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?
Dog byte me data
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?
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.
Zone 2 MTB ride
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.
