Collecting Data

Collecting Data

It’s about a month since the last “Thoughts”, which is longer than I intended. Idleness is a terrible thing and procrastination doesn’t help much, either. I have this list of subjects for intended articles and it keeps growing. That may not be a bad thing; running out of ideas is always a worry. We writers have a dread of writer’s block, so I am told, but then I’m not much of a writer, so it may not be a bad thing. A monthly splurge seems about right.

This month’s idea is about collecting data during rides and spin sessions. I use a Garmin 825 to record them. These sorts of devices are great for recording relevant numbers – distance, speed, height climbed, heart rate, cadence, The navigation facility has proved very useful on many touring occasions. Haven’t used the “get me home” facility yet but there is bound to be a first time. Maybe I should practice with it first, before getting lost! Most of the data-reaping capability of the Garmin 825 I haven’t used at all. Like laps and riding companion to push you along and I guess lots of other things I should really find out about. The manual is readily available on line and I have printed a copy, too.

Someone once expressed surprise that I am interested in collecting data so much. The world is awash with data, one reads, and only a fraction is ever used or even looked at. That reminds me, one Garmin facility I never use is the summary of the year, eg miles travelled on a particular bike to help with keeping up with maintenance. My estimate at the moment is that I ride about 5,000 miles a year; 100 miles a week.

But back to data. The criticism about my data-collecting twitch made my think about why I do it. Sheer curiosity, I guess. Being a physicist, collecting data seems the natural thing to do, if it is possible. Beside the immediately useful stuff, like speed, distance, elapsed time, time of day I am fascinated by heart rate, cadence, slope being climbed and total climb on a ride. My constant search for a cadence of 80 to 90 pedal turns per minute – as recommended by cycling magazine pundits and experienced friends – has failed dismally. An average of 70ish seems the best I can do. Not knowing how the average is worked out (does it allow for when the pedals are not turning, down-hill, say?) is a disadvantage.

The really interesting numbers to me are the heart rate graph and maximum and average. My maximum heart rate nowadays, as calculated by (220 – age), is 130. Other formulae give a bit higher figure but (220 – age) is ok for me. Even on the electric bike, it is possible to record an average of 70 or 80 beats per minute (55% to 62%) and a maximum of 90 or a hundred (70% to 77%). These are reasonable aims, according to my guru, Dr Norman Lazarus. On the spin bike these numbers are more like 75% average and 85% maximum for up to an hour, without any downhill or on-the-flat breaks.

The other source of “data”, which I use several times a day, are on-line OS maps. It costs about £20 a year for the “real” versions but I find them invaluable for route planning and looking for interesting route variations. You can draw your own courses and convert them into GPX files for loading into the Garmin.

So, I am going to continue collecting data and storing them on the Garmin and Strava cloud for posterity. I wonder what will happen to all these data on those enormous storage computers, wherever they are?