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@FridayMarch26th
Really.
I'm not sure about the amount of GPS-assisted conventional wisdom on this page, isn't it just a bit of personal experience? Me? I'd not clocked that there was much to do on a bike until my Garmin (a jolly nice gift) suggested that I might like to take my Marin Fairfax further than North London. I've since developed a personal appreciation for an extremely natty gizmo and the range of the tricks that it performs.
That's not to say that Garmins are without their idiosyncrasies. I'm reminded of a recent interview on the Beeb, in which a chap from a rural rescue service somewhere in the Peak District explained that people being overly trusting of their GPS enabled devices' were causing a many of them wander about the countryside with insufficient care. Not good.
The statistical side of Garmin appreciation is also a mixed bag, and something that obviously varies between cyclists. There are plenty for whom the numbers are fundamental to their enjoyment of the sport, all complicated sh*t that I don't really understand, but stuff that seems a-okay (/bloody hard) to me. I do reckon that there are folk (including me) for whom the numbers should possibly be kept in perspective, despite how distracting they can be. Sometimes the numbers are fun, but often they're not, and a 'beautiful countryside adventure' isn't massively enhanced by a heart rate monitor. On the whole? None of this sort of thing does anyone significant harm, not really, not even the portion of it that people tend to sniff at.
So no to the premature shelling out of dosh on gadgetry before giving it due consideration. Mebe borrow a Garmin first, fiddle with it for a bit, exclaim "OMG, isn't this just the most incredible item of digital wonderment that has ever graced my very existence!", bung http://www.bikemap.net/route/1174471 on it, and say t'ta to your knees.
Crikey. I almost di'nt write anything, what with Garmins so obviously being Marmite. TBH I just wasn't so keen on the association with 'conventional wisdom', so I figured I'd empty my bowels, and then spend a short while crossing my fingers that I've not appeared a narky twat. It's all regurgitated dribble, anyway.
Get on yer bike op! Do that, and you'll have taken care of the basics, the rest you'll encounter while you're cycling.
Back to my spreadsheets.