The wonders of technology

Technology is a wonderful thing. We have so many devices around us that work, essentially, flawlessly that we take them for granted.  Case in point. I have a Garmin Forerunner 305 that I purchased when I was training for my first ever triathlon back in 2010.  It is almost 5 years old at this point. Except for the one or two times I've screwed up hitting buttons incorrectly, it has performed essentially flawlessly for me.

It dutifully records my time, distance and actual track that I take when I do my rides.  I can then, through the wonders of that same technology we take for granted, upload and share that information with the world through sites like Daily Mile, Map My Ride and Strava.  I can also participate in a monumental group ride of sorts like the National Bike Challenge.

Now, like I said, this is something that we take for granted.  I put my Garmin in the cradle, plug it into my computer and magically it uploads the data for me.

This morning it has let me down.  I uploaded the data from my ride and while it does show the time and distance of my ride, that real wonder, the actual track of the ride is blank. No matter what I do it appears that the track file on the device has been corrupted and therefore is unusable for any of the applications that I link it with.

Now, I never believe that something isn't going to work the first time it doesn't.  I've tried deleting and re-importing the data from the device but to no avail.  I've tried loading it directly to various sites, including Garmin Connect, but again no luck.

This leaves me with what feels like an emptiness, a hole in my training.  Up to this point I had this nice, what I felt was essentially complete record of my rides and now it feels like its ruined.

OK, its not that bad.  When put in perspective it means nothing that I don't have the actual track I rode for a training ride around essentially the same course that I've ridden hundreds of time previously.

I do hope that this is but a singular glitch and will reset and clear out the Garmin in preparation for my next ride.

Get on your bike and ride!!!!