Upgrading My Garmin

If you follow me on Garmin Connect, then perhaps you noticed a lack of variety in my routes during my recent trip to Pennsylvania. I utilized the same roads and recreation trails again and again. That got the job done—I put up good time and distance numbers—but I would have liked to see something new without the risk of getting lost. I would have liked to roam farther from my mother’s neighborhood without a clumsy cuesheet or a printed map.

I have been a dedicated Garmin user since March 2013. I got 3 years out of my first device, an Edge 200. It represented a big upgrade over the traditional cycling computers I had been using, allowing me to analyze statistics more easily and automatically giving me maps of my rides … upon completion. When the Edge 200 died, I replaced it with an Edge 500. Even though the Edge 500 was already old technology, it gave me additional statistics—e.g., heart rate, when paired with a chest strap—and it had much better options for navigation. I dabbled with the navigation functions, but I never took full advantage of them. Doing almost all of my riding on familiar roads near West Bend, there wasn’t a need.

Now there is a need, or at least a strong desire, for better navigation. Mom fell and broke her hip last week. She had surgery and her recovery is progressing nicely. But it’s time to make some changes to her home so that she can continue to live there in safety and comfort. I’m going back to Pennsylvania soon to help with that effort. I might spend several weeks there between now and the end of the year. My recently concluded trip will serve as the model for what is to come: I’ll work overnight from Mom’s kitchen table, complete projects around her house and yard during the day, and get on the bike whenever I can. Creating new routes on Garmin Connect and then following them out on the road will keep my training from becoming stale.

Today I did my first ride with my new Garmin Edge 830, a device with far more features than its predecessors. I might use only a small fraction of those features; I bought it for its superior navigation capabilities, which begin with superior readability. Here is how its display differs from the Edge 500:

I wasn’t bothered by the Edge 500’s limited navigation capabilities; I never really called upon them. My biggest gripe with the Edge 500 is that it can be very slow to make its initial satellite links when I want to start a ride. Otherwise, it’s a solid performer. So, it’s not being retired. The Edge 830 will be the primary computer but the Edge 500 might become my dedicated mountain biking computer, something I could destroy in a crash without feeling like I’ve lost a stack of money.

Seeing new things is one of the principal attractions of cycling, and I haven’t done it in a while. I’m counting on my Garmin Edge 830 to facilitate that desire to explore. Even closer to home, in unfamiliar corners of Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, and Dodge counties, this new capability will show its worth.

In other news, I really needed to get on the bike today. It was just my fourth ride in the 13 days since I returned from Pennsylvania. I am so done with cold weather, but cold weather isn’t done with Wisconsin. Today was a little above average and tomorrow will be too. But then we return to winter for a few days. As I write this, there are snow showers in the forecast for next Monday, May 1.