Technomological

Wow, isn't technology great. Sometimes you forget how much we rely on technology until it is gone. Such has been the case today.

I use Garmin for pretty much all my training tracking. Garmin Edge 510 on the bike, Garmin Forerunner 920XT for everything else. If something goes wrong with a Garmin file from a session, that's it, I am blind, it is like the session never happened.

For those that don't use Garmin, the Garmin 'system' operates very similarly to most other brands out there. The various Garmin devices all download to Garmin's software, which is now called Garmin Connect. It all works very simply and smoothly and allows for some good analysis. Except for now.

Since yesterday, it seems that Garmin Connect has decided to chuck a hissy fit and just isn't working. From talking to other people and then looking at the Garmin Facebook page it would seem that the problem is fairly widespread. The devices just won't download. Across our household we have quite a few Garmin devices and none of them are able to talk to Garmin Connect. Very frustrating. Something is only a training tool when it works.

From that then, I had a good ride this morning. I think. Without having looked at the file from this morning I am going on what I saw on the bike this morning and that was good. I had the bike all spruced up in full race regalia and it just makes so much difference. The P5 is a quick bike anyway, but add in the race wheels etc and it just flies along. That has to be one of my favourite feelings, easy speed. I was been conscious of keeping a bit of a lid on it, I do have a race in 4 days after all, but it was hard to do. The temptation to go just a little quicker was hard to resist.

Going back to Garmin for second though. Just prior to the current shenanigans with Garmin Connect there was a massive update to a lot of Garmin devices, including the Edge 510 and the Garmin Vector power meter that I use. The update did a lot of things, but the one which caught my eye was the introduction of Cycling Dynamics to the Vectors. I have only done one ride that measures these dynamics, but from what I have seen, it looks fairly interesting if a little overwhelming. I say overwhelming because the Garmin Connect summary page for a ride now presents you will a veritable wall of data. Digging into that data reveals some interesting stats though. My favourite one so far are the various power arc measurements. These are measurements that show which part of the pedal stroke you are applying power, for both pedals. It also gives how much of the pedal stroke (and which part) you apply peak power. With only one ride I am not really sure what to make of this data yet. But I am hoping that once I get a few more rides in and get a larger data set to work with it might build up a picture of how I apply power and perhaps areas where I can work on applying power more effectively.

Yep, technology sure can be helpful when it comes to training.

As long as it works...