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First outing with the Cateye Strada Double Wireless

2K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  clones2 
#1 ·
I ordered mine off Amazon and it got here two days ago. I had some time this morning to get it installed, which was not as easy as the instruction manual had led me to believe. It was a struggle to get the cadence feature to work, but eventually, I got it right after much tweaking.

Once I was ready to go, I really found that it was useful in prompting me to keep up with my average pace. I was able to draft a more experienced biker for about 5 miles or so, doing anywhere between 18-20 mph, which was a huge kick in the butt for me! I figure, having these stats on-hand will help to build my endurance over time. While my average pace was < 20 mph, I'm hopeful I can bring it up the more I ride. I did 25 miles today and it felt great. My max speed was 29.7! Aside from the bike itself, this is the best purchase I have made related to biking.
 
#2 ·
Don't obsess over average pace.

The problem with averages is that they're highly dependent on where you're riding. If I'm riding near home, with a lot of portions of the ride on city streets, I have to kick my own ass pretty hard to maintain a 15 mph average. If I'm challenging myself with some tough hills, same deal. So on the same ride, I can crank out some nice, high wattages and cruise at a pretty fast pace when I'm not being interrupted but still log a 15 mph average. The next day, I can choose a longer route that goes out into less populated areas and average 17 mph or better, but not work very hard.

Another way to keep track of your fitness is to find a few routes that aren't too cut up by traffic signals, stop signs, etc. and time trial them. At the end of the season, revisit those routes and see how you do.

I have a hell of a time pushing the buttons on a stop watch at the right time to clock myself. I've been having fun with strava.com because it does that for me. It's free unless you feel like giving them money for some features you'd need more equipment to use anyway. While I don't see it as a serious training tool, it's nice that I can see all my results for a particular piece of a route that I've recorded over time. It lets me know how my fitness is doing relative to last year. (Probably not so great until later next month, but whatever.)
 
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