Wednesday, May 19, 2004
CYCLE COMPUTER MUSINGS
I just noticed today, not for the first time in the past 4-5 months, that my cycling computer was not working properly. I know why. The magnet on the spokes that provides the info the computer needs to synthesize an output to me that I will understand, miles per hour, distance, max speed, etc, etc, is out of alignment and I have been too lazy to line it back up. I don't care, really. If I did it would have been fixed weeks and weeks ago.
When I got this bike from my brother, I replaced the battery in the computer, reset it, and aligned the magnet. It was cool at first to gage how far my different routes were, and to see what my max speed in certain situations was, so I could calculate if I was really holding up traffic, or if the blowhard honking at me from behind in the 25 mph zone when I was travelling 25 mph deserved a second thought from me. But the novelty wore off quick, and now I think I may just remove the little piece of technology, before someone sees it on my bike somewhere I have parked and decides it might be worth something and takes a tool or two to my machine.
I know alot of people are totally into the numbers, especially if they are training, but for me the commute is the commute. I can do a decent job of estimating my travels if I want. I know the ride to the office is about 4 miles, I know how many days a week I hit it, and I have a good enough feel now for my speed in uphills, downhills, and flat straightaways. So I can do without it probably.
I only have this misgiving that someday a cop will pull me over for going too fast and will ask me if I know how fast I was going, and I won't be able to look down and say "sure I do", but I don't really ride fast enough most of the time to make that an issue.
In other news. I retightened my pedals, cranks, derailleur brace and other various screws and bolts, and it seems as if the regular clicking on each left down stroke has gone bye-bye. It really was probably the left crank that needed retightened the most as I must have turned the bolt 20 half turns before the torque got high enough. Something tells me though that I shouldn't have needed to adjust it so much, but we will see how things pan out over the next few days.
When I got this bike from my brother, I replaced the battery in the computer, reset it, and aligned the magnet. It was cool at first to gage how far my different routes were, and to see what my max speed in certain situations was, so I could calculate if I was really holding up traffic, or if the blowhard honking at me from behind in the 25 mph zone when I was travelling 25 mph deserved a second thought from me. But the novelty wore off quick, and now I think I may just remove the little piece of technology, before someone sees it on my bike somewhere I have parked and decides it might be worth something and takes a tool or two to my machine.
I know alot of people are totally into the numbers, especially if they are training, but for me the commute is the commute. I can do a decent job of estimating my travels if I want. I know the ride to the office is about 4 miles, I know how many days a week I hit it, and I have a good enough feel now for my speed in uphills, downhills, and flat straightaways. So I can do without it probably.
I only have this misgiving that someday a cop will pull me over for going too fast and will ask me if I know how fast I was going, and I won't be able to look down and say "sure I do", but I don't really ride fast enough most of the time to make that an issue.
In other news. I retightened my pedals, cranks, derailleur brace and other various screws and bolts, and it seems as if the regular clicking on each left down stroke has gone bye-bye. It really was probably the left crank that needed retightened the most as I must have turned the bolt 20 half turns before the torque got high enough. Something tells me though that I shouldn't have needed to adjust it so much, but we will see how things pan out over the next few days.
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