Friday, 25 September 2015

Measurment of Sucess?

I'm talking about how to put metrics into my own riding for my self.  Not for anyone else.

Power reading at Start
I've been trying to figure out how I can measure if I am doing better.  It's a bit of a challange since normal measurements of TIME or AvgSpeed can be changed on the amount of "power" I add when I drive.


Power reading at End
So with out doing any crazy charts with TIME x SPEED x POWER, I've been using two points of measurements.  Since my bike is a 48v 12ah system, I've noticed that my battery power remaining has been a simple and easy measurement of how much "effort" I've been putting into riding.

My bike starts at 54.6/54.4 at full charge and then drops quickly at the slightest addition at the start, just as any other Lithuium Ion battery does.  Then it holds at 80% for a long time and then drops out to almost no output around 30% remaining.  So at the start of this adventure my power at the end would read 48.2 or 49.0ish and that is when the battery was new and fresh and all power cells were at 100%.  Over time the power cells aren't as good as they could be and some simply die. 

So with a 50.3 after over 300 charges (maybe more) at the end of a ride, I can say that I feel happy about that.

But my best measurement is how I feel and at this time, I feel this is all taking me in the right direction and I guess that's what really counts.  That and my belt size has shrunk down a belt notch.


Posted by at

3 comments:

  1. BigRedClydesdale26 September 2015 at 10:45

    Measuring your success is also great encouragement.

    While I love to see how much faster I've gotten (average speed and top speed on full rides and segments), the one piece of gear that really helps me the most is a heart rate monitor. Not to see how high I can get my heart rate, but to know what zone I'm in.

    For example, my morning rides I've been concentrating on fat burn. That's my zone 2 (fat only) and zone 3 (fat + carbs). Because usually on other rides I'm in zone 4 (carbs only) and while it does wonders for my muscles, it does little for my fat!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown28 September 2015 at 11:41

      I was thinking a heart rate monitor might be the way I would have to go.

      Delete
    2. BigRedClydesdale30 September 2015 at 12:36

      I like the chest strap ones. If you have a smartphone with Bluetooth 4, they can be relatively cheap. Might look a bit uncomfortable but I stopped noticing my soft strap one on my very first ride.

      Wahoo TICKR is pretty cheap. Around $55 at MEC. Dual transmitter (Bluetooth and ANT+). Strap is stretchy and quite comfortable.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)