CycleMetrics

Fixes some crashing when viewing the map, made graphs more visible, improved power measurement for Clydesdale riders.

Releases cyclemetrics, power, release, update, watts

In this update, I have added a total power output for the ride in watt-hours. This technically could be used to determine how many calories that one has used while riding.

While this is useful data, I don’t think that my application is the best thing to determine tailored calorie burn data. I would strongly recommend “LoseIt” if you want that data. It is what I use for calorie and weight monitoring.

The other thing that I added was total elevation. For those who have been using the iPhone for a while, you are aware of the issues with getting accurate altitude data. You might not be able to get exact elevation gained on a short-flat ride, but if you are going for a hill ride, or doing some serious climbing you should get decent overall numbers. If you want to see how to get the best possible GPS tracking data while cycling, check out my earlier post on what to turn off to get perfect GPS tracking on your iPhone.

Other improvements are mainly in the area of power. Average, peak, and watts per kilo should have improved dramatically, and as a result the GPS accuracy should have improved due to the reduced stress on the CPU.

One issue is that I have renamed the Google Spreadsheet that CycleMetrics writes to, so you may have two files. I hope these updates improve CycleMetrics’ usefulness for you! Good riding!

Releases altitude, cyclemetrics, cycling, power

I had always known about how Lance Armstrong continuously advocates riding with a higher cadence and in a higher gear for maximum speed on a bike. I never really appreciated how that worked until today.

I was on one of my usual rides today, but I had left my bike in a higher gear than I usually ride. I decided to stay in the gear throughout my ride. What I found is that I dropped 0.2 watts per kilo, and was off about 40 watts from my typical average power output. It could be that it was cold, but I don’t think so. I have done that ride many, many times and I am typically at around 2 watts per kilo or a little better and 200 ~ 220 watts average. I dropped to 1.6 watts per kilo, and 175 average or so.

What I expected was a minor drop in watts per kilo and average, but what I didn’t expect was the magnitude of the drop in average and max output. On my next ride, I’ll drop into my usual gear and see how it compares. It is really cool to have access to all this data.

riding stuff acceleration, cadence, cyclemetrics, power, watts