Boring, I hear you say. But the Edge 305 is a bit different from the regular, pedestrian GPSs you find in cars and on cellphones (this has all the makings of a very mixed metaphor, for which I am not going to apologise) because it is designed for my bicycle.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s right, folks, as industry at large and the ICT lot turn their attention to greening the planet, my preferred mode of transport which is entirely environmentally responsible bar a few skinny rubber tyres, has gone high-tech.<\/p>\n
Garmin\u2019s little bike GPS is gnarly. In addition to a whack of the usual bike features related to speed and time, it includes a heart rate monitor and all the science which goes with that. But it is (of course) the GPS functionality where this 88 gram gadget kicks up a few gears. You can see where you have travelled on a map, you can record courses and race yourself, check your elevation and distance ascended\/descended and much more.<\/p>\n
But the real kicker is that this is a computerized device which is astoundingly simple to use. I haven\u2019t even opened the supplied instruction manual, but have it set up with my personal particulars (weight, age, etc), have installed the software on my PC, and use (what I believe are) the advanced functions. Finally a gadget that is much cleverer than the intended user and which relegates RTFM (http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/RTFM<\/a>) to only those who are interested.<\/p>\n Oh, yes, and iPods are pretty cool too, if you\u2019re into that sort of thing.<\/p>\n