My Garmin Edge 305 and Me

by Brian Thomas, Reviewer

Anyone who has used a GPS device knows how much fun they can be. A GPS receiver can be used to pinpoint your current location anywhere on the globe. It can tell you how fast you’re going and where you’re going. If you get lost, it can tell you how to get back. You can mark favorite places you’ve been so you can always go back.

For a while, I used my Garmin Etrex Vista and was quite happy doing so. My GPS can be connected to my laptop, and with the right software, will provide me with turn by turn directions, not just to pre-programmed points-of-interest, but any of the waypoints that I created. I would go geocaching (a global treasure hunting game) and I would even use it on my mountain bike to track distance traveled, average speed and such.

Being a tech junkie and someone who likes to pretend to mountain bike, I was naturally excited when Garmin introduced their newest line of GPS devices. The Edge series is designed specifically for cycling. In addition to doing all the neat things that a normal GPS can do, the Edge 305 adds some pretty cool features, such as a heart rate monitor, and a speed/cadence sensor.

Now, with my Edge 305, not only can I download my distance traveled, but I can see what my total elevation gain was, and how hard I had to work to do it. It is easy to view elevation change on a graph next to heart rate, and to top it off, it will even tell you how fast you were pedaling at any given time on the ride.

My Garmin Edge 305 also incorporates some pretty cool training features as well. I can take any one of my previous ride times and race against myself. The display will even display two icons, one representing me, and the other representing myself as the opponent. It will continually tell me how far ahead, or behind (which is usually the case) I am.

Another cool feature not found on the average GPS device is the heart rate monitor. This is really useful as it allows me to program workouts based on heart rate. When I need to train for speed, I can set it up one way. If I need to train for endurance, I program it to keep my heart rate in the desired zone. An alarm will sound if I work too hard on those all important recovery days (these are the days you look forward to while training!), where you are supposed to keep it easy and slow.

The only complaint I have about the Edge 305? No color display. That is soon changing, as Garmin has announced the release of the Edge 605 and 705, both with color displays. I guess that will be one more of those little tech gadgets that I’ll have to have.

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