One Hour on the Bike...

Copyright - Chain Reaction Cycles

Ok, just for the record they left out the part about the rider and machine becoming one... powering each other toward a common goal. Ice Cream!

But seriously... while on the bike I think the body eventually finds its “perfect rhythm”.  Each of the vital internal systems comes into sync… freeing the brain from the distraction of having to mange them individually... like little children competing for attention.

And as this happens you begin to enter a special place… a place where your mind is now freed to wander in different directions and engage in the kind of creative, reflective and philosophical thinking that is necessary to live a healthy, happy and rewarding life.

And on my opinion… this is the true value of exercise.

Thanks to Chain Reaction and visit their web site here to view the original graphic:
http://www.chainreactionhub.com/latest-news/2076-what-happens-during-one-hour-of-riding-your-bicycle

Jackson Horner - Coach, Gentleman and Friend.

Ever have one of those moments when a song you h-a-t-e suddenly pops up and you can't get it out of your head? I did a pretty tough... pretty fast paced hill workout today and during the last half (when I was starting to bonk)... I started hearing two voices running thru my mind... much like one of those songs.

The first was my old SCAHS track coach yelling "Work the hills Mengle -- work the hills!". That was one of Jackson Horner's favorites. And to this day I know he was right in pushing us on those hills... because that is where races are won and lost. Remember last year's Tour? (Forget the mechanical... forget Alberto's bad behavior... the race was "won"... and "lost" on a hill!).

The other voice was Penn State and US Olympic Team track coach Harry Groves... "You can't teach guts!"... as he reminded me many times last summer. For anyone who knows Harry this would of course be one of his less "colorful" quotes. In fact there is a whole website dedicated to Harry and his famous (and unedited) quotes and comments on anything from running to politics.

Anyway... like a blast from the past I could hear both of them like they were right there beside me. And I was thankful I couldn't get their voices out of my head because I found myself standing in the pedals and powering up the hills with renewed vigor and determination. Not wanting to let them down... not wanting to let myself down.

As a runner I owe much of my (moderate) success to both these outstanding and dedicated individuals. And it appears that even though I'm not running much now... and have traded running shoes for rubber tires and gears... they still have much to offer in terms of advice, inspiration and motivation. These could be my two favorite quotes of all time and of course cover much more than running, cycling or getting through a tough workout.

Thanks and Rest in Peace Coach Horner.

HRM1 vs MioLink...

This graph is a supplement to a comment I left on DCRainmaker.com concerning my results using the new MioLink optical heart rate sensor from Mio Global.

My testing was done using a Garmin HRM-11 chest strap (the original old style supplied with the Forerunner series units) paired with a Garmin Edge 500.  The MioLink was paired with the TrainerRoad indoor cycling application running on a PC.  Both tracks were recorded using the ANT+ protocol.

At the beginning of the activity the MioLink was intentionally moved on my wrist (Link was worn on left wrist) to create a "break" in the HR track for further positive identification of the MioLink's track.  As the graph above shows... after about one minute the tracks began to match fairly well and continued to do so throughout the activity.

Overall I would consider the results to be very respectable if you are using the HRM1 as the "standard" the MioLink should match.  Critical users will not that certainly, it’s not a perfect fit.

But personally I really believe power is the ultimate precision training tool anyway.  Heart rate is only a rough indicator of how hard I’m working because there are so many variables that can affect it. But power is power, whether you like the numbers on any given day or not.

However as a supplement to power (or when riding a bike/wo a meter) I think overall the Link would appear to do a decent job. Over the course of a long ride I really don’t feel the need for second to second correlation of heart rate with another device.

I think ultimately it would boil down to a decision about whether you want to wear the strap or not. And there are probably times I still would… like for longer events. If anything battery life is the biggest reservation I have about using the Link.