So hear me out. Extra credit will be given if actually read all this
This started yesterday after I was messing with another friend. I was on my way to take my truck into the shop and happened to see a cyclist. I figured it was one of a handful of people I know that would actually ride this section of road that is narrow with heavy traffic and little to no shoulder. Oddly this particular gentleman is a Lt. in the next county over P.D. so I'm always amazed he rides this stretch of road ( since they deal with death, destruction and mayhem daily
)but he does it routinely. I've done it once with a friend and a group last year as he had just finished a cross country ride and we rode back to his house and I'll never do it again...anyway I'm straying so far off topic now
So later that day I made a comment about him bouncing widely in the saddle ( on his Strava ride) but went back and deleted it. He ended up FB messaging me and we ended up in a somewhat long conversation about power, cadence and HR.
He said when I saw him he was bouncing because he was spinning at a 100 cadence so I asked why, he said it was windy. I said at 100 you should still be quiet in the hips
Anyway I told him I had changed my riding style completely this year. I used to be a spinner as well and I could do it and it does indeed seem to feel easier in a scenario like that when you feel like you should spin and make it easier.
Remember the old saying "legs or lungs" ? Usually you're only blessed with one or the other.
I've not ridden with a HR monitor hardly at all this year. Originally it was because my new Wahoo HRM would work and not work and then it would show 170 when i was sitting still and 65 when I was working my ass off. Yes, I changed batteries etc. I even had another older Garmin HRM that would work and not work so I just said screw it,
I'm tired of spending money on something for which I have absolutely no control over and that's my HR. ( Kind of wondered if it was the Wahoo itself to be very honest. I have a Garmin 520 I use for my mtb I thought about checking it against it but really....why bother)
I've never once ridden with a HRM on my mountain bikes, ever! I guess I just never really wanted to see those numbers from basically the non stop intervals on mtb
Now as
@John_V said he's doing it for medical reasons and I can understand and appreciate that.
But really, you have no control over your HR in a given situation and by this I mean if it's a hard climb or a sprint...it is what it is and there's not a damn thing you can do about it ( and I'm assuming your not a quitter or a wuss that gives up on something hard
)so why waste your time and money monitoring something you can't control? And really, if you've ridden for any length of time you pretty much know where you are at HR wise +- for the most part.
Oh I feel the angst out there already!! Stay with me here.
You CAN CONTROL power and cadence! HR ONLY follows these two things and then with a great deal of latency as compared to your power output or cadence. I can't tell you how much better I feel on the bike this year, it really is crazy to me
I'm FAR more interested in my power and cadence that affect my HR than i am about the actual HR itself. I've always looked at my HR in Strava or Training Peaks etc but really what REAL affect can or do I have on controlling it. I also know from years of riding that my average HR tends to fall if only slightly the more I ride and the better fit I am but again it fits within a certain window and range...always! Why would I want to monitor it then? Well, in my case I don't anymore.
I have found this year, while my actual FTP and avg power are down, I can ride much longer and stronger now but this is largely due to the fact I've taught/made myself completely change my riding style. I used to strive for 90 or better cadence because that's what a cyclist should do...well I say BS
I finished a 50 miler a couple of weeks ago where I felt as good or better when I finished than when I started. ( And to be clear my HR has ALWAYS been on the higher end of the scale as compared to those I ride with. I even went to the Doc about it years ago. He said my heart was strong as an Ox and not worry, kewl
Of course the first thing they do is give an EKG and all kinds of other test as soon as you mention heart and HR)
I've learned to be MUCH closer to 80 rpm now and 83 is about the max anymore. So really in the end for me it ends up being all about cadence kind of. I know where my power should be at a given cadence. This riding style has also made my legs much stronger this year as well
I just can't tell how much better I feel not worrying and constantly looking at a piece of data I had Z E R O control over, it's mentally freeing!!! Not to mention physically much better.