(this is not my screengrab, it’s just a sample.)

THIS is really cool to me. a cycling buddy hipped me to it and since it’s a free app and a free sign up, i figured i’d give it a shot. you download the app to your phone (all three major dataphones are supported), sign up, enable your GPS, and click the "start ride" button. from there, the satellites take over and track your speed and elevation on your ride. pretty simple stuff, but very cool that you can do it from your back pocket, in the background.

i tested it on my ride home from work yesterday and i took "the long way" to give it a minute to have potential failFactor. my route is roundabout and out of the way, but i like it because there’s lots of traffic and excitement and i don’t have to climb any part of nob hill or russian hill. as you can see, it’s about 4 miles and the elevation is minimal, but it’s interesting to be able to track it from a satellite. i’ve always been interested in this tech, and it exceeds my expectations thus far. it gives me a map, ride statistics including elapsed time vs ride time (start to stop vs wheels rolling), average speed, top speed, elevation, and it uploads it all to my online account.

one thing that’s very cool is that you can specify all your sleds and note which you rode on which ride. this allows you to keep better track of how you’re doing, based on the bike you’re on. i VERY much dig this, but i have to weigh all my bikes because it doesn’t allow you to make a new one without knowing it’s weight. i’m very much looking forward to getting this information up there.

the one thing that i don’t really care one way or the other about is that it ranks you against other strava users. i’m not a really competitive dude, so i really don’t pay much attention to that, but i’d be lying if i didn’t admit that i’m pretty proud of the fact that i’m firmly in the top 10 SF strava users who can blast the 3rd-8th street sprint on howard in under 3 minutes, and i’m only 30s behind the leader.

there are far more functions available, especially when you get on the paid account, versus the free account that i’m on. you can add info such as cadence and heart rate from other monitors, and there’s some way to tie it in to a garmin as well, but i haven’t looked much at it.

as a varied-discipline cyclist, i really like this. it takes no effort and no extra bullshit loaded onto my bike. it’s just my phone, i already have it on me. i do like when i have my cyclometer mounted, but to be honest, i do that so rarely that this is a great backup option.

huge fan so far.
look into it.

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