Keeping Track
Somebody started a thread on the Phred group about slow speeds. That evolved into climbing steep grades, which means gaining elevation. Total elevation gained might be an equally impressive figure as the total distance traveled on this cross-country trip. I am intrigued by numbers and such trivial figures as those displayed on a bicycle computer.
We just bought some new wireless computers, but after hearing some of the drawbacks, like having multiple batteries and multiple parts that can malfunction, I am having second thoughts.
My current computer is literally hanging on by a thread. I jiggle it around when I notice that it isn’t recording any data. Although I don’t question the big 0.00 when I am climbing the hill outside the village, I do start the wire-wiggling when I am going downhill and that big 0.00 still registers on the screen.
I wasn’t even aware that skiers used altimeters until a search on eBay turned up a skier’s watch. I am not interested in knowing how far I descend. That usually takes very little effort.
Maybe I missed the point of an altimeter for a skier. Do they use it to make some technical calculations based on their blood oxygen levels? They surely don’t ski uphill, which would be rather impressive and a perfect reason for wearing such a watch.
It looks like I need to do some further investigation on the various elevation measuring devices out there. There are also inclinometers that hook on to handlebars. Sometimes, I don’t feel like I have space on the handlebars for the computer and don’t know if I could arrange things to accommodate an inclinometer. I am personally inclined not to care so much about the grade of climbs, but more so about the amount of climbing.
Guess it’s time to research the options and see what’s out there.