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5 Random Things I Did This Weekend

August 10, 2015 by |Blog|Comments (30)

Here’s the rundown of what I was up to over the last few days, a bit of a calm weekend in comparison.

1) Friday Night Date Run

We started off the weekend with a bit of a (rather hot) run down towards the Eiffel Tower and back.  Sorta one of our mainstay runs along the river, and a nice casual run together seemed like a good idea.

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As is often the case I was testing a few different things at once, trying to nail down HR accuracy tests for various optical sensors.

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With most of the Parisian locals gone for August, we were left with primarily just tourists to run around.  The lack of Parisians is most notable in areas you’d typically find higher concentrations of Parisians (i.e. Les Berges), whereas in the tourist heavy areas those are definitely still flooded (such as the Eiffel Tower).

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As is often the case, we took a few selfies along the way.  Unfortunately, none of them came out due to being a bit too dark.  So instead, here’s a picture of sunset:

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All in a touch over 10KM, nothing too fancy or extreme – but a good pre-dinner jaunt.

2) More power meter testing

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Despite having two different power meter analysis posts last week, I’m full steam ahead on both new power meters, and slightly more aged power meters that have been in the queue.  On the ‘new’ front I’ve got both the PowerTap C1 and bePRO units on the Cervelo doing testing.

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While in the ‘things that I haven’t yet written about’ front, I’ve got the Verve Infocrank long overdue for its review to be published this week.  I’ve had that data and photos done for months, just been trying to get through products that folks have shown/demanded more interest in.  So while there is certainly more riding to be done on the PowerTap C1 and bePRO pedals side, I can at least push out the Infocrank review.  The simple goal being to clear out all power meter reviews prior to Eurobike at the end of the month.

Speaking of those two that I did ride with this weekend.  Things are definitely looking much better than last week – both in terms of the offset (which I believe the Edge 810 was actually at fault there due to GPS time not being quite correct), as well as the bePro having settled a bit more.  Once I corrected the offsets of last week, it was still showing a fair bit low.

However this week, it seems to be more in the game, perhaps a itty-bitty-bit high (a few watts more than I’d expect), but nothing too alarming.  There are many power meters on the market that require some settling in time, and this might just be the case here as well.

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You can see when I zoom in, things look pretty good in terms of matching trends (with the caveat as noted that it’s a tiny bit high).  Do be mindful to note the scale on these graphs is different than above.

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A few little sections I need to account for, but I’ll see how things go this week.  Though, I suspect my main concerns (if any) around the bePRO will actually be durability.  I’m not convinced the pods would last through a winter of use with sand, rain, and other oils on the road.  Pretty summer-time riding is easy.  But winter?  That’s a whole different ballgame.  Hopefully by the end of the month I’ll have a clearer idea of how things are holding up and trending.

3) Recovery from the Giveaway Extravaganza:

Seriously, sleep.

This week was exhausting.  It’s semi-interesting looking at the graphs from the Withings Aura*.   Partly because it felt like I got far more sleep than I actually do.  And partly because the weekend was still broken up in semi-wonky ways.

As is often the case I’ll read before falling asleep, usually just the news and Twitter, which you see below.  However, what’s not captured is falling asleep on the couch at the office for 2-3 hours Saturday afternoon/evening.  That couch does not have sensors in it.

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The same is true here, reading for a while.  But, the large gap is when we had to go do an early morning Cupcakery delivery.  So you see no data while I was gone.  Then I got back, answered some e-mail for a short bit and then fell asleep for a few hours before lounging around for another 30 minutes or so.  Of course, all of this somehow still totaled only 6hr and 53 mins.

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(*I know, you probably want a review on it. Perhaps some day.  Today is not that day. Nor this week. It was something I bought on a curiosity last year, and it’s steadily got better since. Maybe I’ll write a review on it once they enable the ability to pair it as a standard Bluetooth audio speaker to my phone.  Otherwise, it’s just the worlds biggest bedside speaker that you can’t pair.)

4) Sunday Evening Run

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We were back out running together Sunday night before dinner, with another loop down to the Eiffel Tower, though this time in reverse.

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Thankfully the temps were a bit cooler this time, and also a fair bit less humid.  Woot to lower humidity!  Otherwise, pretty much just a nice easy and normal run.

5) A very short jaunt to dinner

After our run we headed out to try a new dinner spot.  Well, it wasn’t new, rather, it was the first time we’d try it.  Made all the more funny in the fact that it’s all of perhaps a 50m walk (line of sight it’d be perhaps 25m from our stairs if we didn’t have to walk around the building’s side).  Of course, both it and us have been here three years.

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While it may sound odd we hadn’t gone there yet, there are at rough count 14 restaurants within a 100m radius of our front door. Some of them fantastic, some of them so-so, and some of them downright horrible.  We walk past almost all of them at least 1-2 times a day (if not 4-5 times a day), so you eventually get to see many of the dishes they serve.  But this ones has less of a front, so we didn’t usually see as many dishes.

In any case, the menu was awesome.  They had both a tasting menu as well as a regular menu.  The tasting menu simply being a higher quantity of smaller portioned dishes off of the main menu.  Fantastic food.

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Definitely on our list to go back again, even more so since they were friendly and knew a fair bit about the food.  A perfect way to end the weekend.  Plus, the 30 second commute back to the house was kinda nice too.

Thanks for reading!

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30 Comments

  1. Robert
    August 10, 2015 at 8:13 am #1

    Would be interesting to know others giveaway experience’s? I followed up the conclusion with a hard tempo run, next day (6th) ithlete has me in the red with a resting heart rate of 75!!! About 15 higher than normal. That said roll on next year :)

    Reply
  2. Lutz
    August 10, 2015 at 8:25 am #2

    Hey Ray,

    always nice to see what others are doing on their weekends.

    When can we read your thoughts on the apple watch?

    Best
    Lutz

    Reply
  3. Vinny Lynch
    August 10, 2015 at 10:33 am #3

    “As is often the case I was testing a few different things at once, trying to nail down HR accuracy tests for various optical sensors.”

    Can we infer from that statement/pic that the Suunto in the photo has an optical HR monitor?

    Vinny

    Reply
  4. Seba
    August 10, 2015 at 10:34 am #5

    Finally, a weekend like most of us have. No fancy travel destinations, swimming in blue lagoons and fly over Atlantic for some awesome show. Ahh wait, Eurobike is comming.

    Reply
    • Ken daullary
      August 10, 2015 at 11:49 am #6

      Haha! Exactly. Ray, you must have been quite bored with not being on some beautiful Mediterranean island or jet setting across the Atlantic.

      Reply
  5. John B
    August 10, 2015 at 12:49 pm #7

    I am curious to know if you see different results for power meters between the Cervelo and the Giant.

    Reply
  6. Eli
    August 10, 2015 at 4:08 pm #8

    While I can understand wanting to review stuff people ask about because you know the demand is there seems like the target of your reviews shouldn’t all be about who is best at marketing. Not saying the marketing directly sways you but that the company with the best marketing will get the most number of people to ask you about the product

    Reply
    • Ray Maker
      August 10, 2015 at 4:14 pm #9

      Perhaps. The challenge being that I generally start there, since they are of interest to the widest number of people. I typically review items from smaller companies (or rather, lesser known) if I see something that is industry changing or otherwise stands above the crowd. But if it’s the middle of the road, it’s more challenging.

      Obviously, as always the limiter for me is my time – not interest.

      Reply
    • Bruce Burkhalter
      August 10, 2015 at 7:06 pm #10

      Eli – Just curious if there are examples of products that fit this criteria? In general, it seems like the companies with the most/best marketing are the companies making products that most people would be interested in (and not necessarily because of marketing).

      One thing I have found interesting is trying to guess the number of comments for a DCR post. Not too surprised that the Edge 520 has a lot of comments (over 500). Whereas, the GoPro only got 50. Thought it would be higher. I wonder how the feedback here relates to eventual popularity of product. I have seen a couple that had very little interest here and it looks like that was true to the population in general.

      Reply
  7. Jeff
    August 10, 2015 at 6:53 pm #11

    Hey Ray,

    Any plans for a full Apple Watch review? I’m holding off making a decision on my next watch until I so your awesome, data filled review. Thanks for all the work on the site.

    Reply
  8. Reese
    August 10, 2015 at 7:44 pm #12

    You’re so luck to get to run in the evening with cooler weather. Here in Florida, I’m desperately awaiting a fall that may never come.

    Reply
  9. Nicholas
    August 10, 2015 at 8:53 pm #20

    I think you should just give up the GPS stuff and have you and the wife start a food and wine review website. Eat to run and run to eat!

    Reply
  10. cc
    August 10, 2015 at 11:08 pm #24

    Do you find the AW data accurate? Difference when paired with iPhone/without iPhone?

    Reply
  11. GeoTgos
    August 12, 2015 at 5:37 am #25

    Curious, what shoes are your go to or everyday running shoe? Any other shoes in your running rotation? Do you find any differences in shoes offered in Europe vs. U.S. I recently have begun running in Hoka One One Clifton. Any thoughts? I like them, but wonder about their durability. Do you see Hoka shoes in Europe very often, or does this seem popular in U.S.

    Reply
  12. Josh
    August 12, 2015 at 7:20 am #27

    Ray, have you seen improvements in the fenix 3 instant pace field or how long it takes to have the instant pace field settle down once a run is begun? I have been quite happy with my ambit 3 but do miss some of the features from the fenix 3.

    Reply
    • Ray Maker
      August 12, 2015 at 7:24 am #28

      I’ve actually never really had any issues with the instant pace. It basically reacts pretty quickly for me (as seen in the pace videos I think I put up on YouTube). Or at least, it reacts as fast as I could need for anything in my training program.

      Reply
    • Josh
      August 12, 2015 at 7:36 am #29

      Awesome, thank you for the quick reply.

      Reply
  13. Hal
    February 12, 2016 at 7:14 am #30

    I do plan a lot for the weekend but always pass the lazy time with my family. After all feel always great with the family :)

    Reply