Monday, May 31, 2010

The nOg Run Club run first time tonight

This turned out to be a lot of fun - a little hard but not bad. Em and I ran together and it was real nice to have someone to run with - we did well together. I am sure she will get faster sooner than I do be for now we are are a good match. I am pleased my feet are not hurting anywhere nearly as much tonight as they did last Saturday, my legs are a little sore but not bad. The first part of the run was a bit of a challenge but after about 10 minutes I was actually starting to feel pretty good. We switched from 45 seconds to 30 seconds mostly because it was easier to keep track of. After my run I sat outside with Jon and Em for awhile when they took off I went inside to see what was going on. They were just starting their games for this evening. It turned out to be sort of funny - I enjoyed watching. I paid my dollar and got a plate of pasta - not great but OK. A guy named Deletel recognized me form cycling - he was very nice. I plan to keep doing this just staying at the office and coming over after work - do my run then if it interesting hing around after or I may just go to Rex and get a workout in.
One interesting thing - I found out tonight that the VDO Z3 will tale to the Garmin ANT+ heart rate chest strap - nice.

The nOg Run Club run first time tonight Garmin Connect - Details

Oh Velo Melo Memorial Day


I had a very good time - really enjoyed doing a different sort of ride and riding with folks I seldom get to ride with.

I will put more in the Blog a little later and a few pictures - taking a nap so I can do the The nOg Run tonight.

OK about this ride. It turned out to be more challenging than I expected. There were several intense but short climbs and even though we do not go that fast you are almost always pedaling and steering. On rides out in the counrty even though there are longer hills there are also longer down hills and other time when you do not have to pedal. Well I still like it and had a good time. How often do I get to ride with Jon or even Crash Eddie. We hit a lot of mud around and in some of the tunnels - it was a hoot and got all over Turtle - I have not cleaned her yet.
I was a very interesting loop I would say about 85% was on green-ways - nice.
This is a ride and route I will do again.

Oh Veleo Meleo Memorial Day - Garmin Connect - Details

My pictures are HERE

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Team CBC 75 miles ride


What a great day and weekend. I had a great ride today, it got a bit hot but not too bad. This would be my first 75 miles none supported ride since I started ride again about 20 months ago. That would make this a weekend for firsts because yesterday a ran, I did a run for exercise and fun. I ran/walked 3 miles. I can honestly say I have not run for at least 10 years and it could be as long as 20 or 25 years. Well my feet were really sore yesterday a little while after the run but were good this morning however my legs let me know I ran 3 miles yesterday. They were not real bad I just had that stiff, nice sore feeling to the major muscles but I was glad of it because it shows I did something yesterday. It may have made me a bit slower today than I could have been on the ride because of this but I was fine. So much of this ride is pretty flat - it is a fun ride for me. I know we cut is short a little and missed some hills because of that but I will still ride it again.

Team CBC 75 miles ride Garmin Connect - Details

My pictures are HERE

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Galloway Training run 1

Wow - I cannot believe I did this - I actually ran! OK well I walked for 45 seconds then ran for 45 seconds the walked for 45 seconds the ran for 45 seconds then walked - you get the picture but I did do it and I was running(very slowly) but I was running. I have not run for at least 10 years maybe more. I have really been wanting to be able to run again but have been told I was really too heavy to do so and I am sure I was. Last night I got conformation for a exercise physiologist and personal trainer that my numbers were correct. My lean body mass is about 250 pounds and so my healthy fit weight at 15% body fat is 286 pounds. He told me that I would have to get measure again when I lose more weight because I could lose a little lean body mass or even gain some as I continue to exercise and train. He said that the caliber method was pretty good if they are good quality calibers(the one they used on me were medal and he took them from a fitted case - look like good quality to me) and are well trained to use them. He suggested that to be real sure I would have to get an immersion test but that is was not really necessary. When I get close to my goal weight he said to look at my self - if I was happy then that was close enough - he said some men get real hung up on the number(he must have been looking in my logs) and the 16 to 19% were really fine if one look as one wanted to and felt good but the same was true for 11 to 14 % that 15% was not a magic number just a point to aim for. So I am only 42 pounds over weight now and lots of people 42 pounds over weight run or at least I think the do. I say 42 pounds because that is what I have left to get to 286 and it even seems doable now. I have lost 82 but when I started this I was planning to lose 211 pounds because that is what it would take to get me to 199 pounds which is what the tables say a 6' 4" man should weight. I did express my concern about climbing(he is a cyclist also) and he did agree with me that 286 pounds was a lot to haul up a hill but he thinks I will be fine he said that when I get to 286 85% of my body or 250 pounds of it will be involved it getting me up the hill and only 36 pounds fat/fuel will be just along for the ride compared to the 160 pounds of fat I use to haul up the hills. This really did get me to thinking about it in a better light. He did tell me that since I was about to start some weight training that I would likely gain some lean body mass but he did not think it would be too much and he assured me that when I got to my goal weight if I was still not climbing as well as I would like that he would give me some weight and cycling training to do to improve it. How cool it that?
About the Galloway Walk/Run/Walk training. After the Slow Spokes ride Jon asked me what I was doing Saturday I said since there were no other ride I was planning on doing I was planning on doing Th Selma Cyclepaths ride. Since it was only 35 miles and thinking maybe Jon was wanting to do some other and likely longer ride I told him this and asked what he had in mine. He told me he was going to do this 3 miles run with the Galloway running training group and would I be interested in going. He had gone to the Kick-Off event last Saturday - I had been interested in it but had a ride planned Gears & Cheers which I enjoyed greatly. I assumed since I missed the Kick-Off that I had missed it. He explained that one could start at any of the first three runs and if I was interested he would email me more information. Well he did and I am now a runner er well sort of but I did enjoy it - signed up for the whole course, bought some shoes - hope they are better than my first pair also bought a CamelBak belt system - I do not think I would want a think on my back.
So how did I do. Well pretty good I think - I went out with the slowest group, I did the walk - run - walk thing just like they told us to do and did OK. I finished with the group, OK I finished dead last at the back of the group but I did finish. I believe some did not finish but I am not sure was not really doing anything except worrying about myself but I know we start3ed with 25 in out group and finished with 15. I finished 3 miles in 41 minutes - according to Nike I did my fastest ever mile and my longest ever run. I did not feel like I was going faster when running than when I was walking but maybe I was - it sure took a lot more energy to do the running parts. I am really tired and my feet do hurt a little - OK a lot hopefully this will heal quickly right now walking is uncomfortable. Well they gave us a book and a log also a tiny shirt - I guess it is a goal of sorts also.

Galloway Training run 1 Garmin Connect - Details

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Slow Spokes Thursday evening ride

Good ride tonight - it was a bit warm but not too bad. We had a nice group show up and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Slow Spokes Thursday evening ride Garmin Connect - Details

OMG I'm FIT! & a new low weight today 328.2lb

OK OK I am still fat but according to John who did a health and fitness evaluation on me I have above average fitness. I cannot explain how cool this is for me. I know I still have work to do but it is real measurable progress. I was so nervous about getting this done.
Monday this week I join Rex Wellness Center in Garner. Part of the program is a health and fitness evaluation. I was more than a bit skeptical because everyone of these sorts of things I had at gyms I have joined before turned out to be a sales pitch for all of their additional service. Not so at Rex. John pinched, weighed and measured just about everything that could be tested and then measured my strength and put me on a stationary cycle to test my aerobic health. John who I asked for when I found out he was a cyclist knew me or I guess remember me and said we had spoken. He said about a year ago we had talked briefly at Wilson. Wilson is a small town on a number of cycling routes around here. There is a store there where a number of the route use as a rest stop. All the cyclist just call it Wilson. He said he could tell I had lose weight since he had seen me there about a year ago. I was a bit surprised he remember me but then I am getting use to it - a good friend pointed out to me in a good way that I am unusual in the cycling community and not just because I ride a trike. He said you are really big, I said you mean fat he said no, you are fat but you are also really big to be a cyclist and even through there other larger than average cyclist around that I am bigger than them and that I ride a lot and those two thing how big I am and how much I ride makes me a bit unusual so everyone remembers me. Well OK soon I will not always be fat but I will still be big. I am going to record all the numbers John recorded and gave to me not because they are good - I do not even know if they are good I just want to record them in case I lose this paper in maybe someone else might be interested. One thing I was pretty nervous about doing this evaluation so my heart rate and blood pressure were higher than usually. John said that that is not unusual and not to worry about it. When relaxing at home my resting heart rate will drop to 50 and when my BP is measured at my doctors it run around 128/80.
Resting heart rate - 78
Systolic BP - 152
Diastolic BP - 80
BMI - 41.2 (at home I get 40.6 so they are close high but close)
Body Fat - 24.6 (at home I got 31.0 this morning - big difference - I have heard the way John measured me is more accurate so my meter is a bit off - I must admit I like 24.6 better than 31.0)
Biceps Strength - 106 (this is in pounds and the scale only goes up to 132 so not too bad)
Aerobic Fitness 19.7 (this is noted as being measured as ml/kg/min - I am not sure what that is but will find out - it seemed low to me but John said for my age it was above average a good bit above it but that I could improve it - I will)
Height 75.5 ins.
Weight 334.0 pounds (I know this is higher than my scale but had eaten and drank to prepare for the workout and I was wearing clothing)
Chest Skin-fold 34 mm
Abdomen Skin-fold 19 mm
Thigh Skin-fold 20 mm
Shoulder Circumference 55.00 in
Chest Circumference 56.25 in
Abdomen Circumference 57.00 in
Hips Circumference 50.00 in
Right Biceps Circumference 14.50 in
Right Forearm Circumference 13.00 in
Right Thigh Circumference 26.50 in
Right Calf Circumference 19.50 in
Left Biceps Circumference 15.00 in
Left Forearm Circumference 13.00 in
Left Thigh Circumference 24.50 in
Left Calf Circumference 19.00 in
OK now for the part that has me wondering. John measured my body fat at 24.6% which I do believe is more accurate than my meter and because I like it so lets assume it is correct. Lets use a average between his and my weight measurement today and say it is 330 pounds. So my current body fat weight equals 330 time 24.6% or 81.18 pounds. This would make my lean body equal to my 330 pounds minus 81.18 pounds or 248.82 pounds. I find it hard to accept that with NO fat I would weight 248.82 pounds. If this is correct and John believes it is then 248.82 time 15% would be 37.323 pounds and adding this to my lean body mass would give me a new goal weight of 286.143 pounds or 286 pounds. I am just not sure I will be happy at 286 - I want to climb hills easily and I cannot image doing that at 286. Also I am about to start weight training to improve muscle tone so I can lose fat easier and unless I am different now I will gain muscle mass - I always have in the past so my lean body mass may go up. My main goals has been to improve my power to mass ratio and I can make a lot of power but I am not sure I can produce enough to haul 286 pounds up hills easily and fast. I guess the only thing to do it to keep working on it and see what happens. Being fit is the most important goal.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Greenfield training ride

Had a real nice ride - the weather looked like it was going to rain when I was just starting but it soon clear aoff abit and became very nice. At the beginning of my third loop I met a cyclists named Scot and during that loop caught up with Bryan. Was s bit surprised to see him so soon after he just completed a 600k ride two day before. I asked him if his butt hurt and he said everything hurt. I was real nice to see him and to ride with him again. I sure miss Peggy - do not know what happened to her she just disappeared. I hope she is OK and riding somewhere.
I looked at the GPS data from my ill fated NCBC Spring Rally ride - I only rode 2.35 miles. The Bionx locked itself into regen mode and with the rain I decided to just bail on the ride. It was ashame I was really looking forward to doing double metrics again.
I joined REX Wellness Center here in Garner. I am stuck in my weight lose again so I want to add at least so strength training now to try to kick start the weight lose again. It will also give me some place to swim - no more excuse for not doing the tri training now. They want to do a fitness evaluation on me - this may be interesting. I assume they will take one look at me and think OK we have a slug here and the I will do their stress test and not get stressed when I should - will just have to see how it goes.. I really do hope it is a real fitness evaluation and not just some excuse to try to sell me some thing - I would welcome a real fitness evaluation but if it is a sale gimmick I am going to be pissed. Whatever it is it happens Thursday morning at 7:15 AM.

Greenfield training ride Garmin Connect - Details

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Gears and Cheers 2010 - Metric



Well what a great event - 163 miles round trip from Garner but worth the drive. This was a well organized event but they did not start the ride on time which is annoying. The route was excelent - flattish in the beginning with some nice hills in the middle then flattish for the end - my preferred type of course. There were four SAG stops all were well maned and supplied and they did have PB&J. I was able to draft for most of the first ten miles but after that I rode solo. This was my best yet average for a Metric 16.3 mph.
I met and talked a bit to a very nice lady named Jane - strange thing happened to her toward the end of the ride and I happened to be beside her at the time and saw it. A squirrel ran onto the road and in spite of her attempt not to she ran over it but is seemed to be OK and ran off under my trike.
The after ride stuff was very nice - food was good and they had a good bit of it. The were giving away wine with a glass one was allowed to keep - this was nice. They had live music and I liked it.

Gears and Cheers 2010 - Metric at Garmin Connect - Details

A few pictures I got with my iPhone

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Slow Spokes Thursday evening ride

I had a real nice ride tonight and a quick one. Averaged 18 mph - never doing that on this ride. We had real good weather but a smaller group than I expected tonight. The quicker group tonight was really moving or it seemed so to me. After the turn I got dropped several time on the hills as usual but I was downing well and kept riding back up to the group. After the hills I checked my average and to my surprise it was 18 so I started pushing it trying to keep it. I was riding well and had legs left so I just pushed it.
For the last several weeks or move I have been noticing that I seem to have about the same speed and power after four hours as I do after the first half hour. It seems to take me 12 to twenty minutes after I start to get up to my crusing speed which is about 20 mph now. When I first start riding I just do not seem able to get to that speed but after the 12 to 20 minutes it just go up to about 20 mph. But what I have also noticed is that I can still do it after 4 or more hours. Sometimes I feel like a bus that wants to be a sports car.

Slow Spokes Thursday evening ride at Garmin Connect - Details

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Greenfield training ride

Only did 18 miles - I got cold and a late start because I went up North of Raleigh for a ride that I guess did not happen because I at 5:45 when the we said the ride was to start no one was there but me so only 18 miles - found it hard to believe I got cold and even after my shower I am still cold. Well at least I got in 18 miles and I will not do that to myself again.

Greenfield training ride Garmin Connect - Details

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Team CBC Brewery ride 42 miles

I had a really great ride - I got a bit tired at about 38 miles but not to bad and I did recover after a bit.
We had a real good group and we really stayed together well and no one really fell behind. We did not do the hill on Cokesberry today and with all the climbing I did yesterday that was OK with me. We did have some nice climbs but nothing like Saturday.
Team CBC is such a great club. There are some many people I have not met yet - met several new folks to me today and they were just a great as everyone else I have met there.

Team CBC Brewery ride 42 miles at Garmin Connect - Details

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Ride for Life 2010 - Metric

I am doing one of my favorite things. Sitting in my recliner after my nice hot shower after a really good ride, writing about the ride in my Blog.
I got there nice and early like I prefer to do. Most everything was setup and waiting for the cyclist to arrive. It seemed well organized and promised to be a good experience.
We rolled out about on time I was not watching the clock but it seemed to be about 8:30AM - as hot as it got 8:00AM may have been better. I did not have trouble with the heat but I saw several folks off the road being sick or just cooling off.
The route was good most of the roads were excellent - Leah we rode on Pea Ridge and I enjoyed just as much as the time you took a ride on it. This route took us farther down Pea Ridge crossing US1 - past US 1 it is not as nice a surface but still pretty good.
It does not show much more than the usual amount of climbing in my GPS data but is sure felt like it. There was not much in the first or second quarters of the ride but the third and forth - LOL. The third and forth both had to major climbs at least to me. The first in the third quarter was on SR 42 it was long and steep. The first part got up to a 9% grade and stayed between 6% and 9% most of the climb the second part was the trickiest part of it was a false flat - it looked like you had reached the top but the grade was still between 2 and 4% then you would go around a corner and it would go up again. There was a short steep part right at the top of about 7% grade. The second was on Ball road. I had done the climb on Ball Road before but from the other direction and it was harder going the way we were going. It was sort of short and no false flats but is is steep. It goes quickly up to 13% grade and then stays between 9 and 13% for the climb. I do not know the roads for the two climbs in the forth quarter but the first was shortly after the rest-stop and was a stead 7 to 9% climb of a fair length. The second was shorter but steeper with a grade of 7 to 11%. After the climb there was a short downhill then the road picked up again it was not steep but we were climbing at 1 to 3% for a long way with a few short dips then we descended at 1 to 3% for the rest of the ride with a few short climbs.
It was pretty nice to me most of the ride - the climbs were pretty hot and we did not seem to have much wind a little but not much.
The rest-stops were well placed, well manned and well stocked. However I can not give them top marks - no PB&J to be had but lot of good stuff anyway.
The was plenty of food at the end and I was about 5 or 6th form the last one to finish the ride. The food was good a few more cold drinks for the late arrivals would have been nice.
Turtle once again was preforming very well. I was having some trouble with the chain slipping on the climbs and believe I need to replace the rear freewheel. The chain is six months old but the freewheel has over 4000 miles on it and is 18 months old. I have been wanting to change it but I really want a 11 -34 nine speed like I currently have but have been having trouble find one. Will have to look more and harder.
Looking forward to the Team CBC ride Sunday - doing the 42 -still not able to do the 77 at the pace they ride maybe someday.
No Pictures because I have no camera right now - I sure miss taking the pictures and I saw what might have been a few good ones today.
I just realized something - I have done a Metric each Saturday for the last four weeks. Not much to some people but a first for me.

Ride for Life 2010 - Metric at Garmin Connect - Details

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Slow Spokes Thrusday Night Ride

I had a fun ride tonight - there was a good crowd and the weather was real nice. The pace was just a bit slower than usually and I was mostly able to keep up - the hills still bite me but that just the way it will be until I can fix my mass to weight ratio. I had a new lowest weight this morning - 328.8 - I broke the 80 pounds lose line. I still look real fat and according to the table I am still externally obese - mmmmmm - so if I am still externally obese what was I 80 pounds heavier?
For the last couple of weeks I have been changing how I use the Bionx. I have been using it to allow me to keep up with whatever group I am with instead of using it as little as possible. I like riding with the groups, I like going fast and riding is for the fun and this is more fun. But I have also noticed that in doing so I am keeping my heart rate in the aerobic zone most of the time and almost never going in to the anaerobic zone and if I understand the class I took oh heart rate monitors this is the best way to lose fat. It seems to be working and I plan on keeping it up - but still riding as long and as hard as I can.
Turtle has been riding well - I like the changes I have made to the seat position and angle. I plan on riding her this weekend then on Monday after work moving the seat a bit more forward so I can recline the seat more. To do this I will have to make changes to the seat stays but they are not permate. Currently the seat is at 41.5 degrees and would like to get it to 45 degrees and see how it feels.

My GPS data is HERE

A new low weight today

I hit a new low weight today and it is somewhat of a mile stone - I broke the 80 pound loss line.

My weight today is 328.8 pounds meaning I have lost 81.2 pounds. I sure does help with the effort it takes to see the numbers I just wish I could see some real to me changes in the way I look. I have been pushing it hard and I am having trouble being tired. Walking last night after dinner with Dad and Jim and buying food was hard but I am glad I did it.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Greenfield Traininig Ride

I had a real good training ride tonight. I broke 17 mph average using the Bionx on level 1. Felt real good. Was just a little cool but not bad.

My GPS data is HERE

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mothers Day RIde - Shearon Harris VC - 43 miles


From my forum post -

A real nice ride - thanks Leah. As always a great route and a real nice group to ride with. I was not feeling great for the middle of the ride but got better toward the end. Not feeling too good now - not sure what going on.

My GPS data is HERE

My pictures are HERE

I was cold this morning or at least it felt cold to me. I even ran the heater in the van on the drive out there. There were seven of us at the start in spite of the great weather - I am sure Mothers day influenced some of our regulars. I have only done this route once maybe twice before and it maybe one of the nicest 40 mile routes around here. There are some good climbs but nothing that will destroy you and all the roads were great most very smooth. There are also store at about 14 miles and 26 miles perfect for rest/bathroom stops. I need to remember how much I liked this ride and do it when ever it is posted.
I got to feeling poorly just before the first rest stop and was just able to hang with the group. Not sure what was wrong - it was not blood sugar - it did not feel like that and eating something did not make it any better - it did not make it worse either. I just was not feeling good and had almost no power in my legs. We took a deviation from the original route and turned onto Pea Ridge road. This added about three or so miles to the route. I was feeling a bit better at the second rest stop when this was purposed and agreed to it - I am a sucker for seeing a new road especially when is is said to be fine by other cyclist I respect. It dumped us onto Old US 1 south of where the original route would have. The rest of the route is the same.
Maybe I am trying to do too much - I so want to lose weight - I feel almost like I cheated today because I only rode 43 miles when I could have done a metric. Isn't that silly but I do feel like that. I came home and took a nap and I needed it. I have not needed a nap after a ride for a while now. I hope nothing is wrong.
Turtle is running very well the new seat position seems to be very good. I just have to decide if I should try to recline it even more. More might be better or worse or make no difference. I guess I will leave it alone for a bit and do some research on seat recline angles. It is also nice having the Schlumpf High Speed Drive back. Even with the 27 tooth ring on it I can get to higher speeds than with the triple.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

CARA - Ride for Their Lives ride.


From my forum post -

What I great ride I had. Yea it got a bit hot but I guess growing up and living for 30 years in South Louisiana around New Orleans makes this heat less of a problem for me. This was their first ride and I thought it was well done - I hope they do it again

I shot a few pictures with the iPhone and they are below. I am not comfortable taking photos while moving on the trike with the iPhone. It is not easy to use it with one hand and I just cannot afford to drop it or damage it somehow.

I really enjoyed my ride today and I know it was due to at least two things. One I have the seat frame replaced and I am there for able to control the trike a lot more than last week when I rode it - I could bomb down all the hill son this ride - no braking last week I seemed like I rode the brakes. Two

My GPS data it HERE

My pictures are HERE

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Slow Spokes Thursday Night Ride - first start at above 90 degrees

I had a really great ride and pushed it about as hard as I could the whole ride. We had a few less than the past couple of weeks maybe due to the higher start time air temperature and because a few regulars were not planning to ride like Pugslyyy due to he Half Iron-man this coming Saturday - good luck Pugslyyy and Rick was out due to some traveling to visit family. Wayne stepped in the lead the group and took the slowest group I was planning to lead the mid speed group but Jeff said he was riding the pace and said he would lead it - thanks Jeff - I was looking forward to really hitting it tonight and I did. Jo had a little trouble with the heat as did a few others - hope you are feeling better Jo. I am looking forward to Ride-for-their-Lives this weekend and Leah's pickup ride the Sharon Harris this Sunday. My friend Byran is doing a 400K berva(sp) this Saturday/Sunday God-speed my friend, keep the rubber side down and drink before you need to.

My GPS data id HERE

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Greenfield recover/training/recover ride

Well I went out to Greenfiled for a nice recovery ride but I was riding by myself and with in half a lap I was sprinting again. I just do not seem to be able to let my self go any slower than I am capable of riding. Now I am a lot slower than most other cyclist but I do like going as fast as I can. I started out riding about 12 mph and I was just listin to some toons and spininig, the next time I looked at the speed I was doing 20 mph. I was feeling real good so I just keep on going. I did thrre loops averging over 17 mph and left great. Caught up to Bryan and Jo who were out there and a road a forth loopwith them at a real recover pace. I had a nice ride and I needed it.

My GPS data is HERE

Monday, May 3, 2010

Modifing for GSC™ 10 Cadence/Speed sensor for your trike

So you ride a recumbent trike or recumbent bike and all ways want a Garmin Edge 705 or the new Edge 500 but since the GSC™ 10 cadence/speed bike sensor that these GPS cycling computer work with will not work on anything except a diamond frame bike by design you have never gotten one. You could just use the cadence side of the sensor and let the GPS compute your speed and I did that for a while but I preferred the more accurate physical sensor. According to all the Garmin information one can purchase third party ANT+ speed sensors and use them with the Edge 705 or 500(I do not own a 705 just the 500). The manual say to go to a web-page 'www.garmin.com/intosports' for compatible sensors however there are no compatible sensors on that web-page, this is because there is not list of any kind on that web-page nor does anything come up when one searches their website. I bought two different speed only ANT+ sensors and tried to get them to work with the Edge 500 but it would not see either one and they both do work with a VDO Z3 I own that is also ANT+ compatible. I called Garmin and asked how can I get the Edge 500 to work with third party speed sensors or if I had the wrong one where is the list of the compatible one. The 'technician' I got on the phone did not seem to have any idea what I was talking about, five times he put me on hold and when to talk to a higher level person. Eventually he told me they would have to research this and get back to me. That was two weeks ago and in spite of additional calls I am still waiting. If their units do not work with ANT+ sensors they should just say so.
Well having a background in electronics I decided to trying to modify a Gamin GSC™ 10 cadence/speed bike sensor to allow it to both do cadence and speed. I am sure this WILL VOID any warranty on the GSC™ 10 cadence/speed bike sensor but I cannot see how it would have any effect on the warranty on the Edge 500 or 705.

First remove the Battery!
Next remove the rubber pad meant to go between the sensor and the bike frame, save this you will need to put it back on.
Remove the speed sensor arm by removing the screw, be careful the wired connecting the sensor are short and pretty fine - do not break them.
Then using a knife I separated the two halves of the unit.



Like this.



You can now easily see the brown and gray wire that connect the speed sensor to the circuit board of the unit. The wires do not penetrate the board and are just soldered to pads on the surface of the board. Be very careful desoldering these two wires if you pull up the pads you will destroy the circuit board.



Now desolder the speed sensors wires from the pads on the circuit board like this then pull the wires out.



Now you must know where the cadence sensor must be placed to allow the crank arm to swing past it with a magnet on it. From there you must measure to where you plan to locate the speed sensor. I have no way of knowing how long the wire in between the circuit board and sensor might be and still work but I would make it as short as is reasonable. I choose to put mine on the right front wheel using the the mount arm for the disc brake to hold it's mount. This you will have to work out for yourself, mine is mounted temporally on top of the VDO ANT+ speed sensor. When I get it mounted properly I will include a picture. Makes sure the wire is long enough but not a lot longer than you need. I would use either shielded wire or a twisted pair to reduce crosstalk in the wire and use a pretty small wire.
Now feed the wire through the hole where they came out or the screw hole. Then VERY carefully soldier the wires to the pads. Remember do not put any unnecessary stress on those pads.



Below you can see the wires soldered in and the wire pack in to the case. Remember there has to be space for the battery case and the wires will not fit between the circuit board and battery case. Be careful of putting stress on the pads when packing the wire in the case.



Below you can see the case reassembled. The case was originally sealed and held together with a silicone sealant. You MUST reseal the case. You will need to remove all the old sealant from both halves of the case and reapply a sealant to reseal the case, also the whole where the screw was and where the wire came through must be sealed especially around the new wire. I would wait to do this until you have tested both sensors but it must be sealed before it is used around any water. You must also let the sealant cure before attaching it to your trike because the zip ties used to hold it to the trike frame tend to make the case split open if the sealant has not cured.



Below you can see the other end of the wires tinned with heat shrinkable tubing already on them ready to solder to the leads coming from the speed sensor. I am not sure if it is important and most likely it would not matter but I made sure I attached the same wires on the sensor to the same pad as they came off of.



Below shows the speed sensor with the wires soldered together, the hear shrinkable tubing shrank and a wire tie attached to provide strain relief to the delicate wires that are original to the sensor.



It is not shown it the picture above but you should use the same silicone sealant to seal the speed sensor before exposing it to water.

I have had this installed and working for about a week now and have had not problems.



I did this to a spare GSC™ 10 Cadence/Speed sensor that I had bought thinking I could just use two - one for speed and one for cadence but Garmin would not let you do that either.

If you have a question publish a comment or send me a message on the forum or message board.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Raven Rock Ramble 2010 - My second metric this weekend


I had a great ride and it was as well done as I have heard. There were the important things like PB&J at all the rest stops, all the rest stops were maned with very pleasant folks, also drinks of some variety and all sorts of snacks. The routes were well marked and at least the metric was well planned with the BIG hill and hard climbs in the first two thirds of the route and the final third was more flat and very nice. I know it is not always possible to plan routes like this but I do believe it makes for a better ride when it can be done this way. I think I had ridden all the roads before except from the other direction in most cases and this made it interesting. The two hardest hills were on Cokesberry and Ball. Cokeberry I have ridden many times and gets up to a 10% grade, I do not think I had ridden the Hill on Ball before it was a spiritual experience get to a grade of 13% and being good bit longer. There were a number of other hills and some were significant but none were more than 9% grade. Most of the roads were very good and even the ones that were not good very not too bad. The weather was good, hot but good. The food provided after the ride was great in my option and there was plenty of it. I was really a good event and I had a good time.
I was sort of pleased with myself I want to try to ride back to back metrics and I have done so. I thought I could do so because of riding back to back three quarter centuries at the MS Tour. Well riding two metrics in the hills was a lot more difficult the the two days in the flat land around Newburn.
My problems with my seat on Saturday were caused by the broken seat frame I discussed before. Today was much better. I had no pain at all to about 35 miles then I started to have a lot of pain but it was not because I was sitting on the trike frame. One of the seat straps loosened and allowed the seat to sag and this cause the pain. once tightened it was better but it keeps loosing and the pain returns. I am not sure how this works but I do feel sure it is caused by it affecting blood circulation because even just removing my feet from the clips and putting my feet on the ground almost instantly has an affect on the pain and standing for just a few seconds and the pain is completely gone. I am in hope of the more reclined seat position will improve this by getting more of my weight off mt butt and on to my back in the seat.
Turtle preformed well with just one small problem at miles 4.62 I broke my chain - was very glad I had gotten the master links last week.
I hope to have the new boom with the Schlumpf drive next week - I am looking forward to having the higher gears again.

My GPS data is HERE


My pictures are HERE

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Team CBC Bob's Mayday RIde



I had a real good ride but I have been having some trouble and I may have found out why. First about the ride. We met at Bob's home and it is very nice and in Sanford. We rode the route for the CANC ride which I will be riding next week. There were about 25 of us there and about 7 of us did the metric. I of course could not keep up with the group but did caught them at stops and had a real nice ride. I was riding well but for a while now I have felt the trike was harder to pedal than I remember it being.
After about 40 miles my backside really started to hurt to the point at 45 miles I had to get off the trike and I tried to tighten the seat straps because I had discovered that I was riding with my backside on the frame of the trike. Tighten the straps did not help much but I did notice something when doing this and that was that the straps were as tight as they would go yet the seat was still sagging and allowing my backside to ride on the frame. I had to stop again at 55 miles just to give my backside a rest. I decided I had to do something about or ride a 30 ride at Raven Rock on Sunday. Thursday night at the Slow Spokes ride I had noticed the the rear of the trike seemed really flexible and I did not remember it being like that. I was now afraid that I may have a cracked frame, but I checked it out and all seemed fine. While trying to get some padding between my seat and the trike frame I found the problem, the seat frame was bent and cracked in two places. I am sure that the original damage to the seat frame happened when I flipped the trike. Ever since then I have been having trouble controlling the trike and the damage to the seat are consistent with and impact. Turtle has been very difficult to control at speed of as little at 24 mph and I use to be able to do fine at 32 to 34 mph. It seems that the seat and it's stays are part of the frame structure and is necessary to keep the rear of the trike ridge. I replaced the seat with the replacement Chrom-Molly seat frame Terratrike had sent me and I believe I should be fine for riding my second metric this weekend at Raver Rock Sunday.

My GPS data is HERE

My pictures are HERE