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Troubles With My Cateye

07.25.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 4 Comments

A while back, I had to change the batteries on my cyclocomputer, a Cateye V2C.  I changed the one in the bike-mounted speed sensor, then changed the one in the detachable handlebar unit.

The Cateye V2C. It's wireless--speed and cadence sensor shown at right.

Cateye’s manual says that when a battery is changed, all you have to do is hit a tiny AC (all clear) button on the back.

So, I did that. But it didn’t work the way it was supposed to. I get the current speed reading — in fact, I get all my currents, including elapsed time and cadence. But currents are all I get.

I don’t get average speed, or maximum speed, or average cadence.

Now, mostly, I’m only concerned with how far I went and how long it took. I’ve got another way to compute average speed. But it sure would be nice to do that on the computer, and have it when I wanted it. Likewise, maximum speed. I have to be watching the thing to get it, and sometimes, I’m just too busy watching the road ahead to look down at the computer and see how fast I’m going.

Cateye’s online site isn’t any help. It features a “Knowledge Base” — a collection of frquently-asked questions and their answers. Of course, they don’t have the answer to the question that I’m asking, which is how do you restore data when you change batteries, and how do you restore the “average” and “maximum” functions — not just the “current?” And they don’t have an email form to ask a questions that’s not in the Knowledge Base.

Does anyone have any experience with this cyclocomputer — or with Cateye generally — that can help me answer my questions?

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Categories // Accessories Tags // Cateye. computer

Hug the Curb or Take the Lane?

07.22.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 7 Comments

Riding with my wife last weekend, we approached a stoplight. The road was four lanes, and a right turn lane bended off just before the light. I was leading my wife by several lengths. I scanned back, signaled that I was moving left, and crossed the right turn lane to merge into the farthest right straight ahead lane.

My wife dutifully followed, but she didn’t like it.

“Ooh, I’m not comfortable here,” she said.

“This is the safest place you can be,” I replied. “The right turners have to go behind you to turn, and you’ve got a clear shot across the road onto the shoulder on the other side.”

“I know,” she said. “But I still don’t like being here.”

The light changed, and we moved ahead. We could immediately point at the shoulder. All the cars that came up behind us moved to the far left lane anyway, so we were by ourselves in the right traffic lane at the light.

About two miles later, we came to another light. This time, a hatch-marked triangle filled the space between the right lane and the right turn lane. Once again, I crossed from the shoulder into the right lane. Once again, my wife followed, but I pointed her to the triangle.

“Feel better there?” I asked.

“This is way better,” she said.

Taking the lane. From bikecommute.com.

When I took my Road I course (now Traffic Skills 101) two years ago, the notion of “taking the lane” was foreign to me. Bikes stayed on the right, period. I had no idea a cyclist could use the road like a car, and do it safely. The class was an eye-opener.

Now, I routinely practice “vehicular cycling,” considering my bike another vehicle on the road. When you ride predictably like that, cars are more likely to give you a break, because they understand what you’re about to do. I’m happy to take the lane, because I know that’s often the safest place I can be on the road.

Pat has not taken any kind of a bike handling class, and hasn’t been exposed to the practice of vehicular cycling. Being in the middle of traffic is not her thing. She’s comfortable hugging the curb. If a right turn lane looms, she’ll often stop before she gets to it. It’s a cautious kind of riding, but it’s not as predictable as riding like a car would be.

Unfortunately, I can’t show her that she’s wrong. Despite the stance of classes like Traffic Skills 101, there are no scientific studies that support the contention that vehicular cycling is safer than hugging the curb.

Infrastructure gets studied, and those studies have shown that segregated biking facilities, like bike lanes, are safer than having to share the road with motor vehicles. But the United States isn’t Holland, and we don’t have the well-developed cycling lanes they do. We must ride on the road, so we must learn to coexist with our motorized brethren. I encourage everyone to take a bike handling course like Traffic Skills 101.

Now, if I could just convince my wife…

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Categories // Safety Tags // Safety

Recovery Rides Can Be Tough

07.20.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 6 Comments

Cyclists in training are urged to alternate hard and easy days. If you have a hill workout, take it easy the next day. If you ride 50 miles at a quick pace, ride a much shorter distance at a much slower pace the next day.

Over the weekend, I had a chance to put that to the test. On Saturday, I rode 50 miles. A co-rider was strong enough to challenge me on the hilly parts, and we made good time. I finished with a 15.6 mph average, not bad when you throw in a couple of long hills,  broiling summer sun and temperatures around 94ºF (34ºC).

On Sunday, my wife wanted to do a training ride for the Mamma Jamma ride against breast cancer, which comes up in September. Her recent bike issues have kept her from building up much of a mileage base, and she said she wanted to take the 30-mile option on this ride. It was the same route that I rode Saturday, just turning around 10 miles earlier.

Again, she asked me to stay with her. Now that her bike is performing well, she thought I might be able to do some in-saddle coaching. I figured it would give me a good chance to get in a recovery ride.

It did. I pedaled along easily at about a 12 mph average, going slower on the long easy uphills that were hard for Pat. I stopped several times to wait for her to catch up. But despite the slow, easy riding, I was having trouble maintaining a Zone 1 pace.

Pat, leading her friend Cynthia, catches up to me.

What I really wanted to do was push myself a bit. The hills on this route aren’t difficult, but they are longer than the ones I ride near my house. But I knew I couldn’t. First, I had to stay with Pat. Second, I knew deep down that I needed to take it very easy today. I’d get in a decent number of miles, but would not knock myself out.

I could let the bike go on the downhills. Coasting along, I watched the speed inch past the 30 mph mark. At the bottom of each long hill, I stopped to wait for Pat and her friend to catch up to me.

The day before, we had cruised along on the return route at a pretty good clip. This time, it felt like I was beach riding in the sand on a wide-tired cruiser. With 25 miles down, I still felt pretty good, although the hot sun was beating down and we were pushing into a headwind.

With two miles to go, we pulled into a gas station, and Pat let out a yelp. She was already bonking, and needed a break, but suddenly she cramped up in her thighs. She was just able to get off her bike and start massaging her muscles. I decided to ride back to the starting point and bring the car back to pick her up.

At the end of the ride, I had covered 30.6 miles, but unlike Saturday’s 15.6 mph pace, this time I averaged 11.8.

I think Joe Friel would approve.

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Categories // training Tags // recovery ride, training

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