On Monday, July 8, 2019 at 7:27:54 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 7/8/2019 12:30 AM, jbeattie wrote:
I was particularly fond of my son's company issued beta head unit that showed 8,000 meters of elevation gain when you turned it on -- it spotted him 8,000 feet, which I thought was awesome. Free climbing. He was also supposed to beta test smart glasses with video display, but he passed.

I'm amazed at the data-head cycling contingent. I have no idea how many
meters elevation gain I've ever done. Heck, I don't usually click to see
my average speed - partly because it's too embarrassing.

Many decades ago on our first trip to England, we were staying at a
hostel somewhere in Devon. Another guy and his son bragged that they had
ridden 100 miles to get there that day.

When I later related that to another guy in the hostel, he said in a
dismissive tone, "Oh, he's just doing it for the numbers."

I don't even have an odometer/speedometer, but I'll probably get one or download Strava and have my phone do it. I do like to know how far I've gone and the elevation, although its not that important.

I no longer criticize the data-driven. First, people can do what they want to do (being data OCD is harmless), and second, for those who are training -- bicycling, weight lifting, what-have-you -- the studied seem to make huge improvements. I'm not training for anything except riding with my son in Utah. Data is not that important to me, and knowing my power would be downright depressing.

-- Jay Beattie.