Not Knowing

About 2 months ago my Garmin heart rate strap stopped working.  Well, it worked but it said my HR was between 30 and 50 during my rides.  I'd love for that to be true but I'm pretty sure it's not. I tried multiple battery replacements and even followed the instructions, but to no avail.  Being semi-lazy and ever leery of being a whiny customer, I have yet to call them about replacing it.  Mostly because I don't care anymore.

The topic of "riding on feel"  is often romanticized in cycling; i.e. Fignon vs. LeMond and Ullrich or Pantani vs. Armstrong.  I've always liked Ullrich.  Not because of our physical likeness or our shared affinity for donuts, but because he seemed so unpredictable. Armstrong was boring, but I always hoped each year that Ullrich would come around and put the hammer down.  I often think of how Ullrich would've been the greatest TdF rider in history if not for Armstrong.  It's pretty amazing that those two were at their peaks during the same era.

So riding without data is nothing new and lots of people do it.  But I haven't.  Since I started riding I've had numbers on almost everything.  It's part of my nature I guess.  The objectification of it all appeals to me.  Since my HR strap died, I'm starting to like knowing less.
 
I subscribe to the theory that volume is key, and if you can ride hard you should (if you want).  If you are tired you shouldn't.  It's all Volume and Quality, based on how well recovered you are.  In short, if you feel crappy, don't go hard.  HR monitor not needed for that.  I am not one who has a problem with riding too hard all the time; the opposite is usually true.

That's not say I'm going to ditch the PowerTap. I like having that because it gives me concrete confirmation that I am not gifted. Power is absolute and shows me how far I have to go to be any good.  I don't need the +/- 2% accuracy, I could get by with "Normal" "Above-Normal" and "Below Normal" as output, but numbers are fine.

Lately I just track hours per week.  I think I have it figured out enough to know when to ride and when to not, and what I can get away with effort-wise.  The key for me is knowing I'm prepared for a race.  The numbers can back that up but sometimes it's better, or least not worse, to not know.