I finally managed to get a road ride in despite the deary weather in Southeast Texas. I received my Garmin Edge 305 0ver a week ago and I was hoping to ride on Saturday but cold temperatures and rain stopped that event. Sunday I decided I would not look at the thermometer and if it was not raining I would take the Raleigh M800 out on the streets and see how the Garmin 305 worked.

When I read the reviews a number of people complained about the mounting bracket. I was surprised that the unit came with two mounts which is nice since I have two bikes. The trick is getting the cable ties tight enough so that the mount does not turn. There is a tool electricians use to really snug up the cable ties but I don’t have one so I used some pliers and a screwdriver. With the soft rubber backing on the mount and the snug cable ties the mount did not move during the 15.24 mile ride.

It is amazing the amount of data this unit collects. I was watching the time, calories, compass reading, miles traveled and all of this is without any sensors other than the 305. The timer is a manual start thing so I have to remember to punch the button but other than that it was fully automatic once the GPS satellites were locked in. The route I chose was winding on the neighborhood streets. The 305 allows up to three different bikes so I selected bike 2 since my Mercier road bike is what I usually ride. I am still trying to figure out all of the options such as alarms.

Once I finished the ride I connected the 305 to my computer and uploaded the trip into Garmin’s training software. Without too much trouble I had the route up in the Google Earth map. The selections in Google Earth are amazing. You can even select street view to check out what you might have missed while you get fixated on the Garmin unit. SportsTrack software is what I have started using to replace my paper log book. It is simple on one level but I am still trying to figure out the route and map plugins. SportsTrack is a free program (donations are accepted) with a number of plugin applications to enhance the information you collect during your ride. I will need to study the instructions to get the program dancing with my data.

Now if the weather will straighten up so I can get on the road bike and get some serious miles in.