Originally Posted by ericm979

You don't need an HRM to tell you how to pace yourself up a climb. You can do that just as well by feel. I ride with a bunch of 50+ guys, none of whom use HRMs, and they often win masters 55+ road races. Not having an HRM hasn't kept them (or me) from doing well. Unless you have a heart defect you can't go hard enough to make your heart explode. There's too many fail-safes that prevent that from happening. Your legs will give out, you'll puke, you won't be able to breathe enough air, all before your heart gives out.

Get an HRM if you want to train in an organized way. Otherwise, you don't need it.