I gave up my computers, but I like to track my miles, so I use Cyclemeter on my iPhone.
That said, the best way to learn to pace yourself according to terrain and conditions internal and external is to ride fixed gears exclusively for several years in a windy, rolling environment. It really did take me several years to adapt my attitude, but now it's second nature. Last night I rode 11 miles in a 70" gear that included 1 mile of steep climbing and 3 miles of gradual climbing against a strong headwind. I just pedaled slowly. The habit continues with gears; this evening, tired, I had a similar return on the sluggish Fargo. I just geared down and was surprised at how fresh I felt. Frankly, one of the great joys of riding fixed, for me, is precisely this habit of pacing yourself and adapting to the conditions, rather than trying to adapt the conditions by gearing. Of course, YMMV. On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 5:23 PM, Deacon Patrick <[email protected]> wrote: > The thread asking about computers got me thinking -- I bet there are > others here who intentionally do not ride with a computer. I was curious > your experiences. Here are mine… > > I ride without a computer. Why? Because I am too stupid to control the > gadget rather than unwittingly allowing the gadget control me. For > instance, rather than riding to effort, I found I rode to speed. It is > much, much harder to listen to my body and what it needs with the allure of > the utterly irrelevant speed number out in front of me. So, like an idiot, > I try and keep a certain speed going up a hill or on a flat or in a > headwind, rather than sensibly listening to my body and pedaling at a > consistent effort. > > The idea here is that horses and other animal powered locomotion go by > effort. They go slower up hills and in headwinds and with heavy loads. But > I think my mindset living with a car and driving one for so many years > became based on speed. I'm going 75 on the highway and sure there is a hill > here, so I put the gas pedal down and maintain 75. This mentality ended up > driving my cycling experience when I had a computer in front of me. I know > it's idiotic, but there you are. WIth that number out there my mind could > not let go the idea that I should maintain speed. But that is no fun > (unless I choose it). So back in my pre-Riv days, when I rode > a recumbent trike, I ditched the computer and have been much happier ever > sense. > > I don't track or log milage, times or any other data (I don't for running > either). I use maps (including my iPhone) for navigation, and that's it. No > computer, for me, makes it much easier to "Just Ride." > > With abandon, > Patrick > > *www.MindYourHeadCoop.org* > *www.OurHolyConception.org* > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- http://resumespecialties.com/index.html [email protected] Albuquerque, NM -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
