'How to' 4 of 4 - Technology
In the run up to Atlas mountain race I want to make 4 short ‘how to’ videos, to help others and talk about my thought process leading into a big race. I cannot cover everything in these short clips, or I’d be talking all day, but I will try to pick out the main elements. You can watch the video or read the text below.
The link between technology and the event you are doing might not be so obviously, but its crucial to ensure you make it from start to finish. Thankfully (depending on your view) we live in a world where the world is at your fingertips. This does have negatives though, which I will come on to. While it might seem devoting a single section to the topic of technology is over blowing it, without lights or navigation you are going nowhere, these things are just important as kit, if not more so.
Having completed our analysis of the route, we know where we are going, the terrain, the weather and the length. These things matter, for example, if you are doing the Transcontinental Race your dynamo will work well, however if you are doing the Highland Trial 550, due to the terrain and topography a dynamo is pretty useless for both charging and lights. So, you need to consider how you will power your items. Will you be able to charge most nights at a plug socket, or will you need to be self sufficient over the duration of the race.?
GPS Device: Think about what you need your device to do for you. Is it just navigation, or do you want heart rate and perhaps power too? Do you want it to beep at you, to remind you to drink and eat, or just keep silent? You can buy GPS device that do all of these things. It’s worth thinking that the more it does, the more you rely on one device for things. So be prepared for if it goes wrong. Along with powering your navigation device, it is important to know how it works. Not just how you load a route, but how you reset the device if it goes wrong, and without losing your routes.
Lights: No lights no movement. As critical as a GPS but easy to underestimate. While a dynamo front light might work beautiful on the tarmac, even when climbing. Take the bike off road and perhaps even through in a hike-a-bike and the requirements change. Not only will you need a front light to see when riding up hill, but also perhaps a headlight. Then you need to think about keeping them charged, while if you’re sleeping 5 hours a night you might not ride too long in the dark, make a big push through the night and you will run them out. I am all for multiple lights, you need backups and perhaps a second backup of any critical item. While in Europe you could perhaps buy a new light if yours stops, in Kyrgyzstan than is not happening. Headtorches go beyond their use on bike and can become invaluable for having to fix a bike in the dark or look for a bivy spot.
Watch: A watch is not exactly advanced technology. But I find the use of one crucial. I am very good at loosing track of time, and when knackered this is exacerbated. I can loose hours looking for food. So, any time I step off the bike I set the stopwatch going and I can then refer to it. Keep track of time.
Alarm: A simple one, and likely you have a phone that has an alarm. Make sure it works well and wakes you - when you are knackered, you will sleep through it. So, ensure you can turn the snooze function off so the alarm keeps going. I stay in a hotel I will often put the alarm on the other side of the room which forces me out of bed. Plus, in a hotel you can always ask for a wake-up call.
Backup: Having a backup device or two is strongly advisable. GPS devices can be fickle, so you need another at close hand ready to go at short notice. Do not bury any backups devices deep in your bags, as you will not appreciate trying to find them at 3am in the pouring rain. It’s worth thinking about if your backup should be the same as your main device or different. I.e. Your main device is internal battery powered, and you have been using your dynamo to charge it. Say your dynamo stops working, now you can’t charge your GPS. Well if your backup device is a disposable battery powered one, you can just purchase batteries at a shop (make sure to have some in the device ready to go too) and you will not need to stop for long. There is a good reason many racers still use Garmin Etrex, they might be seriously old technology, but they’re robust and take AA batteries.
Mobile phone: I left this till last because it is the most important. The mobile can act as a device for all of the above in one. While I do not like mobiles, they are invaluable. I would not race without one. But I keep it on aeroplane mode as much as I can. These days I use my mobile as my music device, and given music is scientifically proven to boost your mood, music is great. That said, the best, most involving race I ever had was Transcontinental 2016. I broke my mobile phone on the 3rd day, I had no connection to the outside work, it forced me to live every moment, to be present and to feel the experience. So if you don’t need to be sharing your story on the internet, perhaps consider going phone free, it changes the whole experience for the better.
Personally, I would be all for a race where mobile phones were banned!