Ditching the Data

[Stealth]

I've been riding more and more solo these days and paying less and less attention to the numbers on my computer. for so many years it seems the feedback from the computer was important but lately I've been getting the urge to pull all electronics off of my bike. has anybody else taking the plunge into "feel" only riding and eliminated any type of data feedback?

[Hilltopperny]

I did about 3 years ago. I ride solo 99.9% of the time and don't necessarily feel the need to collect data anymore. I don't race and ride for the exercise and enjoyment. I have a general idea of the kind of miles I put in and the time it takes me. I don't really miss the computer or data.

[cachagua]

That would be me, no electronics. I like riding by feel because it's the feeling of riding that I've always enjoyed. Data from instruments is an abstraction from the experience -- a substitution of the part for the whole. It's way too easy for the data to become an end in itself, and overshadow the experience.

All the same, I might put an Avocet 20 on one bike if I could find one... those were nicely crafted.

[Clean39T]

Have been in and out of this recently.

At the moment I have Strava Beacon running on my phone in the jersey pocket (my wife is a bit of a worrier - and I don't blame her given all the news lately of riders getting run over)...and a Garmin 230 on my wrist, but nothing in my line of sight. I like being able to check time/distance when I have somewhere to get back to on time. And I've still been strapping up my HRM and sometimes have my watch just showing HR to help me get better at pacing my climbing to stay out of the red-zone. I do love just generally cruising along with no distractions on the bars and losing sense of time/space, which is what I really need some days..

All that said, I've got a SRM sitting on the parts shelf and a Garmin 520 on order - still deciding if I want to use them or not - the Garmin for mapping some adventure rides and getting direction capability, and the SRM for doing some targeted training and tracking of overall effort.

I think it's fine to float in and out of the data game - just know what you're after for a ride, and go there.

[kingpin75s]

I got rid of the computers on my bikes years ago. I bike in part to get away from computers.

The only time I ever use them is for endurance races where I may need to track a cue sheet. Even then if I have raced the route before, my internal compass is solid so I often leave the electronics at home anyway.

[David Kirk]

About 8 years ago I took the silly thing off the bars and I've enjoyed riding more ever since then. The first ride or two it seems like something is missing and then you realize that the thing that had been missing is the quiet of the mind and deep appreciation of what is around you.

Give it a try - you can always put it back on later if you feel the need.

dave

[Mzilliox]

I just started using data. i like it but try not to get caught up in it. its nice for recording mileage and general progress, and its great for training, if you are training. but if you have nothing to train for, whats the data for?

lately i just tuck the comp in a pocket and only check it at the end of rides.
but im working my way up to more century rides and enjoy the data for logging miles and tracking my responses to training. also i farm for work, so i have to watch ho much i ride to find a balance.

so yeah, rides with no data are great, as are undocumented lattes.:banana:

[thwart]

About 8 years ago I took the silly thing off the bars and I've enjoyed riding more ever since then. The first ride or two it seems like something is missing and then you realize that the thing that had been missing is the quiet of the mind and deep appreciation of what is around you.

Give it a try - you can always put it back on later if you feel the need.

dave

Well said.

Most important data point for me... my resting heart rate.

[El Chaba]

The only time I have ever used a computer is for time trialling when I raced....other than that, nada. Look, it's either a human powered vehicle or not..

[David Tollefson]

I've been riding unplugged for several years now. Yes, I turn on Strava on my phone at the start, but that stays in my pocket until I'm done. Occasionally I use a Garmin for navigation in unfamiliar areas.

[kitsnob]

+1
I ride "UNPLUGGED" as well. have been for many years now. I only run the Strava app on my phone and then only look at it AFTER the ride.

Makes riding so much more enjoyable.

No garmin ... No rules!

[ultraman6970]

Computers were not in the market when I started racing and then cat eye made the devices massive, then were not cheap so I never used one. like 25 years later I bought one on sale and used it maybe 1 week... simple stuff, speed, cadence and time... I know you guys are talking about power meters info and who knows what else but for the regular joe pretty much IMO besides a watch nothing else is needed. My averages are always like 17 mph because I dont even use gearing that big to go faster anyways...

Do not need computer at all and probably I never will...

[Steve in SLO]

It's been about 3 years since I stopped regularly using a computer and after about a month, I stopped missing it and began to really tune into the ride and how I felt. My old goals centered around mileage, avg speed, etc. My new goals center about getting out when I can, riding within myself, pushing it occasionally while listening to my body and enjoying the experience. There's no guilt about having to get in x hours/week. I don't miss the numbers at all.

[tv_vt]

I have a basic computer that tracks miles and speed. It's handy, but not a distraction. Works for me.

[gdw]

I only use one when leading backcountry trips to let the group know how many more miles they have to cover to get to the next water source or campsite.

[GregL]

For me, the data is only a "nice to have." I keep it for historical purposes, but never look at it during a ride. Reviewing race data is helpful for addressing gaps in training.

Greg

[Stealth]

You guys are tapping into exactly what I have been feeling! It's reassuring to hear that its not all petal to the metal and who is the fastest. it started getting too competitive in the group rides for just a bunch of guys who originally started riding to have fun and get good exercise. The engineer side of my brain craves end of ride feedback yet I think the greater desire for me at this point in my life is simplifying and just riding how I feel. "Soulspinning"!

[NHAero]

I use an iPad Mini as a GPS to record routes, both on and off road. I like to look when I'm finished at the pace, elevation, etc., but don't look to see what my speed is during the ride.

[Clean39T]

I use an iPad Mini as a GPS to record routes, both on and off road. I like to look when I'm finished at the pace, elevation, etc., but don't look to see what my speed is during the ride.


In a handlebar bag?

[NHAero]

On the Anderson, Bob Jackson, and Nagasawa, it is indeed in a handlebar bag, a Rixen & Kaul bag that snaps onto their Klickfix mount, which I have on each of those bikes. On other bikes, it's in a pocket it just squeezes into on my Camelback.


In a handlebar bag?

[David Tollefson]

When I was coaching a junior triathlon team, the head coach was a numbers guy who constantly had them on Computrainers and pushing LT and power numbers on them... I'd get them on the road and they had no handling skills. I'd tell them, "Racing comes from the heart, not the numbers. When the pack goes, you have two choices -- go with them, or pack it in and go home. Numbers mean nothing at that point."

[54ny77]

i use my noggin', that's it. when i raced alot, i'd use a heart monitor now & then just to sanity check what the upper thresholds were. but as the poster above said, when you gotta go, you gotta go, regardless. some folks love digging thru the data and analyzing it, which is cool. whatever floats yer boat. neat thing to observe is the amazing amount of tech available to any recreational cyclist. it really is mind-boggling. and that tech can be utilized to great benefit if properly used, no matter what your baseline. when combined with at least half decent talent, of course. can't turn a donkey into a thoroughbred, but can at least get it to the point of a good trot! :hello:

[oldpotatoe]

I've been riding more and more solo these days and paying less and less attention to the numbers on my computer. for so many years it seems the feedback from the computer was important but lately I've been getting the urge to pull all electronics off of my bike. has anybody else taking the plunge into "feel" only riding and eliminated any type of data feedback?

Haven't had 'electronics' on my bike for 2 decades. Ride for the ride, care little about how fast or how far or even where.

[ftf]

Balance is the key, as in everything in life. I ride with electronics on my bike, but I don't live and die by it. Honestly the numbers are part of the fun. To each their own.

[godukes]

"Racing comes from the heart, not the numbers. When the pack goes, you have two choices -- go with them, or pack it in and go home. Numbers mean nothing at that point."

Word - it's a bike race, not a contest where you hand in your computer to see who had the best numbers.

[Tickdoc]

On but in the back pocket only and I only check after the ride...and I find myself checking less and less. Sometimes if I feel off or want to compare, I'll look back to check the data, but that is less and less. I think I use it now more for just mileage log than anything else.

One thing I've noticed is how annoying the numbers guys are on my group rides now. I love em to death but I don't want to hear anything about it on rides. Shut the f up. Let's talk about bikes or the weather or daily life, not data.

[Repack Rider]

I wrote a satirical piece 30 years ago (http://www.sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/gizmo.htm) on this subject that might have been written by the OP.

Looks like I was ahead of my time.

[mcteague]

Haven't had 'electronics' on my bike for 2 decades. Ride for the ride, care little about how fast or how far or even where.

Other than EPS! Guess that is why you put electronics in quotes. :D

Tim

[Catman]

I no longer have anything on the bike, but the Garmin 235 on my wrist has the data if I want to check it... Helpful if I'm exploring and need to be back home by a certain time...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[fbhidy]

I have a Garmin 735xt (I'm a swimmer too) so it's on my wrist but I rarely look at it if at all during the ride. I do have a Garmin 500 that I'll put on the handlebars if I need mileage for a que sheet. I primarily have them to track data for post ride review.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[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]

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]

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...:D

[Cicli]

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

No kidding.

[Black Dog]

I wrote a satirical piece 30 years ago (http://www.sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/gizmo.htm) 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]

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.


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]

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) ;)

[bironi]

Love riding with my hands close to the stem at times. No gadgets on my bars = more aesthetically pleasing.

[Ralph]

I just watch distance and speed. And time of day. Then at end like to know about how many calories I've used....whether accurate or not....at least it figures same way every time. Don't upload or store any data. Just use a basic Garmin 20.

[Seramount]

have never monitored cadence, HR, watts, etc...

no desire to give up knowing current speed, trip distance, time of day, tho...

[Tony T]

Excel Spreadsheet from `08.
I just input miles and time, and calc speed, and compile by day/week/month.
I then compile to a table so I can compare current data to prior years

[Drmojo]

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

and I had 2 altimeters for a while...

[Clean39T]

https://abovecategorycycling.com/journal/solitude/

"Live in wonder, if but for a few brief minutes each week. We’ll discover that whimsy is not dead, just dormant, drowned out by the discord cacophony of data."

Surely they must read the threads here... :D:D:D

But I'm not sure the Zevon song is about what they are thinking.

[unterhausen]

have never monitored cadence, HR, watts, etc...

no desire to give up knowing current speed, trip distance, time of day, tho...

I like to know time of day and distance. I have cadence and heart sensors. I use them on the trainer. I have thought about setting up the garmin to collect that data. I wouldn't mind monitoring cadence just as an incentive to keep it a bit higher. My cadence is often too slow for good performance, especially on longer rides

[Heisenberg]

But I'm not sure the Zevon song is about what they are thinking.

Ironically, isolation, hermitage, and hygge have found themselves in a marriage of convenience in our screen-soaked lives atmo.

And here I am, writing this from my phone.

In my bed.

Depressing.

[chiasticon]

Balance is the key, as in everything in life. I ride with electronics on my bike, but I don't live and die by it. Honestly the numbers are part of the fun. To each their own.this. it's what you make of it, really. believe it or not, you can enjoy the numbers AND the ride, and still not be one of those goobers prattling on incessantly about how many watts you averaged the other day.

[54ny77]

I told a buddy of mine who's REALLY into the numbers that I shape my rides like a 3-way light bulb: it's 50, 100 or 150 watts.

:banana:

this. it's what you make of it, really. believe it or not, you can enjoy the numbers AND the ride, and still not be one of those goobers prattling on incessantly about how many watts you averaged the other day.

[William]

Logged miles, avg speed, top speed, cadence, etc. religiously during my racing days and for a few years after. It may have started with an equipment swap to another frame but I went riding with out and found it refreshing just to ride and not worry about it anymore. Years later I'm still without and don't miss it.

As far as "training", I've got an internal tempo that came about during my training days that I stick to when I want to ride hard so I know when I'm pushing it.






William