Blue tooth sensors

The snow the last few weeks have been rough for me. In an effort to cheer myself up, I decided to get blue tooth sensors for my bike to replace the old sigma bike computer I got last year. Being a southern California transplant in new england, I have a difficult time with the cold weather. Before I started cycling, it wasn't so bad.

Now that I'm fully addicted to cycling, I find my body needs the adrenaline rush from pushing hard up a hill. After a good ride, my brain is clearer and I can focus on work. It's amazing and keeps me healthy.

Enough digression. I bought Wahoo Blue SC, which is a smart blue tooth speed/cadence sensor. I chose the unit based on the recommendations by Cyclemeter and Strava. After a couple of days of research and reading reviews, I decided to get it.

Installing the unit itself was straight forward. I like the design of the cadence magnet, which is a big rubber band. I like that better than using tie straps, which is more common. The sensor unit is based on Garmin's design. According to some references, Wahoo licensed the design from Garmin. In my research, some people complained their frames were too narrow, so they had to install it with the speed sensor up instead of down. Luckily for me, my Giant fit just fine and it took me roughly 5 minutes to install. Some of the videos I watched recommended using tie straps. This is largely due to the size and dimensions of the chain stays. The rubber band is pretty big, so frames with smaller chain stays will probably work better with straps.

Before I installed the sensor, I paired it with my iPhone5. The entire pairing process took about 3-5 minutes. One benefit of using the phone for the bike computer is strava and cyclemeter. I no longer need to use a bike computer + the phone. Plus, the analysis strava provides is quite neat.

I also got Polar H7 heart rate monitor. Pairing it was simple and took about 2 minutes. Overall, I am very happy with the smart blue tooth sensors.

On my maiden ride, both worked fine. There was no weird signal loss or flakiness. Once I use it for a month or so I'll put down more thoughts.

First long ride of the year

Today I did my first long ride of the year with Dale, Michael, Dave, Katja, Marty and Matt down to Rose32 bakery. It was a good ride and happily the road conditions were decent. There were a few spots where there was ice. On the way down, mike got a flat, so that was a nice little break. On the back, everyone took turns pulling.

As usual, I don't ride smart. About a half mile before Long Pond hill, I took my turn pulling and pushed myself. At the bottom of the climb, I was near my limit. Dale, dave and marty decided to attack the hill and push up the last bit. As a result, I got dropped but I don't mind.

I was seriously getting pissed and bummed out from all the snow, so riding was the exact antidote I needed. Pushing myself up the hill felt great and I managed to get  PR on Long Pond Hill, which means I'm in the same shape at the same time last year.

In terms of handling, I'm feeling better about my road handling skills. It's still not as good as some people in 7HW, but I'm happy to be out riding. I'm lucky to have some cycling friends to ride with and a job that lets me ride every day. I hope to log more miles this year. If I don't, it's no big deal.