Bicycle thread

[Stinez]

Does anyone sell a heart rate monitor that records over a longish period of time?

I'd love to overlay a heart rate chart over a Google maps route.

[fullmonte]

Originally Posted by RxZ

I only look at it when I stop for water.

You stop for water? Houston, we have a problem.

[k7]

Originally Posted by Stinez

Does anyone sell a heart rate monitor that records over a longish period of time?

I'd love to overlay a heart rate chart over a Google maps route.

I use a Garmin Edge 500 and download all of my data from it to the garmin site. That includes power, cadence, HR, speed, temp, etc. You can select two data sets and display them on connect.garmin.com as such:

[Stinez]

Originally Posted by k7

I use a Garmin Edge 500 and download all of my data from it to the garmin site. That includes power, cadence, HR, speed, temp, etc. You can select two data sets and display them on connect.garmin.com as such:

I'm not sure that I want to make that kind of financial commitment.

I do like the looks of some of the less costly options but I'm not sure I actually need one for what I do.

[k7]

Originally Posted by Stinez

I'm not sure that I want to make that kind of financial commitment.

I do like the looks of some of the less costly options but I'm not sure I actually need one for what I do.

I'm sure there are low cost HRM that will allow you to download the data but without a GPS, you won't be able to overlay the data on a Garmin map - you'd be missing the time/distance/position data. The Garmin does that very nicely, it's power-efficient and is reasonably weatherproof.

[rbrsddn]

+1 on the Garmin Edge 500. Definitely a good way to track your miles/progress throughout the year. I got the bundle with the cadence/speed and HRM, but haven't used the HRM yet. It provides a lot of useful data.

[RxZ]

Yeah, I use a Garmin watch with HRM. Kinda pricey, but like said, the only way to accurately overlay a GPS track with HR. Also, mine is good for about 7 hours of tracking. Found that out on a MTB ride this past summer I should not have been on

The first time I used mine on the bike, I was amazed that after about an hour of riding my average HR was 143. Sounds good, but based on my age it should have been in the mid-150s. Still a good workout, but the slightly higher heart rate is better at burning calories. Too high and you start burning protein, so that is why you want to monitor and keep it in a range.

[YakSpout]

Originally Posted by Stinez

I'm not sure that I want to make that kind of financial commitment.

I do like the looks of some of the less costly options but I'm not sure I actually need one for what I do.

Do you have an iPhone? There are ANT+ compatible adapters that will let you add a HRM and it will track during your ride with various apps.

Adapter for iPhone

There are a few ANT+ Android phones, but not many and there are no adapters at this time.

[k7]

Originally Posted by YakSpout

Do you have an iPhone? There are ANT+ compatible adapters that will let you add a HRM and it will track during your ride with various apps.

Adapter for iPhone

There are a few ANT+ Android phones, but not many and there are no adapters at this time.

Any experience with these apps, the add-on device and battery life?

[Stinez]

Originally Posted by YakSpout

Do you have an iPhone? There are ANT+ compatible adapters that will let you add a HRM and it will track during your ride with various apps.

Adapter for iPhone

There are a few ANT+ Android phones, but not many and there are no adapters at this time.

I have an android and just downloaded the instant heart rate app.

I'll play with it before going any further into the heart rate monitor direction.

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by Chisenhallw

I'll take a stab at it. I think the reason that you're getting resistance is because you asserted -

When perhaps a better way to say it would be 'Constantly chasing higher & higher average speeds isn't the best way to train for the type of racing I do'. Chasing averages is perfectly fine - it's just not the best for a given application. I get good results from using averages - I have a large amount of data over an 18 mile course that I have worked for almost a year now. Given enough sampling data, I can eliminate variables such as stoplights*, headwinds, etc, and narrow down the variables to things I can control. Works for me.

Its that too, but its still a bad way to train.

For the races I run and the level I'm at, this gives me results that don't require thousands of dollars in equipment or require me to coordinate with someone else's schedule.

That's because you're a TT/Tri guy. Average speed is where its at for y'all. Max steady state riding = good for you. You don't need to worry about anything else. Best way to screw up a triathlete? Vary the pace a bunch. Especially make em chase you down.

I rode with a pro triathlete once. Sonofagun could hold right at XXmph (I don't remember how fast, but it hurt!) for hours. Uphill, downhill didn't matter. He didn't have anything else except that one speed. It was a heckova speed, but that was his one trick.

Likewise, for a given training environment, Strava is perfectly fine.

I liken Strava to loud pipes on cuisers. 'hey lookit ME!! I got a KOM!' The only positive I see out of it is if you use Strava as a benchmark to hit on specific training days for specific reasons. Otherwise, if you wanna race, race.

Every time we have this fight, it's because one group touts its racing & training methodology over another - when it's comparing apples to oranges. We train to perform in different circumstances. This makes different methods useless for comparison.

See above about TT/tri guys and their riding. What works for y'all won't work for anyone racing anything else except maybe mtn biking and to a lesser extent cross.

* - If Gummee & I ever did ride together, his head would explode in 5 seconds. Because following the 'rules' in Baltimore will, absolutely will, get you killed. Besides - everybody knows tri-dorks have no manners.

Doubt my head'll explode. I can and have ridden in the city. Its a different skill set than riding out here in the cowfields. ...and yeah, triathletes typically are NOT cyclists. Keep those aero bars away from me! I've ridden with Emilio DeSoto and some of his friends too. I was expecting a bunch of out of control wankers but what I found were a group of decent cyclists that knew 'the rules.' So it ain't all of em.

Originally Posted by K7

Second best option would be the author that Gummee noted, Joe Friel and his book. I assume he meant The Power Meter Handbook. You can read an sample from it here.

Another resource is Training and Racing with a Power Meter.

I'm talking about the 'generic' training book: the Cyclist's Training Bible. I actually don't have a power meter other than the one on my Cateye Psychostimulator. ...and I can't see that AND the time at the same time right now. Gotta download the manual and see if I can't change some data fields around.

M

[Oznerol]

Originally Posted by k7

Any experience with these apps, the add-on device and battery life?

I've got an HRM strap and ANT iPhone widget from Wahoo. It works well. I actually use it with RunKeeper, rather than the Wahoo app. I don't recall noticing a big impact on battery life.

In practice, though, I almost never remember to actually use the thing.

[YakSpout]

Originally Posted by k7

Any experience with these apps, the add-on device and battery life?

Nope. I had an iPhone and used MapMyRide for a couple years then dumped ATT asap and switched to Android and Strava, which really doesn't do ANT except on a few phones. About the time I went from casual metric century rider to "I'd like to be able to keep up with my fast friends," I picked up a Garmin Edge 500 and that was my first HRM experience. The Garmin will run for a couple of loooong rides before it needs a charge and the sensor batteries seem to last as long as any other cyclometer sensors.

[Aurelius]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

I liken Strava to loud pipes on cuisers. 'hey lookit ME!! I got a KOM!' The only positive I see out of it is if you use Strava as a benchmark to hit on specific training days for specific reasons. Otherwise, if you wanna race, race.

Your head remains firmly buried in the sand on this point, Gummee. Your comparison to loud pipes couldn't be further off the mark. Loud pipes do nothing but harm your hearing. Strava allows riders of all levels to track their performance and assess their abilities. It allows you to monitor your heart rate, the energy you've expended in watts, and the total calories burned. It also shows you the areas where your performance is strong and where it's weak. By comparing my times on certain segments to those of other riders, I can see that I'm very strong when it comes to outright speed of flat grades. I'm in the middle of the pack on climbs and on technical trails, so these are the areas I need to devote more time to. I wouldn't be aware of any of this if it weren't for Strava. As for the allure of setting personal records, what exactly is wrong with that? Setting goals is what drives people to improve their abilities and achieve things they never would have thought possible at the outset. Why you continue to insist that only certain goals (i.e. race results) are legitimate is beyond me. The very fact that you need to make non-sensical comparisons to loud pipes shows that your opposition to Strava is devoid of any rational justification.

[ducnut]

The local pro triathlete. He does annual clinics, at the LBS. But, no longer competes at our local TT.