Meet Team Garmin: Daren

Today we’ll begin introducing you to the inaugural members of Team Garmin — four intrepid cyclists who are training for June’s Ride the Rockies through Colorado.  They’re using the Garmin Edge and MotionBased.com to train for the highs and lows of this grueling event.

My name is Daren and I am a 41-year-old father of two from Olathe, Kansas (home of Garmin International). I began cycling five years ago as a way to get in shape and lose some weight (I tipped the scales at over 250 lbs. at the time and currently weigh in at 215). I went from getting little or no exercise to competing in local triathlons and touring the countryside on long distance bike rides. I completed my first Ride the Rockies last summer. What an awesome event. My wife calls it summer camp for adults. More than 2,000 riders from across the country — doctors, lawyers, bankers, mom and dads and even a few kids — riding up and down mountains during the day and camping out every night. And, of course, we consumed a lot of liquid carbs every night to fuel up for the next day’s ride! There’s actually team called “Bar-to-Bar” that rides directly to the local watering hole after arriving at each town along the ride.

We ride hard and play hard and had to be in pretty good shape to survive the 405-mile ride over mountain passes topping 10,000 ft. above sea level! I trained for RTR 2005 with my Forerunner 301. In order to prepare for the mountains and altitude I found the steepest hills in Kansas City using the elevation and grade functions on the Forerunner. Anybody who thinks Kansas is flat, check out my rides on the MotionBased TrailNetwork (my user name is darenwms). We have several hills that hit grades of 12-14 percent. Granted, they are fairly short, but steep nonetheless!

I took my first training ride with the Edge 305 this past Saturday. What an awesome unit! It was a breeze to install and customize the display to my favorite settings (speed, distance, altitude, grade, and cadence). The wireless cadence is sweet. One of my goals this year is to increase my cadence from an average of 80 rpms to 90. Apparently riding at a higher cadence is Lance’s secret to success. While I don’t plan to take on the Tour de France anytime soon, I am always trying to improve my speed and endurance. I’m planning to track my progress with the Edge and MotionBased as I train for RTR 2006. Check back often and feel free to offer encouragement or advice!

Ride on!

Daren

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