Ditching the Data

[Cicli]

I ditched the computer and just wear a watch.
I dont even take a cell phone anymore. Screw it, I am an adult and can figure things out.
I do carry a road ID.

[Imaking20]

I had a couple great years training and racing with power. I learned a lot about pacing myself and relating numbers to certain sensations. Then I got injured and every time I'd ride, looking at my power seemed to do more harm than good. So off it went.
Over the winter, I was having some issues with my 520 so I didn't have it on my bike for quite awhile. I put it back on last month, realized I'd come to enjoy not having anything line of sight, and yanked it back off. Now I'm just riding with my vivoactive - so I get to keep track of stuff but it's no longer a focal point. I'm loving it... I'm sure I'll switch it up again at some point.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by Imaking20

I learned a lot about pacing myself and relating numbers to certain sensations.

I was experiencing this on my long ride yesterday - I'd harbor a guess, then glance over at my Garmin 230 watch - yep, 21mph.. At some point you get used to feeling it through the tires and wind and gearing.

It was nice to have a reminder though to eat and drink by way of the watch. I tend to forget that until the gauge is flashing empty - not a good thing on a 90* day where you're lined up for 100 miles solo... I don't need that staring at me from my bars though.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

I was experiencing this on my long ride yesterday - I'd harbor a guess, then glance over at my Garmin 230 watch - yep, 21mph.. At some point you get used to feeling it through the tires and wind and gearing.

It was nice to have a reminder though to eat and drink by way of the watch. I tend to forget that until the gauge is flashing empty - not a good thing on a 90* day where you're lined up for 100 miles solo... I don't need that staring at me from my bars though.

And all this time I was using hunger and thirst...

[Cicli]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

And all this time I was using hunger and thirst...

No kidding.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by Repack Rider

I wrote a satirical piece 30 years ago on this subject that might have been written by the OP.

Looks like I was ahead of my time.

That is one timeless piece of writing. It will still ring true 30 years from now.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by Cicli

No kidding.

Well, I tend to not be hungry/thirsty until a few hours in and then get myself behind...with not fun results. Same thing would happen to me on 2+ hr runs.

[rePhil]

As an old guy who rides for fun and doesn't race I don't keep a ride journal.
Saying that, I do keep a daily weight log weighing in the first thing every morning.

[bironi]

The fun meter is in your mind.

[Drmojo]

I raced with a buddy who did not even wear a WATCH
I had the bug in the late 80's early 90's
never again
the metrics change your thinking
I think as little as possible while riding
no GPS either
I enjoy getting lost without any electronic "assistance"

[benb]

Good thread.. I was thinking about this yesterday.

I've been in full on "every ride is intervals based on power" mode for a year and a half or so.. Last season I paid for coaching cause I had a reason to, and it all worked out pretty well. This season I don't have any real reason to be training like that, didn't pay for coaching, and all the intervals just seem to be good for is making me exhausted and burnt out.

I'm away from home this weekend, and brought my MTB as I needed to be able to pull my son in his weehoo (so couldn't bring my Domane) and my All City Space Horse was down for the count.

No power meter on the mountain bike. I had my Garmin but yesterday I went for a ride on the MTB, completely ignored all pacing, warmup/cool down, intervals, etc.. and just went out and explored. I left the Garmin on the map screen the whole time. I rode around looking for dirt trails I'd never seen, got myself semi-lost and then told the Garmin to get me back to the start.

It was a really good ride!

I don't know if I remove the power meters, but maybe time to hide the readout while riding and just record.

[wasfast]

I think there's a natural arc of involvement with data in general.

1) Basic Cyclometer that shows speed, distance and time
2) Get a more feature laden control device with GPS and heartrate
3) Add a powermeter and all the learnings that are necessary to use it.
4) Grow weary of obsessing over watts versus PE versus HR, downloading your data and living on Golden Cheetah.
5) Sell the powermeter but keep HR
6) Leave the strap at home and just use the control head for distance, time, etc
7) Start just riding your bike and leave the electronics at home.

I'm somewhere around 6 or 7 depending on the day.

[martl]

i'm someone who can use a computer/logging rides for motivation. It is easier to skip a ride because "the weather" or "i don't really feel like it" when there isn't a spreadsheet to fill (and marvel at). Yes, i'm a lazy guy who needs motivation.

On the other hand, there are two things: One is the Dictatorship Of the USB Charger, especially with all those new IoT gizmos that grow on kickstarter like fungi.

The other is the terror-regime of the "average speed". I prefer the pace of my rides to be determined by other things. Group ride leaders who make the ride for some group members uncomfortable because the average is not yet 30.0 but a mere 28.8 have seen me for the last time.

I once had a Sigma which would give you a tiny "+" or "-" indicating your current speed was above or below the avg so far. That little bugger was always there, in every view one chose, so no opt-out by willpower here. This thing should be added to the Geneva Convention as a torture instrument (i fixed the issue with a tiny spot of gaffer tape).

now i use a cellphone for emergencies and snapshots, and a map. Very occasionally a GPS.

[unterhausen]

I got tired of my speedometer a while back and took it off. I use a GPS for navigation. I look at speed sometimes, but I don't really know what to make of it. I wish I could turn the data collection off, because that's where all of Garmin's bugs are, at least on my 800. I was on a 400km brevet last weekend, and I just wanted to be done.
Looked at my speed and it wasn't anywhere near what I was hoping.
But I wasn't going to push any harder after 220 miles and with 30 hard miles left to go. Perceived level of effort is what it's about as far as I'm concerned, but it helps to have that based on an understanding of what power levels roughly correspond to that effort. If I had a power meter on my randonneuring bike, it would mostly be there to tell me to back off, and only rarely to tell me to put more effort in.

Originally Posted by benb

I've been in full on "every ride is intervals based on power" mode for a year and a half or so.. Last season I paid for coaching cause I had a reason to, and it all worked out pretty well. This season I don't have any real reason to be training like that, didn't pay for coaching, and all the intervals just seem to be good for is making me exhausted and burnt out.

I'm curious if your coach recommended that you make every ride an interval workout. For me, this would quickly lead to a downward spiral where recovery would take a while.

My performance wasn't quite what I was hoping this year, but it certainly improved due to working with power. The improvement was due more to having a structured training plan, the data just informs that plan. Having said that, the only data I have is on Trainerroad.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by wasfast

I think there's a natural arc of involvement with data in general.



1) Basic Cyclometer that shows speed, distance and time

2) Get a more feature laden control device with GPS and heartrate

3) Add a powermeter and all the learnings that are necessary to use it.

4) Grow weary of obsessing over watts versus PE versus HR, downloading your data and living on Golden Cheetah.

5) Sell the powermeter but keep HR

6) Leave the strap at home and just use the control head for distance, time, etc

7) Start just riding your bike and leave the electronics at home.



I'm somewhere around 6 or 7 depending on the day.

I think I took the cutoff and went straight from (2) to (6)