 2006-03-14 17:18:

I’ve been doing some research on these units. There are some concerns about battery life on a long ride, but a MotionBased employee has a good DIY solution that looks small enough for the bike. There are also commercial solutions available, but that’s not nearly as interesting.

I also don’t know whether I would want to get heart rate data and cadence from one of these units. I already have heart rate data from my Polar HRM; would I care enough about it to pay an extra $100 to track the heart rate and cadence over time, or would just the course and tracking features of the GPS be good enough when augmented with the average and max heart rate data from my current HRM?

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Did I say “moderate effort?”

Posted on 2006-03-12 by frank

Well my very logical explanation of keeping my efforts moderate early in the season didn’t survive my first real group ride of the year. Last year it was sometimes a frustrating exercise to get a group together for a ride, so I started a Columbia County Rides Mailing Listccrides. So far this year it’s batting a thousand — did I mention I love mixing metaphors? Yesterday afternoon I asked if anyone wanted to ride this morning, and ended up joining a group of three friends who were already planning a ride. One of them was supposed to be recovering from a Century they rode yesterday, and another said he’s only been on his bike once a month since Autumn, and assured me there would be slow people there. I had no idea they were referring to me!

I wasn’t really THAT slow, but the pace was higher than mine has been lately, and I put in a hard effort for 33 miles to keep up with them. That last couple of miles I finally dropped off the back far enough they had to wait for me at turns, so I decided to call it a day and take the most direct route back to Patriot’s Park, while they kept going for another 8 miles or so.

On a side note, I sometimes like to snack on Fig Newtons while on a ride. They’re relatively healthy for a cookie, except for their usage of partially hydrogenated oils, which I’m sure they use to lenghten the shelf life. Anyway, I’ve learned from experience, if you like to bring more than one kind of small snack food on a ride, the Fig Newtons should have their own bag. Almonds aren’t very good with a Fig Newton crust.

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Does the Tour of California have a suggestion box?

Posted on 2006-03-12 by frank

I really did enjoy the Tour of California, especially the daily television coverage, something the Tour de Georgia could stand to add. I don’t want to sound too much like I’m complaining about having another high-quality stage race on this side of the pond, but the race wasn’t hard enough for the outcome to be much in doubt after the time trial.

My family and I have watched at least two stages of each edition of the Tour of Georgia so far, and their formula of a penultimate grueling slog of a climbing stage makes for a very exciting short stage race!

So let’s have another Tour of California, but use some of those big mountains to make it really hard. I read a letter on Cyclingnews that suggested a stage in Death Valley, and I for one think it’s a fantastic idea.

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Go Floyd!

Posted on 2006-03-11 by frank

The Tour of California was pretty interesting to watch. I wonder if it’s the comentators, Phil, Paul, and Bob, who always like to pick a favorite before a race, or whether the television sponsors make them do it? All the talk until after the time trial stage was Levi this, Levi that, oh yeah and weren’t there some other riders here, too?

The decisive beating Floyd Landis dished out during that time trial was apparently a sign of some great form and a great team, as he is currently also leading Paris-Nice with only one day remaining.

It’s really good to see, because I’ve been very worried about Phonak’s ability to hang together and field a great team after all the messiness with Tyler, Perez, and Camenzind. Floyd was winning the Tour de Georgia last year riding to Brasstown Bald, and I’m not cycle-racer enough to know whether it was Floyd who lost it or whether his team just wasn’t strong enough to support him, but either way, they lost the race that day.

Andrea and I have been following Floyd closely for a couple years now, since chatting with him a little and getting his autograph at the inaugural edition of the Tour de Georgia in 2004. Anyway Floyd, I agree with Fatty about the goatee, but don’t worry, we’re rooting for you anyway!

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