Watching the Tour de France now provides access to so much data from the world’s elite riders – and depressing comparisons to my own meagre efforts.
I do enjoy seeing all this performance information, and being able to garner and compare the same data from my own riding. It’s great that this level of insight is available to anyone with a decent bike computer, heart rate strap, or even a power meter. It certainly satisfies the nerd in me.
Sometimes, however, I want to get away from all those numbers and just ride my bike.
Rolling data centre
Last week, while I was out testing for our upcoming Bike of the Year awards, I was riding a bike with electronic gears and a power meter. I was also wearing a heart rate strap. On the bike, I had an Insta360 camera mounted on the underside of the out-front mount. In my jersey pocket, I had a HoverAir mini drone.
Such is the nature of our multi-media world; I need to grab various footage of most of the bikes I test ride.
The shear amount of data I capture from gear shifts, power, speed metrics, heart rate, GPS tracking, elevation… the list is almost endless, and overwhelming.
At times, I feel like some sort of rolling data centre, riding on the road or gravel while accumulating a whole bunch of metrics I can draw on when writing about a bike – such as comparing timings on climbs, descents or challenging terrain.
I’ve written before about how I love the amount of data we can take from a ride, but sometimes I need to switch off. There’s a certain joy in going out on my own bike, switching off my phone and turning off all the screens on my GPS bar the map.
This liberates me and means I can get back to the simple joy of cycling and pushing as hard as I want – or simply cruising and exploring for the day.
Paths less travelled
In the era of data, and apps such as Strava and Garmin Connect with their segments and heat maps, it’s easy to fall into only riding the paths most travelled.
So, on occasion, I’ll head consciously for areas I’m unfamiliar with.
Come to a crossroads and I’ll take the road I’ve never ridden before, just to see where it takes me. Often, they’re roads to nowhere and that’s OK with me. Without a destination, back tracking is fine. Plus, roads and trails ride differently in the other direction.
I’ll always head for smaller roads. A and B roads are fine if I need to get somewhere fast, but minor roads, backroads and anything unclassified is where I’m happiest. A few of the more well-known climbs around me have better, and in some cases tougher, alternative ascents.
I have an even greater freedom to explore when I’m on a gravel bike. Taking a byway or bridleway I haven’t been on before can lead to challenging rides of overgrown, narrow trails, or steep sheep tracks that require a lot of concentration. It can also lead to some epic views and seriously fun trails.
The UK is said to have more than 32,000 miles of bridleways and restricted byways that we can explore by bike. There's a huge amount of territory to find and have fun on.
I love having the ability to record so much information and have it on tap as I ride. That, alongside the benefits to fitness and training, has been transformative for everyone from new riders to seasoned pros.
However, our reliance on data shouldn’t come at the expense of enjoying a bike for the simple joy of riding in the great outdoors.
