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!!!!

Of Time Zones and Application Interfaces

From the title you might think this post has something to do with my day job where I am frequently testing applications in various scenarios to make sure they perform as intended.  That is not the case, though.  This has to do with how my data is being displayed for a ride I did Monday evening.

You see, there were some family matters to attend to and since I was running short on sleep I didn't get up and get my ride in before work on Monday. In fact I didn't get in in right after work, either.  I eventually got my ride in at 10:34 pm on Monday.  Now I didn't go far, being so late.  Nor was I out long - the ride was only about 9 minutes. I did get my ride in for the day, though.

I uploaded the data to Daily Mile, Plus 3 and Strava with no issues.  I also uploaded it to Map My Ride which interfaces with the National Bike Challenge to track my progress.  Everything looked good until I went back into the site on Tuesday and it showed that while the ride was on 6/23, it posted to 6/24.  Looking at the National Bike Challenge as well, it showed I had missed the ride on 6/23.

I went back into Map My Ride and attempted to make a change to show the ride on the 23rd.  Unfortunately when I made the change it moved the ride to the 22nd.  I changed it a second time and now it displays correctly in Map My Ride, but from what I understand is that once the data from a ride is uploaded and synced to the National Bike Challenge site, it cannot be changed "for the integrity of the contest."

So I am now left with an empty day where I did in fact ride.  I wrote to the support people at the National Bike Challenge but I know they are going to tell me the fault lies with Map My Ride.  I also wrote the support people at Map My Ride, but don't have high hopes of a resolution.

Is this a big deal in the overall scheme of things - no, not at all, its just that one day stands out like a sore thumb in the midst of all the other days in a row that I've ridden, which at this point stands at 40 days in a row with just under 100 miles in my personal challenge.

Get On Your Bikes and RIDE!!!!!!!

Early morning ride

Got up at 3:35 this morning to get in a nice longer ride.  In fact this was my longest ride so far this year.  That's not saying a lot, except that I am starting to increase my mileage. I needed a longer ride to make sure I will be ready for Saturday's 20 mile Tour De Cure (Hey, if you haven't donated, how about slipping them $10 or more HERE?).  Its too bad I couldn't start when I want to, which would be about 5:00 am to try and stay out of the heat.

OK, anyone familiar with the schedule for Saturday will say I could, in fact start early.  As early as 5:30 am, but only if I'm doing one of the longer distances.  I'm not, so my start time will be 8:30.  That's still significantly earlier than last year.

This morning I knew i had to go at least 10 miles which represented half the stated distance for Saturday's ride. So I set the alarm to get up at 3:55 so I would have to ride, cool down and post the ride to my various websites (Daily Mile, Strava, Plus3, Map My Ride) and then get showered an to work at a reasonable time.  Now, astute readers will note the difference between my alarm and the time I actually got up.  I knew that if I tried to get that last 20 minutes of sleep, I was putting the morning's ride in jeopardy.  So, when I woke up 20 minutes early, I just got up and started getting ready.

For some reason knowing that I was up early had me taking my time to get ready and out the door.  I ended up on the bike about the same time as it would have been if I had gotten up at 3:55.  Funny how that works.  Anyway, by 4:08 according to my Garmin, I started pedaling.  The temperature was in the low 60's with a NNE wind of 10 gusting to 18 mph.  Not too bad, except the direction.

I felt good as I got into my rhythm and completed the first lap around my usual morning training loop.  On the second lap I decided I needed to change things up a little and did my longer loop.  I was still feeling good and looking at my Strava report of the ride I see I actually did my third fastest time on the long loop. Not too bad.  I continued mixing it up between the 2 loops trying to take my mind off the fact that my arms and shoulders were feeling it this morning for some reason.  By the 8 mile mark I was also starting to feel it in my saddle area.  I know its from a lack of saddle time.  I wanted to stop at this point, but knew I needed to keep going to put in the distance.

I did push through 3 more laps and ended with a total of 11.67 miles this morning and an average speed of 12.9 mph.  Not too bad at all.  Have I ridden faster and farther?  Sure I have, but this tells me I can manage to get through the ride on Saturday.

Have any big rides planned for your weekend?

Get on your bikes and ride!!!!

Riding weather is here

Saturday was a sunny day, with highs around 82 degrees and almost no wind.  Not a bad day at all to get out on the bike.  So as I was sitting in the house thinking about riding, I got up, changed and headed out on my bike.  I thoroughly enjoyed my ride.  It wasn't far, only 8.3 miles, nor was it fast, but I got out there and I enjoyed it!

This morning I got out again before work.  The weather was again wonderful - temperature around 70 degrees, almost no wind.  I had my alarm set for 4:00 am as usual when I get out before work.  It went off and I didn't even hesitate, I got right up and started getting ready.  Shorts, jersey, socks and headed downstairs and grabbed my Garmin.  I have a Forerunner 305 which I've had for 3 1/2 years now.  I love it, but the last couple of times I've used it, I had to wait almost 5 minutes for it to acquire the satellites and be ready to go. I'm wondering if it might be time to start looking at a new device.

After getting a stick of gum, I headed out to the garage and put on my shoes.  I then topped off my tires.  It amazes me how the low volume of air, losses pressure so fast.  They were up to 84 psi on Saturday.  This morning I had to pump them up from about 72 psi.  Once I had them up to pressure, I grabbed my helmet and gloves, hit the opener and headed out to get ready to ride.  I started my Garmin, put on my gear, turned on my lights and waited for the Garmin to be ready.

And waited. And waited.  It was almost 6 minutes before the Garmin finally showed that it was ready to go.  I had debated just using my phone and Strava, DailyMile or MapMyRide to record the details of this morning's efforts, but decided to wait it out since i wanted to update all 3 sites with the data.

Yes, I am on all 3 sites, plus a fourth called Plus 3 where logging my rides earns money for charities.

Fortunately once it found the satellites, it performed flawlessly and recorded my ride.

The ride itself was uneventful.  I was feeling it a bit after 5 laps and had to push through to make the 8 I completed.  The interesting part was that it wasn't my legs so much that felt it, but my arms and hands.  I guess I'm just not used to riding as much as I should be.  That will change as I am riding the next 3 mornings as well as at least one day over the weekend.  I plan to repeat the morning rides next week in preparation for the Tour De Cure on May 3rd.

I hope the weather is improving in your area and that you were able to get out and ride as well.

Remember, eat better and get on your bike and ride!