Cycling

[wpguy]

Cycling makes up a huge chunk of the exercise world.

Unfortunately, running gets nearly all the attention. It's insane.

I've started to come to the conclusion that runners are people with low self-esteem and need constant reaffirmation. How else do you explain the participation medals for every event. Good grief, do a century, and you won't see a medal anywhere (maybe for the winners of a race century), and mention that you finished barely elicits any kind of response. Run a 5K and you've got a medal, and people ooh and ahh all over you.

I think companies see the comparative reactions and somehow decide cycling just isn't important enough to include cycling in their trackers. But at least they've got a tracking for how many breaths you took on a yoga mat. (I jest, there. Sort of.)

 

[mhc48]

I'm mostly a runner, but would very much like a cycling tracker or an app that tied into the Band. I e-mailed the creator of Cycle Master (who also created Pedometer Master) and he said that he hopes to create one but is waiting for the SDK to be released.

@wpguy, for runners it's not about affirmation but progress and improvement. What you call medals are really way points or progress markers. Every time we go out, runners are looking/hoping to extend distance or beat their best time or pace. I don't know how many times a week you bike but for many runners it is 3-5 and we need small goals so as not to overtrain or injure. And in a race you may run with dozens, hundreds, thousands or in the big marathons, tens of thousands of other runners, but it's always yourself and your own time or distance that you're competing against.

 

[tk-093]

I've got a vivofit band and it doesn't count steps when I'm riding a bike. Just curious on the tech side of the Band why does it think you are taking steps?

 

[BobLobIaw]

Unfortunately, running gets nearly all the attention. It's insane.

I've started to come to the conclusion that runners are people with low self-esteem and need constant reaffirmation. How else do you explain the participation medals for every event. Good grief, do a century, and you won't see a medal anywhere (maybe for the winners of a race century), and mention that you finished barely elicits any kind of response. Run a 5K and you've got a medal, and people ooh and ahh all over you.

I think companies see the comparative reactions and somehow decide cycling just isn't important enough to include cycling in their trackers. But at least they've got a tracking for how many breaths you took on a yoga mat. (I jest, there. Sort of.)

I'm hoping you meant to put a /s at the end of your post. I can't count the number of times I've responded on boards to people ignorantly stereotyping cyclists (arrogant, spandex-wearing scofflaws, anyone?) Do your fellow cyclists a solid and don't be that guy that formulates ridiculous stereotypes of others.

With respect to fun run medals, there is a simple explanation. A 5K includes many people right off the couch that are perhaps walking a good portion. There's nothing wrong with giving finishing encouragement to those folks. On the other hand, I don't see too many people off the couch completing a cycling century. If you want to compare apples to apples, compare a century with a trail half-marathon. Very rarely would you see participation medals in a race like that.

 

[BobLobIaw]

I've got a vivofit band and it doesn't count steps when I'm riding a bike. Just curious on the tech side of the Band why does it think you are taking steps?

I'm guessing it would be something with the accelerometer measurements during the pedaling motion. I had the same problem with the Fitbit Flex counting steps when I was riding.

 

[wpguy]

I'm hoping you meant to put a /s at the end of your post. I can't count the number of times I've responded on boards to people ignorantly stereotyping cyclists (arrogant, spandex-wearing scofflaws, anyone?) Do your fellow cyclists a solid and don't be that guy that formulates ridiculous stereotypes of others.

With respect to fun run medals, there is a simple explanation. A 5K includes many people right off the couch that are perhaps walking a good portion. There's nothing wrong with giving finishing encouragement to those folks. On the other hand, I don't see too many people off the couch completing a cycling century. If you want to compare apples to apples, compare a century with a trail half-marathon. Very rarely would you see participation medals in a race like that.

I'll put half a /s at the end of my post, because I live in an area with tons of runners and cyclists. I've participated in both, with a couple 5Ks under my shoes, and the occasional non-race ride event over the years.

Of course there is nothing wrong with giving folks encouragement. Especially to those who just finished their first 5K. I somewhat get the points thing, to meet requirements for some races. What I don't get is the participation medal for every run event.

My point probably being lost in all of this, is that for whatever reason, running gets a lot more attention from companies cranking out trackers than cycling. Do we expect a cadence counter or even a mileage counter on our fitness trackers? No, because tracking those require additional hardware. But certainly the Band could have offered a non-running aerobic event mode, given that Microsoft HQ is located in the state crowned the bike-friendliest state for the last seven years.

 

[BobLobIaw]

I'll put half a /s at the end of my post, because I live in an area with tons of runners and cyclists. I've participated in both, with a couple 5Ks under my shoes, and the occasional non-race ride event over the years.

Of course there is nothing wrong with giving folks encouragement. Especially to those who just finished their first 5K. I somewhat get the points thing, to meet requirements for some races. What I don't get is the participation medal for every run event.

My point probably being lost in all of this, is that for whatever reason, running gets a lot more attention from companies cranking out trackers than cycling. Do we expect a cadence counter or even a mileage counter on our fitness trackers? No, because tracking those require additional hardware. But certainly the Band could have offered a non-running aerobic event mode, given that Microsoft HQ is located in the state crowned the bike-friendliest state for the last seven years.

I agree with that, and I bet MS will add a cycling mode or similar mode as you have described. I really only objected to the characterization of runners as people with low self-esteem.