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Several weeks ago, I picked up a Garmin Edge 305 bicycle computer. It's one of the coolest toys, and I've been logging all my ride data with it. It tracks things like heart rate, speed, cadence, elevation, grade, and the averages of most of those things.

I plotted yesterday's ride, and it's interesting to see how things look.



There's a bit of a climb just before the halfway point, but other than that it's just rollers.

Curiously, max grade (around 15%) was toward the end of the ride.



I could also plot things like speed and cadence, but they tend to be tough to read (especially cadence) so they're only really useful as averages.

The 305 has a feature called "Virtual Partner" where you can race against yourself on a given course. Haven't figured out how to use that yet.

Btw, if you're a Costco member, they occasionally have the Edge 305 on sale for $179.99 with the heart rate monitor included. The cadence sensor is usually under $30 on Amazon.

Definitely a cool toy.

With Jess up in Toronto visiting her mom, I had the weekend to myself, so I decided to catch up on my cycling. This year hasn't turned out the way I'd expected it would, mileage-wise, so I need to get some riding in before the whole season is a bust.

On Friday, I waited until my official telework hours were over (5pm) and set out on a fast-paced ride. I did a 30-mile loop that I put together earlier in the year, but I left out a 1.5 mile segment to avoid afternoon traffic. I pushed pretty hard, and ended up with a 16.7 mph average.

On Saturday I knew I had rain showers to work around, so I left early, and rode our usual 45 mile loop. This is where I ran across the bike crash that I mentioned in my previous entry. It was a good ride, though a bit slower than Friday's ride, but it felt good to ride two days in a row.

On Sunday, I decided to ride a little later, giving the roads some time to dry out from the previous evening's rain showers. At around 11am, I set out on our 70 mile loop, planning to do some hill climbing. This route includes a few short hills of 14-16% grade, and while they aren't long, they're still thigh-burners.

Unfortunately, at around mile 20, my front tire blew out. I pulled over to fix it, but noticed that the tire had a lot of sidewall damage (these tires are around 3 seasons old, and 3 seasons is pushing it for the roads we have around here). I stuck a couple of folded up dollar bills between the tube and the sidewall of the tire to reinforce it, and limped home.

Once I got home, I mounted up a pair of new tires (I always keep some spares on hand) and headed back out. I was eager to finish the ride, but my legs were not too keen about the long break to work on the bike, and refused to perform up to spec. It took around 10-15 miles of insistence by me to convince them that they had no choice, and they fortunately came to life right before I got to the steep climbs.

Due to the modification of the ride, I only got 59 miles in, but on the last series of hills (a steep, 4-part climb that's right at the end of the ride) my legs started to let me know that they were about done.

My hopes for a short ride yesterday evening vanished in a huge evening thunderstorm, so I took it as an "off" day. Probably just as well. I needed this weekend though. It felt really good to get back on the road.

Total miles this season so far: only 447

I went on a quick ride this morning, hoping to finish by noon and beat the rain. At around the halfway point, I stopped at a place called Sugarloaf Mountain, where there's a really cold water fountain that I use to refill my water bottles. As I made my way toward the fountain, I looked to my right and noticed a guy laying in the road, on his side, next to his bike.

I coasted over, and a few other people approached. He rolled onto his back, and that's when you could see the blood. He had gone down, apparently after getting his front wheel caught in a gap in the broken-up pavement, landing face-first. There was a pretty bad bruise around 1" above his right eye, and it was bleeding profusely, and swelling quickly.

In less than a minute, other cyclists converged on him, some offering to help, some with first-aid kits opened up, and a few others directing traffic. The first thing I noticed about him was that he was a casual rider, and he was not wearing his helmet properly. The straps were completely slack, and it was sitting back on his head, exposing his face and forehead. Thus the gash.

We got him moved off the road where we tried to assess his condition. When he told us that he couldn't remember anything that happened that morning, where he was, or where his ride had started (he was on a group ride), I told someone to call 911. He kept repeating over and over, "I'm feeling a bit disoriented. It seems that I hit my head. Did I fall off my bike? Where am I? Where did the ride start?" He asked each of those questions, on a rotating basis, every 60 seconds or so. He had no short-term memory whatsoever.

I asked him his name, and he knew it. I asked him if he had any family we could call, and he seemed confused by the question. I asked him if he had a cell phone (some modern phones have an "ICE" entry (In Case of Emergency). He would pull the phone out, look at it, then fold it back up and put it away without giving it to me.

Finally, after arguing with the 911 operator for close to ten minutes (yes, arguing - apparently someone falling off his bike and sustaining a brain injury does not warrant an ambulance), she finally got them to send paramedics. Since there were enough people from his ride around, I left. I told them to make sure that under no circumstances was he to get back on that bike and try to ride. All he needs is to fall again and re-smack his head.

I hope he's OK, but I really wish bike shops would make sure that people's helmets were fitted properly before sending them out the door. I've seen too many shops just sell the helmet, boxed, without fitting it, relying on the customer's decision as per size and fit. This guy's helmet looked like a stiff breeze could have blown it off, and that's not cool.