Initial impressions were great. Cyclemeter is packed with nice features. In fact, I can’t think of much that’s missing (Strava support would be really cool, but I’ll get into why it’s not on my features wishlist in a minute). It seems to be geared toward the kind of user who wants as much info in as many ways as possible, which to me is always a good thing in this kind of app. Not only can I tweet my rides for everyone on Facebook to see, but they can follow along as I ride. Useful for coworkers who might start to wonder how much later I’ll be getting in to work – They can actually check the map to see where I am. Not that anyone does, as far as I know. I also have a ride report emailed to me when I finish, and have a folder in my Gmail just for recorded rides. Pretty cool.

There are, however, some drawbacks. For one, the GPS is not as accurate as in a dedicated device. Riding with a bunch of engineers, some of whom work on mobile devices, I’ve gathered that this is a weakness in all GPS-enabled phones. The GPS unit just isn’t as robust as in something like a Garmin, so phones use cell towers to assist  in finding their position. This becomes a major weakness when you have a bad signal, which is especially a problem with the iPhone in San Francisco. Most of the time it’s close enough, but occasionally it’ll lose track of a significant portion of a ride and end up drawing a straight line between points where it had a good signal. That’s fine, if you’re going in a straight line the whole time. Less fine if GPS cuts out for a longer period and misses an important turn or two (see some of Dad’s rides for an example). This is why Strava support isn’t a realistic thing to hope for. Apparently the Strava team has been working on iPhone support for some time, but the accuracy just isn’t there. Having a bike mount for my phone has alleviated some of the GPS problems, compared to when I rode with my phone in my pocket.

I had a lot of problems when I had my corporate email synced with my phone. For security reasons, the phone had to lock itself automatically and require a password to unlock. Turning this off was not an option, and it is not easy to put in a password on a phone while riding. It would have been OK if Cyclemeter could function while the screen was locked, but I never had any real success getting that to work. It’s been working fine since I unsynced my mail.

Maybe the worst thing about the app is that it can be SLOW. Yesterday when I finished my ride, it took about two minutes to “end” the ride and maybe two more to upload it. That’s a long time to stand there holding your phone when there’s bacon and pancakes waiting for you. It’s also a problem when starting after having paused the ride, which is OK if you’re riding alone but less OK if your group decides to leave the water stop suddenly. I don’t know if the iPhone 3GS, being a faster phone, has this problem or not. Maybe when I upgrade to whatever awesome new iPhone comes out next it’ll go away.

Drawbacks and caveats aside, this is still a very cool app and has become my go-to ride tracker. It has a great display screen, easy to read while on the bike:

Battery life seems to be better than on competing apps. (Note that I took the screenshot above after charging my phone, so the 78% after that ride is not accurate.) When I rode Skyline earlier this week, I finished in 3:18:41 and had 15% battery power left. Impressive, especially since the screen and wi-fi were on the entire time. It saves your routes, which makes it really easy to keep track of how this week’s ride compares to last week’s.

The Map feature is nice, not only can you use it mid-ride if you get lost, but it stores rides so you can show off later. I went to a bar last weekend and was showing my friends what this Cyclemeter stuff I’ve been spamming all over Facebook is about. On showing them the map, the common reaction was “You did THAT on a BIKE?”

It also has a nice graphing feature if you want to really geek out about stats. I don’t use this much at all, but it’s still pretty cool.

I’ve found it also works well for tracking runs. I’m not crazy about taking my iPhone running with me, but I’m also not about to go spend a couple hundred dollars on a Garmin watch for the dozen or so miles I run each month. Again, it’s comparable in performance to other apps that I’ve used. Abvio also makes Runmeter and Walkmeter, but I haven’t tried them out since Cyclemeter does everything. I suspect they’re functionally identical and the real deciding factor is which logo you like best.

One more thing to wrap up the review. Dad and I have both been using Cyclemeter to track our rides for a few weeks, and we’ve both had our share of problems. The guys at Abvio have been great about responding to tweets through @Cyclemeter when we’ve had issues. Most of the problems stemmed from inherent weaknesses in the iPhone’s GPS or from having my corporate email synced to the phone, we never took advantage of their tech support, but the fact that they were prompt and willing to help really says a lot about them. I’d definitely buy another Abvio app.

Usually when I plan to ride I bring a change of clothes to work the day before, and leave my laptop there overnight. But I just decided yesterday afternoon to do this ride, so I had to bring everything with me on the bike today. It was a bad day to travel with an extra ten pounds. Very little of the route is flat, and I am not in climbing shape. At all.

The good thing about climbs is, they always pay off. I absolutely love a good descent. Nothing like grabbing the drops and getting some face time with the handlebars. Sawyer Camp Trail (approx. miles 15.6-21.8) is the perfect combination of twisty descents, awesomely fun sharp turns, and gorgeous scenery. It is COLD though. The kind of cold that numbs your face until you can’t make consonants. The kind of cold that forces you to ball up your fists to save your fingers. The kind of cold that turns your nose into a total snotfaucet. Worth it though. Imagine if the forest portion of the Arkansas River Trail were five miles long, mostly downhill, and next to much prettier water.

And now on to the griping portion of this post. I am having a knee problem. It feels like my right patella is seriously bruised. It’s not, obviously, or I would know why it hurts. It was fine for almost the whole ride, but about three miles from Google it started bothering me, and it’s gotten worse throughout the day to the point that when I got up for water a minute ago it was hard to straighten my leg. I can walk just fine, in fact I don’t even limp… but it feels like I kneed The Thing in the crotch.

I also need a new saddle. I thought I just needed to get used to the one I have, but it seems like it’s taking fewer and fewer miles each ride to develop some serious ABS (that’s Angry Balls Syndrome). I picked up a used Fizik Alliante for my CX bike (just completed, pics forthcoming!) so we’ll see how that works out. If it’s good I’ll have to find a white and black one to match my Orbea.

Opening the box, I was dazzled by the packaging. It was the first sign that I’d really made a solid investment that I couldn’t possibly come to regret.

Fortunately, once I had it out of the bag it was clear that the money they saved on packaging was well spent. The individual pieces feel extremely solid.

They even included a pair of Flexible High-Tensile Polymer Fasteners with Built-In Permanent Locking System. Fancy.

Installation was not easy. The mounting bracket and phone holder have zero clearance between them, so the zip ties have to be pulled extremely tight until they’re flush with the bracket. In addition to (or as a result of) having no clearance, the mount and holder are a very tight fit. It took me several minutes to snap them together, and I’m not what you’d call “dainty.”

I had no idea what the rubber strip was for, and honestly if something only comes in two pieces I am not likely to read the instructions. On my first ride I quickly realized that the rubber strip was important. I left it out, and for the entire ride the mount was flopping over to one side of the stem. Getting home, I checked the instructions and confirmed my suspicions: That little piece of rubber is what keeps the bracket in place.

I had to cut the zip ties, which meant a trip to the hardware store for replacements. The hardware store didn’t have any small enough, so I got the closest thing and performed minor surgery on the bracket to make them fit. All this added up to a seriously crappy installation process that I could have avoided had I just read the instructions. Lesson learned, I guess.

The good news is, when this thing is installed properly it works great! The fit and finish is top notch, and the iPhone fits snugly and securely in the holder. Nearly 100 miles of testing over some bumpy roads, and my iPhone was never in danger of falling out. It’s not meant to protect your iPhone in a crash, but honestly it seems like it provides enough protection that even in a serious wreck your iPhone would have a solid chance.

PROS:

• Functions exactly as it should
• Fairly low-profile
• Easy to place/remove iPhone
• Snug fit holds the iPhone securely
• Tough, solid construction and quality materials
• Looks about as good as these things can

CONS:

• Installation is tough. Pulling the zip ties tight enough and snapping the pieces together takes considerable effort.
• Not compatible with iPhone cases, hope you like your iPhone naked
• No wet weather protection at all
• Zip ties have to be cut off, standard bike computer-style rubber bands would be nice

THE VERDICT:

A solid piece of equipment. If you’re tracking your rides with an iPhone, a handlebar mount is a very nice thing to have. This one does the job, is built to last, and won’t drop your iPhone if you hit a pothole. I might even get a second one for my other bike, but I’ll be careful to install it correctly on the first try.

I stopped at the 16 mile mark for a snack and some water, and noticed it’s time to replace my tires. If you don’t know how to tell when your tires are old, I’ve included this handy picture for your reference (click to embiggen):

The tweeting feature might be what seals the deal for me. Knowing that it’s sending a link to Facebook makes me feel like I’m really accountable for turning in a good run. It might even make me run more often, if I feel like people might start wondering why I haven’t run lately. Is that a little narcissistic and/or self-obsessed of me to say? Probably. I don’t care though (because I’m awesome).

My running has improved a little, in spite of me not really staying on top of my training. My outdoor runs are a mile longer now but averaging the same speed. That’s pretty encouraging, and in combination with the beautiful weather, Daylight Savings Time, and Cyclemeter, I might even start running more than once a week. Of course, we’ll see about that when the time comes to run on a weekday after work.

10 Coolest Roads to Ride

I hereby declare Cyclemeter to be The New Hotness. I used it for the first time today, and it… it just… you guys, it is a dream. I won’t devote space here to listing its features, suffice to say that it does everything they say, and it does it well. If you check my Twitter you’ll see that it can tweet when you start and finish your ride. HOW COOL IS THAT?! It even uses less battery power than Fitnio. You hear that, Fitnio? You suck so hard.

The one flaw I saw was that it clocked my first couple of miles at around 79 mph, which isn’t entirely accurate. 7.9 mph would be closer. I’ll give it a pass though, because when I started out it warned me that the GPS signal was weak. Fortunately it allows the user to change any stats it records, so I scrubbed my amazing but untrue top speed from the record.

Oh and by the way, riding’s going well… Missed a couple of weeks because of jury duty, equipment failure, and weather (I will NOT ride in the rain, I don’t care if that makes me a wuss). But today was great, the weather is steadily improving, and I won’t have jury duty again for at least a year. Expect to see some more frequent rides tweeted, thanks Cyclemeter!

I plan on doing this once a week for a month or two, and then moving up to at least twice weekly.

I am completely exhausted, so that’s all I’m writing.

Anyway, I would have updated if there was anything to update about. The weather here has been horrendous. I’ve never seen it rain so hard for so long. When it’s like that, I can’t even make myself walk the block and a half to the gym. Gym clothes are just not suitable for cold, rainy weather.

The good news is we’ve gotten a little break in the rain, and tomorrow I’ll be riding my bike to work! That’s 42.5 miles from San Francisco to Mountain View. I have my Orbea, my Orbea has new pedals, I have a riding buddy, and I’m ready to do this. Wish me luck!

We’re supposed to get more rain over the weekend and next week but I promise I’ll take full advantage of every day that it doesn’t rain, so that I’ll have something to write about here.

1. I’m going to tweet about all my runs and rides. You guys will know if I’m slacking off. This could get really boring after a while, so we’ll just play it by ear.

2. I’m going to update this blog at least once a week. On Sundays I’ll post a summary of the week and how I’m coming along. Hopefully posting on a weekly schedule will keep this blog on my radar and influence me to post more often.

3. This is pretty hypocritical, at least for now, but I’m going to hassle everyone else to post more often too. Schuyler starts swimming soon, and I don’t know about you guys but I think he needs to write about it on the Internet.

4. More pictures! I got an awesome pocket-sized camera for Christmas and I want to put it to good use.

I don’t have any specific training related goals just yet, but I’ve laid out some vague ones. Once I work out the details I’ll start tracking my progress, but for now I’m just looking forward to riding my bike to Mountain View a couple of times a week!