Strava has some unique features such as segmenting, competitions, bike setup and best efforts that separate it from the other services in this category of websites. I didn’t feel that screenshots and descriptions could really do it justice, so below is a video screen-cast looking at the service and the unique features over several of my rides.

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Before We Get Started: Your Heart Rate and Zones

Before we even get into the conversation about heart rate zones and where you should be to get the most out of your rides, you need to understand that everyone is different. Your heart rate zones, resting rate and peak rate are affected by a lot of variables in life that make your ideal situation different than anyone other rider’s. If you are unsure on where you should be, you should consult a doctor to get everything dialed in. Just because a rider that looks like you do and can ride around what you ride is in a specific zone…that does not mean you will be the same.

Your heart rate can be directly affected by any and all of the following:

• Individual anatomy
• Family history (hereditary)
• Diet
• Personal History
• Fitness Level

There are also some calculators online that are supposed to give you your max heart rate depending on your age…ignore those. The formula says I am supposed to be in the low 190′s/high 180′s and I will measure above 200 frequently and still be able to talk. Like I said…personal factors play a much bigger role than suggested.

Let me also specify by saying that I am out of the racing scene. I do briefly come out of retirement every now and then, but these days I want to be in good enough shape to pull the most out of every trail I can. From weekend epics to weekday sprints, I like to keep my fitness level at the point that I never feel like I have left something on the table or I could have ridden better if I was in better shape (hard to do in the winter sometimes).

Target Heart Rate Zones For Fitness

We all know that if you spend too much time in the red zone (zone 5), you are going to end up showing up and blowing up. Your body can only stay at an anaerobic pace for so long until your lungs, heart and muscles just give up. So what do we try to do while on the trail? We attempt to stay in aerobic heart rate zones to build fitness while saving our bodies for steep climbs and crazy fast downhills where we know we are going to dip into our peak rates in the interest of fun and necessity.

Your heart rate zones are split into 5 categories that are all 10% off your max heart rate. For my max, I use my highest measured heart rate. While my true max is probably 1 to 3 beats higher than that, it does give me a realistic baseline to work off of for riding purposes. (In my case it is 207 bpm)

Zone 5: 90 – 100% of Your Max HR

Your heart rate zone 5 is the redline. When you are at your complete max and can not give anymore to the point you feel like your chest is going to explode, you are sitting in zone 5 ready to blow up. We use zone 5 to go all out in short periods and to do interval training for sprints and other anaerobic activities.

Zone 4: 80 – 90% of Your Max HR

Zone 4 brings you to a more manageable level on the bike but is the crossing point. Your are still exerting a strong effort and getting fitter, but at this point you are crossing the aerobic to anaerobic exercise zone so your body can only hold this rate for a given period of time before the muscles start giving way due to lack of oxygen. For a typical “fit” person…this usually equals about an hour as you feel your muscles start to burn.

Zone 3: 70 – 80% of Your Max HR

While you are in zone 3, your body is increasing blood flow, increasing the size of your heart and training your muscles to go for longer distances. Operating in this heart rate zone is your aerobic exercise that ultimately increases fitness level. On most rides, this is your ideal “just riding along” heart rate zone that will not only build fitness, but it will also save your body for the more strenuous sections of trail that will require you to dip into anaerobic heart rate levels.

Zone 2: 60 – 70% of Your Max HR

If you are looking to lose weight, I have often heard zone 2 as “the fat burning zone”. At this point in your heart rate, your body is the most efficient at burning off the fat and losing weight.

Zone 1: 50 – 60% of Your Max HR

Exercising is zone 1 is your healthy zone. It basically equates to a brisk walk and while it will keep your heart and lungs healthy, you are not building anything in this heart rate zone. You will use this zone at the beginning of your warm up and the end of your cool down.

So if we look back at my example with a max heart rate at 207 bpm…my zones would calculate out to this.

The Big Question: What does this mean for my riding?

While all of this information is great…what does it mean for the recreational rider that is just looking to get stronger over time?

For me, my heart rate while riding tells me several different things.

• I need to spend most of my time in zone’s 3 and 4 - I use zone 3 to recover from zone 5′s and I will typically spend a lot of time in zone 4 trying to keep it in the lower end of the range to be able to increase distance. On the mountain bike, it is a lot harder to control heart rate zones due to the nature of the riding…especially if you are riding technical trail with a lot of elevation change. On the road bike, it is much easier to control these zones with cadence and speed and that is why many mountain bikers use road bikes for training purposes.
• It keeps track of how much time I have left - If I spend a lot of time in zone 5 on one ride, I already know my time is short. During a race, you are able to directly affect your performance and length by staying within certain heart rate zones and while riding your favorite trail…the same theory is applied. Especially when I know the trail really well, I will dial it back on sections that I do not enjoy as much (boring climbs and flats) so I can kick it up on downhills and technical descents. If I exert the same energy on the boring sections as I do the ones I enjoy…my time is limited and I will not be able to pin it when I want to.
• My heart rate tells me how to get stronger - Personally, I have a really hard time gaging my body on rides. When I hit the trail…I am ready to hit it hard and that can equal a show up and blow up pretty quickly. Especially when I have trips planned in the future, I need to carefully monitor how I am riding to insure that I am actually getting stronger on the bike instead of operating in the anaerobic zone which can make you weaker with time. Since my self monitoring is terrible, a heart rate monitor and close attention to which zone I am in is the only way I can really get stronger.

For the longest time, I quit wearing heart rate monitors because they were uncomfortable. What I did find is that you get used to them with time and now I barely notice it is even there. The benefits of wearing one…in my opinion at this time…drastically outweigh any negatives that come with the extra expense or one more thing that has to be plugged in before you ride. I have had the best luck combining devices by using the Garmin 705 and Garmin 800 to pull GPS, statistic recording and heart rate monitoring all into one device.

That is where the road bike steps in and saves the day. In a 2 hour span, I was able to get out and rip out 36 miles on a local road route and get some serious spin time in. For Sunday’s ride, I decided to do something a little bit different. I wanted to really leverage the Garmin Edge 705 by doing a completely new route solo. Normally, without the Garmin 705, doing a new route without the aid of another rider that already knows where they are going is filled with numerous glances at a map and countless stops with the puzzled “do I turn here?” face as I try to figure out exactly where I am and where I should be going. I don’t know about you guys…but that is not my idea of a fun ride. I want to be able to blast through the miles without the worry that I am heading in the wrong direction.

MapMyRide.com – Finding New Road Routes

To find a route close to my driveway, I headed over to MapMyRide.com. I created a profile (not necessary if you just want to find a ride) and started searching for a ride that was in the 40 mile range around my area. Luckily, I found one rather quickly that fit my needs for back roads, traffic and distance. By clicking on the Route tab at the top of the map, I was able to export the ride as a GPX file that I uploaded to my Garmin Edge 705. Once I had it uploaded…I loaded the map and had turn by turn navigation for my road bike ride.

Everything worked flawlessly. As I would approach every turn, the Garmin would give me a 15 second warning and show me exactly where I needed to be on the map. I went the entire ride without a worry about where I was or where I was going. I was able to focus on pace, pedal strokes and form as I continued to blast through some great headwinds in the north Atlanta suburbs.

On top of that, my wife knew exactly where to look for me if something went wrong. She had a detailed map with directions to start the “oh shit” search as I ventured off onto the road without my support cars.

The combination of MapMyRide.com and the Garmin Edge 705 make new rides an absolute blast and has allowed me to further expand my routes in my area without the need of assistance. All I have to do is make sure that the battery is charged and I am off for a quick spin on the road. It was not the mountain bike ride that I had planned on that day, but it was still a great time on a bike.

The following screenshots are taken from GarminConnect.com that map out my recorded ride and one screenshot from MapMyRide.com.

Anyways…the increased road riding has given me the time to really test out the mapping features on the new Garmin Edge 705. A couple of friends of mine decided that they wanted to try out a new route on Monday that was a charity ride in our area. Normally, I hate doing new routes or trails without the aid of someone who has ridden it before. I am not a fan of wasting time with a map as we try to figure out if we are actually lost or the next turn is really just at the end of that next hill. Some like the adventure of that kind of riding…I just like to ride. With road routes, you have the increased stress of traffic and even when it is a known route (like this one was for a charity ride with multiple mileage options), you won’t know if it is well marked until you get there.

Google Maps and Garmin GPX

View Larger Map
Jeremy went to the ride site and found the Google map (zoom out on map above to see route) that gave the exact turn by turn directions for the route. Sweet! At least we have a map! As I sat there starring at the Google Map, the thought occurred to me…there has to be someway to get that map on the Garmin Edge 705. With the 705, you have to export maps, like the Google Map, to a GPX file that the Garmin can read as a course. Luckily, this Garmin came with the street mapping accessory, so I would be able to get turn by turn directions as we rode.

Problem #1 – As it turns out…Google likes to keep their maps pretty close to the chest, so there is no export option…what you see is what you get.

Solution #1 – With a simple Google search (the irony!), I was able to find a java script code that would take the map you see above and turn it into a GPX format! Sweet! You can find the code here. All you do is drag that simple code to your bookmarks bar and when you are on the page of your Google Map route…click the GMAPtoGPX link in your bar. When that new window shows up, click the full button. Take that code and save it in a text editor as routename.gpx. Once you have that file, upload it into your Garmin Edge 705′s GPX folder and you will be able to load the route and get turn by turn directions. It is really that easy.

The Road Ride with the Garmin Edge 705

Having done this for the first time, there are some things I am going to do differently next time around.

Modify Google Map – For this route, I did not modify the Google Map to our actual starting point. I left the official route loaded. Now, I was able to start the timer on the Edge 705 to record the entire ride, and the turn by turn directions started as soon as we hit the route…but it is very easy to modify the original route.

Change Settings – In its current configuration, the Garmin Edge 705 beeps every time you turn. This is perfect for when a turn is coming up as it alerts you without the need to stare at your stem the entire ride, but it also beeps when you change compass directions. I need to dig into the settings and see if there is a way to turn off the beeping for the compass heading changes. It can get annoying to hear something off your bike every time the road bends.

Other than that…everything worked perfectly. We had a great ride on a new route without having to wonder where the next turn was or look at a paper map. We didn’t escape the rain though as we ended the last 5 miles in traffic and complete down pour. Oh well…at least we were out riding…

Side note: There are two sites that I currently use to upload data from Garmin units…Garmin Connect and Motion Based. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses and I am going to get into that specifically in a future post. The screen shot above is from Motion Based.

Anyways…the increased road riding has given me the time to really test out the mapping features on the new Garmin Edge 705. A couple of friends of mine decided that they wanted to try out a new route on Monday that was a charity ride in our area. Normally, I hate doing new routes or trails without the aid of someone who has ridden it before. I am not a fan of wasting time with a map as we try to figure out if we are actually lost or the next turn is really just at the end of that next hill. Some like the adventure of that kind of riding…I just like to ride. With road routes, you have the increased stress of traffic and even when it is a known route (like this one was for a charity ride with multiple mileage options), you won’t know if it is well marked until you get there.

Google Maps and Garmin GPX

View Larger Map

Jeremy went to the ride site and found the Google map (zoom out on map above to see route) that gave the exact turn by turn directions for the route. Sweet! At least we have a map! As I sat there starring at the Google Map, the thought occurred to me…there has to be someway to get that map on the Garmin Edge 705. With the 705, you have to export maps, like the Google Map, to a GPX file that the Garmin can read as a course. Luckily, this Garmin came with the street mapping accessory, so I would be able to get turn by turn directions as we rode.

Problem #1 – As it turns out…Google likes to keep their maps pretty close to the chest, so there is no export option…what you see is what you get.

Solution #1 – With a simple Google search (the irony!), I was able to find a java script code that would take the map you see above and turn it into a GPX format! Sweet! You can find the code here. All you do is drag that simple code to your bookmarks bar and when you are on the page of your Google Map route…click the GMAPtoGPX link in your bar. When that new window shows up, click the full button. Take that code and save it in a text editor as routename.gpx. Once you have that file, upload it into your Garmin Edge 705′s GPX folder and you will be able to load the route and get turn by turn directions. It is really that easy.

The Road Ride with the Garmin Edge 705

Having done this for the first time, there are some things I am going to do differently next time around.

Modify Google Map – For this route, I did not modify the Google Map to our actual starting point. I left the official route loaded. Now, I was able to start the timer on the Edge 705 to record the entire ride, and the turn by turn directions started as soon as we hit the route…but it is very easy to modify the original route.

Change Settings – In its current configuration, the Garmin Edge 705 beeps every time you turn. This is perfect for when a turn is coming up as it alerts you without the need to stare at your stem the entire ride, but it also beeps when you change compass directions. I need to dig into the settings and see if there is a way to turn off the beeping for the compass heading changes. It can get annoying to hear something off your bike every time the road bends.

Other than that…everything worked perfectly. We had a great ride on a new route without having to wonder where the next turn was or look at a paper map. We didn’t escape the rain though as we ended the last 5 miles in traffic and complete down pour. Oh well…at least we were out riding…

Side note: There are two sites that I currently use to upload data from Garmin units…Garmin Connect and Motion Based. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses and I am going to get into that specifically in a future post. The screen shot above is from Motion Based.

Garmin sent over this Edge 705 for us to review along with the cadence sensor and heart rate monitor option.

What does Garmin say about the Edge 705 GPS?

Ripped from Garmin.com

Trainer. Navigator. Edge 705 pushes you to do your best, then shows you the way back. This GPS-enabled cycle computer knows no limits. Get heart rate, cadence, turn-by-turn directions, power data (from ANT+™-enabled third-party power meters) — the works. Even share your data with other Edge 705 buddies after your ride. All wireless with a color display, this is no ordinary cycle computer.

Lose yourself in the ride without losing your way. Edge 705 comes with a built-in basemap, plus it has a microSD™ card slot for adding map detail and storing workouts, courses and saved rides. Just plug in detailed MapSource® City Navigator® street maps on a preloaded data card and get turn-by-turn directions on a sunlight-readable, color display as you pedal. Add optional topo mapping for your off-road adventures. Edge snaps easily into the included bike mount to guide you to your destination.

Available in 3 versions, Edge 705 comes bundled with different accessories to keep you on top of your ride. Edge 705 automatically measures your speed, distance, time, calories burned, altitude, climb and descent, and records this data for your review¹. For extra-precise climb and descent data, Edge also incorporates a barometric altimeter to pinpoint changes in elevation. It features a high-sensitivity receiver that holds a signal under trees and near tall buildings, and comes with a click stick for easy screen navigation.

For a full spec list and more feature details…check out the Edge 705 on Garmin.com…

More from 198 on the Garmin Edge 705 GPS

Garmin sent this unit for us to put through its paces, and over the next couple of months…we are going to do just that. Be ready to see routes, topo maps, Google Earth layouts and more. The Garmin Edge 705 is every cyclist/techy geeks dream as it records just about everything you would ever want to know out of your ride. The added benefit of routing turn by turn directions via the Garmin road maps is a huge added benefit and should really come in handy for this rider who always seems to forget turns.

The Garmin Edge 705 came boxed with everything we will need. There are multiple mounts with attached zip ties, heart rate monitor strap (so you can see how close my chest is from blowing to pieces), cadence sensor/speed sensor, Garmin map software, manuals, usb cable and a charger. The Edge 705 is going to be mounted on everything from a 16 lbs. road bike (the Blue Nx7) to full out freeride rigs to see how this thing handles every form of pedal propelled two wheeled pleasure. Stay tuned for more out of this interesting product out of Garmin. Every cyclist/mountain biker/roadie/commuter/two wheeled freak loves to see the raw data from rides…

Where can I buy a Garmin 705?

GARMIN EDGE 705 GPS