Heeeyho Readers! Have you ever gone tech-free?
I thought about several clickbaitery titles for this post, like cycling naked or blind cycling or dog byte me data {full pun intended}. All carry a bit of truth indeed. No! I didn't expose my white skinny ass, you perverts!
Our dog ate my bicycle's GPS unit — that I use to monitor/record data (speed, time, elevation, etc etc) while pedaling. Because the mailing system is unable to deliver a new one, I've been data-less cycling for a month or more. Yes, like an wild animal wandering this world aimlessly. It feels... fantastic! Kinda like cycling naked, nonchalant. Like a proper savage cyclist from the past. That made me think: Are we too hooked to tech?
There's data for everything, right? Screen time on the cellphone, heart monitors; notifications for these and that; sensors and what not. None is really my thing and I make sure to disable every notification on the phone. As if phones weren't annoying enough, we also have those horrendous smart-watches beeping at any misplaced fart.
The only time I like to monitor data is while cycling. For race training, mostly. It's important to keep track of our evolution and to make sure we're applying the right effort, aiming for certain specific stimulus exercises. Data is also crucial for time-trials (a.k.a Strava segments). And there's that huge speed display boosting our ego when we hit high speeds. Well, how's it been to cycle without any of that?
Refreshing!
Without a GPS on the handlebar, I use Strava on the phone to record my activities. Phone is shoved into the jersey pocket, which means I only access the data once getting home. The result is a training session entirely based on feel.
By using my subjective perception of effort I'm able to gauge my training a lot lighter, which, in turn, keeps me in zone 2 (fat burning zone) compared to the temptation of going faster whenever the speed on display drops. Think it this way: we get used to seeing a certain (generally high) speed on the gps, say 30 km/h on flat without wind. It drops, for example, to 18 km/h against the wind. Our brain tingles. We wanna go faster. How come it's only 18? We pedal harder, speed goes to 25, which is a much cooler number. At the end of the day we're destroyed. Plus, we trained another effort (neuromuscular) instead of our endurance cardio. It gets much worse for those concerned about average speeds.
Not that intense workouts aren't important. They are, but those are another story. I'm talking solely about cardio base. Remember the saying? Ride slower to go faster.
As a data-less savage, the strategy has been rather primitive. I pick a course, kick on some music, hop on the bicycle and go. My brain and breathing do the rest. I don't even know if the speed has dropped, so there's no trying to accelerate a bit. Every once in a while I check the time just to know when to eat and when to head back home. That way it's a lot more pleasing to put on the kilometers. Like the below.
Do you feel like disconnecting sometimes?
Are you into tech or a savage like myself?
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~Love ya all,
Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broke backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking and more than 5.000 km cycling. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.
Guilty on all charges... 🙋🏼♂️
I am a tech lover. I like gadgets too although I don't have a lot of them.
I like stats and figures and measuring performance.
I have a Germin navigation with a heart rate and a cadence sensor. I don't have a power meter because it's too expensive.
I have a smartwatch measuring my steps, heart rate and sleep. I did deny all phone apps from sending notifications to the phone though.
Most of my tech really helps me.
My navigation skills are horrible. I can get lost in my own town.
The cadence sensor keeps me pedalling at the right rotation speed (although I think I can estimate that pretty well myself now after riding with a cadence meter for two years.
That I can see the distance covered and distance I got left is helping me mentally during long rides. Just like the Garmin Climbpro is helping me prepare for difficult climbs and gives me info on how to divide my energy.
And last but not least the notifications to eat and/or drink have requested this goldfish brain several times.
But the one thing I do agree about is the speed sensor. As many cyclists I look at speeds and averages too. I want to go fast, but don't always keep in mind that weather conditions and my own condition fluctuates. It would surely help if I didn't see them. As you mention you'd better watch your heart rate. For endurance 80% of your training hours need to be in zone 2.
But since my heart rate goes up really fast I'm scared I will fall over with the speed I need to go in that zone 🤣
Maybe I should try to remove the speed from my profile or at least create a screen where speed and average speed is replaced by heart rate.
Thanks for this inspirational post. !
Oh-oh that sounds interesting. I live in mother flatland but do race in mountainous places sometimes. One more data source iihihihihi
Gotta try it out. I know many ppl who only uses heart rate or power on their main page to stay in zone 2 no matter what. I usually leave zone 2 when it's very windy because it hurts to ride at 18-20 km/h. Without that data it's much easier on the mind
The Netherlands has no mountains at all 😂
But I do go abroad every year to do some climbing with friends. This year we'll be in the Ardennen area in Belgium where there are some nice climbs. And in summer we'll be in the French Pyrenees where there are some monstrous climbs 🙈
The Climbpro with stats about gradient, gradient left, altitude and altitude left is a great companion.
I'm actually adjusting it as we speak!
Did you see Tadej Pogacar's win on stage 2 of the Giro without any data whatsoever? He crashed and forgot to bring his gps into the new bike \o\ I wonder how long will it take until they have remote data analyses much like the F1 cars. It sounds cool, but would kinda ruin cycling imho
This is awesome! It shows how many climbs you have to go. I don't have this kind of data, so I need to memorize the course (which I always forget)
A goldfish brain, just like me 😂