Bike-commute day 95—to home

Monday, 24 October 2011

I had driven to work in the morning, and so I pulled my bike from the car for the evening ride. My start at 18:07 was later than it should have been. I knew that it would be well into dusk when I would arrive home.

My Garmin device began losing its signal below Riverscape and continued to do so through the rest of the ride. I wondered if something had happened to one of the satellites, but realized only at the end of the ride that the wheel magnet had swiveled to perpendicular with the wheel. Its position was too distant to be adequately registering my speed, and without speed in my Lotus setup, the device assumes I've stopped. So it stops.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 60 to 65°F at 17:45
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 to 10 from the northwest
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: (elapsed) 00:43:20 for 11.95 miles
Heart rate: 135 bpm HRave, 148 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 4 cyclists, 11 pedestrians, 4 dogs
Playback of the ride

Bike-commute day 84—to home

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

I must be out of practice. Though I had put on the HR monitor as I was changing for the commute, it still wasn't well seated for the first mile or so of the ride. During that time, its reading was often as low as 45 bpm. So today's HR readings are skewed.

Further down the road, I stopped at the Gulf station to buy a lottery ticket. PJ, the daytime cashier, was training a new cashier, and he had to go through the steps of placing a recurring entry by scanning the previous ticket. (And I didn't win a release from the work world.)

I had stopped my Garmin to buy the tickets—or so I thought. I tapped the stop/start button as I resumed my ride, but didn't verify that it was registering speed. But what actually happened: I failed to press the stop/start button before buying the lottery ticket, and my press to restart actually stopped the device. I noticed the mistake only shortly before the first checkpoint, so the recording lost about 4 minutes of riding time.

Even with a day of intermittent sun, the bikeway was still damp under the dense canopy between Linden and Burkhardt, but otherwise the way was dry and only lightly travelled..

Ride conditions
Temperature: 74 to 79°F at 17:35
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph variable
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 00:47:23 for 11.95 miles
Heart rate: 118 bpm HRave, 148 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 14 cyclists, 16 pedestrians, 3 dogs
Playback of the ride

Bike-commute day 75—to gym and home

Friday, 26 August 2011

My commute home was some four hours earlier than usual. Kodak has announced new austerity measures that preclude working and billing for overtime. Since I had already put in five hours in late evenings through the week, I was advised to take the afternoon off in lieu of billing for overtime.

I left the Garmin device on while doing my 8-exercise weight training. The result was a confusion of spikes and lows in HR counterposed with strangely fluctuating speeds from 0 to3 mph.

At my third checkpoint, I left the bikeway to grab an iced coffee at Press so I would have sufficient energy to do a bit of gardening before the evening shadows lengthened..

Ride conditions
Temperature: 77 to 82°F at 12:45
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 10 mph, variable
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 01:16:179:27 for 18.32 miles
Heart rate: 122 bpm HRave, 152 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 5 cyclists, 9 pedestrians, 1 dog
Playback of the ride

Bike-commute day 40—to home

Monday, 20 June 2011.

I joked with Joe, our floors janitor, "I hope you arranged for my dry ride home today." He assured me that it was all paid for.

Such is the power of paying for the weather. It was sprinkling as I stepped outside.

But the light rain let up almost as soon as I reached the crossing of Research Boulevard, and I had only the wet pavement to navigate as carefully as possible. Avoid the lane markings, especially the white paint. It's usually much slicker than even the yellow stripes. And once on the bikeway at Spaulding, even the painted markings diminished to the areas preceding the intersections across the streets.

I had fully recharged the Garmin device, and it functioned well, even with the heavy cloud cover. I skipped out on a side trip to the gym, in case the coming rain advanced more quickly than I guessed from the weather radar. After I cleared the bikeway under the canopy, the way was dry. So about 50% was wet or damp, and half was easily navigated.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 71 to 74°F at 16:45
Precipitation: moderate rainfall between 10 a.m. and noon, isolated showers in the afternoon, wet bikeway for about 50%
Winds: calm
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves.
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time:  00:44:22 for 12.00 miles
Heart rate: 117 bpm average, 141 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 4 cyclists, 7 pedestrians, 1 dog
Here is a playback of the ride.

Bike-commute day 19—to work

Recently the City of Dayton released its 2025 Bicycle Action Plan, and it asked for comments to be sent to Andrew Rodney. Among my suggestions, I asked that the city establish alternative, designated routes that are parallel to the bikeways and can be used during river flooding or bridge construction. I would hope, in implementing this suggestion, that the street department would install facilities that make the alternate routes safer than they already are.

For the most part, these routes already exist, though they are not designated or in much use by cyclists. For example, these parallel routes already exist near the bikeway that typically is flooded during high water:

• East Monument Avenue parallels the Mad River Bikeway from Irwin Street west to North Patterson Boulevard.
• The Riverwalk and a gravel path parallel the Great Miami River from North Patterson Boulevard to the Monument Avenue Bridge.
• An unnamed delivery street parallels the Great Miami River south from Washington Street to Veterans' Park near Stewart Street.
• East River Road in Moraine parallels the Great Miami River south from Carillon Boulevard to the point where the river-level bikeway rises to join East River Road.
• North Alex Road parallels the Great Miami River in West Carrollton.
• North Miami Street parallels the Great Miami River in Miamisburg.

Not all of these are contiguous, and some construction is needed to make them so. But the existing routing needs little more than a marking system or curbing system that makes sharing the road safe.


My energy level on today's ride was fairly low. The 705 device worked well until 38:08 into the ride, when the 705 went to autopause for no reason. (I remember that just prior to the shift to autopause, a loose twig got picked up in the rear wheel, at the cadence sensor, and that I looked town to check that it was clearing from the wheel.) I lost data from just south of Linden Avenue through just south of Woodbine. I turned off the device, waited 10 seconds, turned it on, and waited for acquisition of satellite information before resuming. This restart caused an additional lap time (split 4).

Ride conditions
Temperature: 34 to 41°F at 06:45
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the east
Clothing: 2-layer top, 2-layer bottom; ankle socks. Full-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: between 00:46:25 and 0:57:00 for 12.00 miles
Heart rate:124 bpm average, 142 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 2 pedestrians, 2 cyclists
Here is a playback of the ride. 4th Garmin day.

Note about the illustration
The line drawings were published online and captured by me during the playback. The video provides stills from The Art of Frank Patterson by Horace F. Button, which was published 1952 by Temple Press, Ltd.

Bike-commute day 18—gym and home

Chuck emailed me soon after I posted this morning's commute, "Is the new gadgetgizmo broken already?"

I can't answer yes or no. The gizmo works great ...some of the time. When it failed—again—during my afternoon ride, it did so again while there was fairly heavy cloud cover. I also noticed that it dropped into autopause once while I was standing on the pedals, leaning forward. I'll try to reposition the mount, move it more forward, but I can't do anything about the cloud cover. Except ride only on clear, sunny days. See the bike leaning against the wall? Maybe that's my steed on the majority of days in Dayton, waiting for the sun.

The essential question remains: should the 705 be so sensitive, so reliant on a GPS signal at a given moment that it must autopause so readily and frequently?

Ride conditions
Temperature: 50 to 54°F at 17:36
Precipitation: none
Winds: 0 to 5 mph from the southeast
Clothing: 2-layer top, skinsuit; ankle socks. open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850 hybrid
Time: about 01:06:00 for about 16 miles
Bikeway users: 5 cyclists, 5 pedestrians
3rd Garmin day. Playback.

Bike-commute day 18—to work

Impatience has been my work for the past couple weeks. Only three days where it wasn't raining and I could ride, and I wasted one perfectly good day because I had errands to run in preparation for an Easter-weekend trip.

Today's ride showed some limitations of the Edge 705. At about 14 minutes into the ride, the 'puter began to auto-pause, even though I was riding without a stop. I tried to restart it by pressing the start/stop button, to no avail. Even turned the 'puter off once. Still no help. I suspect that the GPS signals weren't making it through the heavy cloud cover. But that's just a suspicion. I tried to reset the 'puter off the auto-pause, but I couldn't find the control in the software's menu structure.

The path was mostly dry from home through Eastwood Park, but then the way was consistently wet for the remainder of the ride. My slower speed reflects the caution I needed for the wet and for often stopping to attempt another fix for the auto-pause.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 41 to 44°F at 07:00
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the east
Clothing: 2-layer top, 2-layer bottom; ankle socks. Full-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: between 00:44 and 0:59 for 12.00 miles
Heart rate:124 bpm average, 142 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 2 pedestrians, 1 cyclist
Here is a playback of the ride. 3rd Garmin day, cadence installed

Bike-commute day 17—gym and home

The shining, bright sky outside my cube window beckoned. Fleecy cumulus suggested a cool breeze. How much I wished work ends at 4 p.m. My co-worker Kay slipped on her jacket, said, "It's five o'clock somewhere," and headed off to her weekend

This afternoon ride was a test of how the Garmin Edge 705 treats a long period of quiet in the middle of a ride. I left the 'puter live in my bag, unable to receive GPS connections, while I worked out at the Cardinal Fitness gym.The result was OK, but it could have been better. This technique keeps all the information together in one ride, of course. The details of speed, elevation, heart rate, and cadence seem fine—without indication of the pause—when viewed with an x-axis of moving time or distance. But using the x-axis of time reveals the pause with a calm portion of a sinewave that shows a curving rise from the stopping point to resuming the ride.

This break fails to record the weight training as a contributor to the period of exercise, and, while the 705 is on but inactive with a heart monitor alarm on, the 'puter makes a frequent alert to its presence. I think for now I will create a break in the ride, and allow it to record as two separate activities.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 57 to 66°F at 15:57
Precipitation: none
Winds: 0 to 5 mph from the west
Clothing: 2-layer top, skinsuit; ankle socks. open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850 hybrid
Time: 00:44:50 for 10.74 miles
Bikeway users: TBD
2nd Garmin day. Playback.

Bike-commute day 17—to work

What a nice ride! Today two motorists stopped at a crossing to let me negotiate the intersection. The first was at Airway, the second at Woodbine.


Ride conditions
Temperature: 45 to 47°F at 07:10
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 mph from the west
Clothing: 2-layer top, 1-layer bottom; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 00:46:11 for 12.00 miles
Heart rate:135 bpm average, 154 bpm maximum
Bikeway users: 1 pedestrian
Here is a playback of the ride. 2nd Garmin day, cadence installed

Bike-commute day 16—home

Ride conditions
Temperature: 57 to 63°F at 17:43
Precipitation: intermittent rain, usually light
Winds: 10 to 15 mph from the west
Clothing: 2-layer top, skinsuit; ankle socks. open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850 hybrid
Time: 00:44:50 for 10.74 miles
Bikeway users: none

Split information Note that I forgot to press Start until I reached the turn from Spaulding onto the bikeway.

Bike-commute day 16—to work

Ahhhh. The first day of cycling weather (that didn't have necessary errands or a dicey weather forecast) in two weeks!

Since my last bike-commute, I bought and installed a Garmin Edge 705 cycling computer that is GPS-enabled and with a heart rate monitor and cadence-speed sensor. For further product information:

• The Garmin sales site offers the basic device+HR for $500, +HR+cadence at $550, +HR+cadence+topo at $600, and +HR+cadence+street at $650.
• I purchased my device at a 40% discount at Amazon.com. I researched lower prices considerably, and one site had a lower price, although they had no 705s in stock.
• I'm able to use the device without maps for now, since my riding is in familiar territory. 
• I'm looking for the best deals on mapping to load to the device. Since I plan to use the device in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, California, and perhaps Arizona and Pennsylvania, the mapping may become fairly expensive. 
• Selecting the mapping add-ons is likely the most complex part of using the device, with options for road riding, trail riding, and geographic location.
• Setup took an evening, including charging the main device, setting up an online account for keeping statistics on my rides, setting up the main device, installing the device mounts on two bikes, and figuring out the mounting of the cadence sensor.
• I'm having trouble for the moment installing the cadence-speed sensor on my Trek hybrid, because the sensor doesn't seem to span the distance between the cadence magnet on the crank arm and the speed magnet on a rear-wheel spoke. I've contacted Garmin support online, which promised a reply in 3 days. This is the 2nd day of waiting for the reply. —There's no such trouble for the cadence-speed sensor on my Lotus fixed-gear. The trail bike may have a similar problem.

I've been riding—I'm beginning to think limping along—without a cyclometer (cycling computer) for about 3 years. Since my racing days, I've relied on a computer to help me keep track of mileage and timings. I also used a heart rate monitor while I was racing, ever trying to develop my stamina and capacity. But my last cyclometer failed when its cabling broke down and severed the connection between the speed sensor and the computer on the stem.

The cyclometers always failed first in the cabling. As the cabling on each bike successively failed, I thought then that keeping track of ride statistics was just giving in to a tendency toward obsessive-compulsive activity. I counteracted by giving in to inertia, and decided not to fulfill either a need or a desire to repair the computers.

But I've missed the statistics, and I've been ready to feed my OCD for some time. Back when the first cyclometer failed, wireless devices were beginning to be available, but they were pricey. Like all technology, prices have been coming down while features were piling on. Since last Autumn, when I decided it was time to upgrade to a wireless cyclometer, I've been searching out and comparing the many brands and models available. I finally decided on the Garmin 705 when I found it available at steep discounts that made its price more competitive with other brands that had fewer features.

Today's ride now is documented thoroughly with little effort. Before today, I kept refreshing the list of timings, memorizing them as I rode from home to work and from work to home. But today's ride had no memory work, other than the reminder to press LAP as I passed each established checkpoint. I could focus instead on whether I was really pushing the edge of what I could do, since I had set an alarm to indicate when my heart beat below 136 bpm or above 167 bpm. (I never heard that "too high" alarm today. Gotta find out what it sounds like some day soon.)

Then, at my desk after a shower, I plugged in the USB cable from the 705 to my computer, accessed my account at Garmin's site, and downloaded the commute data. The data crunching is instantaneous and immediately understandable.

Route with charts of all statistics and graphs of speed, elevation, and heart rate along an axis of time. You can also display the graphs of speed, elevation, and heart rate along an axis of distance or timed movement (tosses out those seconds or minutes spent at stop lights).

Chart of split statistics.

Route with a graphed comparison of speed and elevation. A playback of the entire ride moves red markers through the chart and through the route, while the momentary readings of time, distance, elevation, speed, and heart rate vary at the bottom.

 Route with a graphed comparison of speed and heart. A playback of the ride is also available here.



Ride conditions
Temperature: 45 to 48°F at 07:50, 52 to 55°F at 11:00
Precipitation: none
Winds: 10 to 15 mph, gusts to 20 mph from the south
Clothing: 2-layer top, 1-layer bottom; ankle socks. Open-finger gloves.
Bike: Trek 850
Time: 00:46:26 for 11.94 miles
Bikeway users: 2 pedestrians, 1 dog
1st Garmin day