Bike-commute day 93—to home

Tuesday, 11 October 2011

Day 92, top, graph of cadence (orange) and
heart rate (red) compared to day 93, bottom.

After I was shown how to do it, it seems easy to keep a steady, high pace through the evening commute. Not that the pace equals that of two drafting each other, but there were fewer times of letting up the intensity, and the periods of lower intensity were shorter than on my previous solo rides.

The comparison is interesting in this regard. Yesterday (top) while drafting, my cadence was higher than today, averaging 95 rpm versus 85 rpm in the first leg for example. My heart rate was also higher yesterday, but not as markedly increased as the cadence, averaging 140 bpm versus 137 bpm. A couple spikes in the HR indicate where I took the lead yesterday from Burkhardt to Airway.

For the most part, both graphs fit well to my typical commute. The seven street crossings typically result in a sudden drop of cadence and slowing of heart rate. From Airway to the west gate of Eastwood Park, my cadence and heart rate fluctuate widely with the increased turns and shifts in elevation. Then on the Mad River bikeway, my effort evens out until I pass Riverscape and climb the ramp to Monument Avenue.The final portion, on residential streets with lots of stop signs, also typically has fluctuating cadence and heart rate.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 74 to 78°F at 18:00
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the south and east
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 00:40:06 for 11.96 miles
Heart rate: 135 bpm HRave, 147 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 20 cyclists, 31 pedestrians, 4 dogs
Playback of the ride

Bike-commute day 67—to home

Monday, 15 August 2011

I left work very late—leaving my desk at 18:45, as the ever-earlier sunset rules me now. And as I rushed from the locker room in my cycling kit, Dave Stephens asked me as he approached the exit also, "What are those things on the bottom of your shoes?"

I lifted my heel as I held momentarily at the door. "It's a kind of cleat that mates to the pedals on my bike. Here, I'll show you at the bike rack."

I led him outside to my waiting bike, and then twirled the Shimano pedal. "The pedal is the same on both sides, for easy clipping in."

"Oh, so you can pull up as well as push down on the stroke!"

"Well, actually so I can apply power throughout the stroke, not only up and down, but also pulling back at the bottom of the stroke, and using the full circle of movement to apply power."

"Well that makes sense, to tie your leg to the machine."

"But that's not the only way to make the man-machine more efficient. You see the gears? It's just one gear on this bike, and it's a fixed gear—there's no coasting. When I pedal, the bike moves. And if I would happen to pedal backwards, that's the direction I would go."

By this time, I had turned on the Garmin, clipped it onto its pedestal, unlocked and recurled my padlock cable. I pulled the bike our of the rack and set it beside me, ready for the hop on.

"Well," Dave said, "I have to take the top down on my convertible. And you have the top down all the time, perfect for a day like this." He headed on to his waiting auto.

I gave Dave a whoop of a goodby and a wave. We were both looking forward to the commute home.

So with this fresh reminder of the importance of a circular, fluid stroke, I had additional power against the north winds that had open stretches to build their strength for the short ride along Spaulding Road before I turned into the Haverfield Canopy. I wondered if Dave's engineering background would incite thoughts of how the man-machine efficiency I experience compares to the power and joy of driving his vehicle.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 76 to 82°F at 18:15
Precipitation: none
Winds: 5 to 10 mph from the northwest
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 00:41:09 for 11.95 miles
Heart rate: 135 bpm HRave, 152 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 30 cyclists, 17 pedestrians, 1 dog
Playback of the ride

Bike-commute day 67—to work

Monday, 15 August 2011

By the time I reached the concrete embankment on the Mad River, I thought, Well it's Monday, so there's no point in aching over the time or cadence or heart rate. And as soon as thought, I glanced at the Garmin device to check my speed, cadence, time, and heart rate. I was pleasantly surprised that all were a level above my typical ride last week.

Ride conditions
Temperature: 64 to 66°F at 07:25
Precipitation: none
Winds: calm to 5 mph from the south
Clothing: Skinsuit, ankle socks, open-finger gloves
Bike: Lotus Legend fixed gear
Time: 00:41:35 for 11.93 miles
Heart rate: 132 bpm HRave, 154 bpm HRmax
Bikeway users: 4 cyclists, 4 pedestrians, 1 dog
Playback of the ride

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