The Garmin was a tool I thought I didn’t need. The cost is outrageous, and it seemed more gadgety than useful, but I broke down and bought it…Matt said I wouldn’t regret it, and he was right. I’m really starting to learn more about my biking and what my body is doing when I’m really pushing it. Take this profile image, for example (it should enlarge if you click on it):
This was a profile of my heartrate and the elevation climbing I did on the Surly commuter bike up the Tramway climb from the Sandia Casino and then up the La Luz climb. I felt like I was going to die on La Luz, you can see why from the image. My heartrate at points during that climb were at almost 97% of my max heartrate. I can look at the speed I was going too, and also the pace or even the grade, if I wanted. It’s a very nice training tool, much more than a toy.
I did the Tuesday ride with the Chicas and Jim. We had a new member to the Chica ride, Shawn. She and her husband Adam are new in town, and Adam has been riding with Dan’s group. It was great to have a new member for the Tuesday crew! I did the singlespeed as usual, and have been using it for intervals in the foothills. My profile for that is interesting too, you can see all the breaks we take, but also the peaks I’m able to hit with the heartrate when I am shooting for the intervals.
Today, I did a commute into work, again doing intervals on the way to and from work. My legs are killing me! I was good and had a recovery drink at work and at home after each ride, so tomorrow they shouldn’t be too bad. The Surly is turning into more than just a commuter bike, it’s a training machine! With the fat tires, heavy bike and standard crankset, I’m doing myself no favors with efficiency. It makes a huge difference when I jump on the racing Giant TCR1! Plus I really have fun on the steel Surly…it’s a nice, smooth ride, plus it looks quite cool!
Well, this evening was business as usual; Il Vicino for dinner, a nice glass of wine, and some great food. Matt did the usual IPA and Vespa; he rarely wavers. 
be careful with spending too many miles on your surly (if you care about your efficiecny on your road bike). Power carries over well, and the endurance cares over fairly well, but it does come at the price of efficiency/high cadence on the road bike (which can hurt endurance onthe road bike)..
but, all of the bikes are so much fun….
Hmmmm, interesting perspective, thanks!…this morning I was also thinking that the knees can take a beating as well if I’m not careful. Tuesday was on the elliptical machine, Wed on the singlespeed, and Thurs pedaling hard gears on the Surly…this has left my knees aching!!
You are correct though…they’re all fun, and you don’t want to make any of the bikes jealous by not giving each one a fair ride!
I’m glad to hear there’s a new member to the Tuesday ride and that you guys had fun.
We went up to the Tram last weekend and saw that La Luz trail – holy moly girl, that thing is killer. You rock.
I couldn’t pull up the image of the profile.
Bummer you couldn’t pull up the image for the profile, bottom line, if you look at the thumbnail, the red line is my heartrate, the green line is the elevation profile I rode. Maybe we’ll see you Tuesday? May be one of our last rides, we’re losing light each night!!
I know.
I’ll be there this Tuesday – we went climbing last week. I think we’re climbing either Monday or Wednesday next week.
That Garmin is awesome! Looks like it was money well spent.
I still cringe at how much that stupid Garmin cost, even though I like it. Have fun climbing!