Gone riding and loving it.
The conversation revolved around replacing a bike computer. There were the helpful tips and advice you would hope for. Much later in the same conversation, a comment was made along the lines of “I don’t need another piece of equipment that tells me that I belong to a cool cycling community”. You can imagine it struck a nerve. Much of what we like about cycling is the freedom it gives us, but truth be told, there is a lot to be said about the ‘kit’.
Particularly now, when the sport is alight with marginal gains: power meters, electronic shifters, heads-up displays and the humble bike computer, supposedly helping us track and monitor our efforts.
Can you believe it? On the bike, where you would imagine we would free from such electronic devices, it is quickly being turned into a Frankenstein-like machine.
And so when I forgot to charge my Garmin the other day, and went for a ride anyway, my did it feel different. I felt a distant, but familiar rush of exploring the unknown. My head was up and not down towards my computer. Stimulated by my surroundings, my little legs peddled like never before. I could tell you that I got a QOM here and there, but I can’t prove it to you. In fact I can’t even prove that the ride ever happened. No photos and no Strava. I could get used to this.
Aside: interestingly, this caught my eye, how Strava data is helping city planning. With 6 million-plus Londoners recording their journeys on Strava, it may have to do it without me.
