New Garmin HRM and my Lunch ride yesterday.

A couple weeks ago, I lost my polar heart rate monitor at spin class. Well, I've been using a hrm to train with for so long that I've been completely lost since then. I knew I had to buy a new one, so I started researching.. I know.. typical right? Anyway, who knew there were so many manufacturers of heart rate monitors? What I gathered after a while though is that Polar is the big name and they have special units depending on what type of sport or activity you do, but my old one was a Polar and I wasn't impressed. Also, my riding buddy has a Polar CS400 (cycling specific) and she is all kinds of frustrated with that thing.

I've been thinking a lot about getting a Garmin Edge device for riding so that I could get the gps details without having to use my phone, but I can't afford one of those right now. So after doing more research, I found that the Garmin FR60 not only uses the same hrm strap as the Edge 500, they are both ANT+ devices so it will use the same cadence/speed monitor. I can get the cadence monitor now and use it with my watch before I get an Edge.

Anyway.. so I got a great deal on the FR60 from roadrunnersports.com (exceptional customer service too). I got the red and black version that comes with the usb ANT+ connector. I used it for the first time yesterday and can I tell you, I absolutely LOVE it! I set up the usb device before I went for my lunch ride and when I came back, I was standing in my cubicle talking to my coworker when I heard a couple beeps. I looked down at the watch and it was transferring the data wirelessly without me having to do anything!

Then, I logged into Garmin connect and there was all my data. I used the cardio trainer on my Droid to do the gps tracking and I added those details to the workout and wa-la.. all of my data is in one place for me to geek out on.

So that's the tech geek side of me.. as for the ride yesterday... I am lucky enough to work in Mountain View near the Hetch Hetchy trail. I can take that to the Stevens Creek Trail and then on to the Shoreline trails or I can go the other way off Easy st. and head over to Los Altos and Portola Valley (I think that's what the area is called). I did that yesterday and rode El Monte up and over past Foothill College to Elena and then did the rolling hills on Elena over to Arastradero and back into Mountain View. 16.64 miles in 1:21. I had to work late last night so I took a longer lunch.

It was fantastic. Next time, I'll take some pictures. Today I'm riding up to the shoreline trails and taking it easy. Saturday is the Cinderella Century!

Don't forget why I do what I do.. HIV/AIDS is still an issue.. The ride will not end until AIDS does. Please consider making a donation to AIDS/Lifecycle and be a part of the solution! http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/niki

Lunch ride Elena by geekgrrl70 at Garmin Connect - Details