Being out on my bike after dusk, I knew I needed to invest in a quality head light for my road bike. Enter, the Garmin Varia!
Author Archives: Andy Kumar
Thoughts on the Garmin Edge 1000
My initial plans when getting into road cycling were to record my rides with my Garmin fenix 3. These are both very capable watches, and do a great job of recording a number of ride parameters including speed, distance, averages, heart rate, laps, etc. However, one big drawback I faced when using a wrist watch was the very small screen size. It is okay to take a quick glance at your wrist when running, but when I mounted my watch on the handle bar of my road bike, I would often struggle to see the screen when cycling. SoĀ I began to use the Strava app on my iPhone. This worked well, too, but the lack of screen customisation was a huge let-down. To this end, I decided to get a dedicated ‘proper’ cycling GPS tracker.
Lizard skins DSP bar tape review
During a recent bike overhaul, it was pretty much mandatory that I needed to replace the bar tape. As a result, I thought it would be worth forking out for what is described by many as probably the best bar tape available on the market today; Lizard Skins DSP. Coming in a wide range of colours, I opted for red to match the colours of my bike. The bar tape itself retails for Ā£28 in high street shops, but being an avid internet shopper, I got mine from wiggle for around Ā£21.
Upgrading my Orbea road bike
Since getting my first road bike in July earlier this year, I have been enjoying some quality time in my journey and evolution as a cyclist. Still being somewhat of a rookie to the whole cycling scene, I do feel that I am slowly getting the hang of both riding and the workings of a road bike. I mentioned in my first post after buying the Orbea Avant that I will be upgrading my bike as time goes on. Fast forward a mere 2 months, and quite a bit has changed!
My bike came fitted with a 9-speed Shimano Sora groupset, which was fine as a pure entry level system. Additionally, the stock wheels on the bike were first on my list to be replaced, as many had informed me that the most ‘bang for my buck’ in terms of performance enhancement on my bike would come from replacing the wheels.
Montefusco cycling tour of Barcelona
I find going on holiday to be both a rewarding and relaxing experience. However, I also enjoy keeping active, trying new physical activities and exploring places to run (and now cycle). Whilst planning my trip to Barcelona I was keen to engage in an activity that would not only satisfy my craving for keeping active, but also allow me to explore the city and surrounding areas. I came across Montefusco cycling on tripadvisor; a cycle rental and tour company, and was very impressed with the string of 5* reviews.Ā I made contact with Claduio, and we agreed to meet at my hotel on September 13th at 10am for a bike tour of Barcelona and the nearby hills. I paid a 20% deposit via paypal (total cost was ā¬120). Communication was good, and Claudio responded quickly to any questions or queries I had.
London Duathlon 2015 race report
The Wiggle London Duathlon is the worlds biggest duathlon, taking place in the scenic setting of Richmond Park. There are three main distances, each consisting of a run, followed by a bike ride, and a final run. I signed up for the event way back in September 2014, opting for the standard duathlon distance of 10-44-5 (10km run, 44km bike, 5km run).
For two main reasons, I decided to drop down to the half distance of a 5km run, 22km bike ride and 5km run. Firstly, I have been struggling with a glute injury, meaning I have not been doing anywhere near as much running as I would have liked to. And second, the duathlon begins at 9am, and getting from my home in Essex to the start line would be very difficult (as I was planning to use public transport). Both factors played an equal part in my final decision.
Richmond Running Festival Half Marathon 2015 race report
The Richmond Running Festival is hands-down one of my favourite running events. Starting in the Royal Botanic Kew Gardens and taking runners of a scenic tour of Richmond towpaths, park trails and wooded landscape, theĀ route is truly the best multi-terrain course I have run. Having only engaged in low mileage for the past few weeks, I was not looking to race this event, and instead enjoy the run and scenic views.
Quad lock for iPhone 6 Plus review
I purchased my first road bike 5 weeks ago, and haveĀ sinceĀ developed a mild addiction toĀ cycling.Ā To-date, I haveĀ haveĀ only done a few bike rides, in no small part as I have a few running events coming up and an concentrating on these. However, one thing I have noticed on my bike rides is the requirement to navigate, particularly if I am to ride into unseen and far places! I contemplated buying the Garmin Edge 1000, however, I already have a Garmin 920XT and fenix 3, both of which can record bike rides as well as my running.
Apple Watch, a 3 month update
After years of speculation, months of anticipation and weeks of waiting, I finally took delivery of my Apple Watch at the end of May (2015). It was a real buzz to be the proud new owner of a highly anticipated and somewhat envied piece of technological gadgetry. So after almost 3 months with the Apple Watch, what are my feelings? Well, in a nutshell, I am a left a little underwhelmed. There is no doubt that Apple have forever changed the way I look at a watch, and have really raised the bar from what I now expect from wrist wear. For example, all of my other watches (which just tell the time…) are pretty much obsolete, and I highly doubt I can ever look at them in the same way, reducing their functionality to aesthetics and jewellery.
You may have read my previous blog post about the Garmin fenix 3; this is what I consider to be my first ‘real’ venture into the ‘smart-watch’ market. It does so much more than simply tell the time and record my fitness activities; informing me of notifications from my smart phone, viewing the weather, my calendar and even having the ability to control music from my smart phone were all very novel and welcome features. The Apple Watch does all these, and probably better, but recently, I have still found myself wearing my Apple Watch far less, and my fenix 3 far more.
Orbea Avant H30D, buying my first road bike!
Since 2014, I have completed a number of running races including eight 10ks, eight half-marathons, three marathons and a few other events including the City Mile and pacing for the Richmond half-marathon. Looking for a fresh new challenge in 2015, I signed-upĀ for the London Duathlon way back in September last year (early-bird entry!). Despite being a newbie to the Duathlon, I was still tempted to go for the ultra distance; 21km run, 88km bike ride, 10km run. However, my logical side appealed to me and I decided to go for the standard distance of a 10km run, 44km bike ride, 5km run. This seemed like a fair challenge and the sensible option for my first Duathlon.
RUNNING, CYCLING AND TECH REVIEWS 