Originally Posted by
George
I was thinking of taking up a collection on the forums here, but I think most of us a pretty tapped.
Serious though, I'm just a recreational rider and I really don't need a power meter, but I like to see how I'm doing, or gaining, if any. I wonder if that Garmin 500 edge would help, after downloaded some of there programs.
George,
The Garmin will help. I have an old forerunner and record my morning training rides. It's the same route two or three mornings/week during riding season. There are two good hills and the ride is about 17 miles long so it takes about 1hr +/-. There are several measures I make, the average speed for the ride not including the warm up and cool down, the speed up the hills and speed I am able to sustain on the intervals I do on the flats. During the early season I use an HRM so I don't get stuck in Z3 and push on to Z4 & Z5 at the right times.
I'm not sure if this is the right thing to look at but I have years of data to compare these points to and can see the trend. I don't get too hung up on it but I do see if I am making progress.