Bike race season is upon us! Whether you’re getting ready for Garmin Dirty Kanza or hitting the road with another race, here are my race tips for staying the course with Garmin.

1. Choose your device: I like to use the Garmin Edge 1030 because:

• It will record the necessary data for me like power

• The interface is the easiest for me to use and navigate with

It does everything I need to compete at an optimum level, and I
don’t have to squint to see the screen. 

Pro tip: When choosing a Garmin Edge device, you should look at battery life, what data you want to record, navigation ease and the user interface.

2. Prepare your route map: Upload your GPS route ahead of time to your Garmin device, and do a double check that it’s there the night before your race. Don’t wait until the night before the race to do this!

3. Pick your data screens: I like to have the essential data on my Garmin Edge with bigger squares in one or two screens, so I can read it while riding. For race day, I want to add a few things to my navigation screen and close all the ones like a virtual partner or nonessential data screens to conserve battery life.  

Pro tip: Essential data for race day: current speed, average speed, distance, time of day, distance and the navigation screen. Be sure to turn on or off navigation alerts depending on your needs; I turn these on so if I’m zoned out in a group that is going the wrong way, I can be alerted to a turn coming up.

4. Battery life is essential: You need to know your battery life and plan accordingly based on your estimated speed for the event.  

• Turn off nonessential functions such as getting your text messages

• Shorten the screen time-out and turn down backlight

• Turn off anything you don’t need so that you are maximizing the full battery capacity for the features you need on race day

Look
around, enjoy the view and make good decisions based on how you feel.