SaintViper's Journal, 09 March 2011

CONGRATS!! BTW, were you able to view my rides from the links I posted in my journal? 

Thanks! I was starting to wonder if I could get much under 200. I should see 180's soon which is really exciting. It should be enough to make a huge difference in my cycling this summer. Not to mention if feels great not to be carrying a full bag of softer salt around everywhere I go. I see your maps and ride reports. Those are pretty nice. I get something similar from my Android phone using Google My Tracks. The report isn't as nice or as detailed as yours, but it's not bad. I like it because they're all stored on my phone and I can look at them any time. They also sync to my Google docs with a single touch which is nice. I imagine you have a couple extra steps using your Garmin to get the data onto the web like that. Nice rides too. 18.5 average speed for the race is not bad. 15.5 on a ride where you climb a mountain isn't too shabby either. 

I have the app on my phone but have never used it. Just too much drain on the battery plus there's no way I'm going to carry my phone with me during a race. And I can't get heartrate or cadence etc from my phone. The Garmin is actually really easy. No extra steps. It automatically downloads all the data and puts it into all of those wonderful charts, maps, and details for me. The ride on friday probably could have been faster but I was really just testing the waters, seeing how I felt, if I could go that far, and knowing that I had the race on Sunday I didn't want to blow myself out of the water. I was pleased with the speed while still have juice left for sunday. You're gonna love the 180's! :-) 

Took another look at your report and it looks like if I want to use the Garmin site, I can upload gpx files from my phone to it. I wouldn't have heart rate or cadence info but it would be free. That Garmin you have looks like a pretty serious training tool. I'll have to look at how my riding goes to see if having something like that would justify the expense. It does look very impressive though. 

It is a pretty sweet gizmo. It's certainly the most expensive multi sport type one. For you, you might want to consider the cycling only ones with uploadable maps etc. That way you could have your routes already loaded and basically have a gps readout telling you how to navigate each turn if you want to try a new ride. That's what my bro wants. But this one worked for me because it did running and swimming too. I haven't been brave enough to wear it in the pool yet. It does tend to calculate caloric burn quite low in my opinion but I just take that with a grain of salt and an extra handful of almond m&m's and call it good. :) There are cheaper versions that are very similar to mine (mainly they just don't go swimming with you) and people love them just as well. I also found it REALLY pays to shop around....or if you do get serious, I could probably get you one for much less through my contacts as a sponsored rider....when you get to looking and pricing things out, give me a shout. 

ah, that would be cool. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks!