People bike for all sorts of reasons: relaxation, exercise, commuting or sports performance. While you might know the reasons 57 million cyclists ride, according to Bicycling Info, you might not know that there are cyclist apps designed to make riding more enjoyable and safer. These Blackberry apps help you find your way, keep you motivated even when you don’t think you can’t bike another mile and help you connect with other cyclists if you’re looking for a communal biking experience.
Image by garryknight via Flickr.
Fitness
When you’re cycling to work off the pounds or develop muscle, having a companion app to track how far you’re going, the elevation, your speed and other fitness details allows you to keep a log of how much you’re doing in the pursuit of fitness. Map My Ride allows you to stay on track with your long term goals, congratulate yourself for short term achievements and share your experiences through the social network sharing function. This is a free app that integrates into the Map My Ride website, giving you another way to access your historical workout data. You’ll know how much you’ve improved over time, whether you need to up the intensity of the workouts, and how to track how tough a particular route is on you and your bike.
Navigation
All Sport GPS is a popular app designed for fitness navigation purposes. It tracks your stats for you, and like Map My Ride, integrates into the main website. You can download new maps for navigation through the Blackberry, set up navigation specifically for bike rides and look through the database of favorite bike trails and recommended routes from the AllSport GPS community. This is a great multi-purpose app, but the database is what sets it apart, as you won’t be left wondering whether or not a particular trail is safe for biking. Another good reason to use GPS while biking is when you commute. While you’ll most likely have to go down some bike-unfriendly roads, it’s best to know exactly what the quickest way to work actually is. That way, you cut down on some of the sweat and hassle that is associated with bike commuting, and reap more of the benefits.
Entertainment
You won’t be surfing on cell phones at the same time you’re biking, but you do want to have some entertainment on the trail. When you need an extra bit of distraction without having to take your eyes off of what you’re doing, Pandora gives you specialized music stations that keep you entertained as well as help you avoid the rut of playing the same songs over and over again. You customize your radio stations based on artists or particular songs, and Pandora delivers similar music to your suggestions.
Sports Techie, Apps and smartphones for sport usage is a massive sports business Industry in itself. If you like to bike and use the Blackberry phones, these tailored cycling apps are built to keep you moving just like the new BlackBerry Q10.
The fact that Map My Ride is a free app is outstanding. The database in the All Sport GPS app will store your biking Big Data in an easy to use environment. Both help you track your way around nearly any ride be that on a mountain trail, beach path or velodrome. Finally, Pandora is one of the top music companies on the planet so naturally their app is a must have for those of you Sports Techie like myself that enjoy exercising to your favorite tunes and cadence. Fitness, navigation and entertainment were made for a sports tech interface.
Just getting started with bicycling? I recommend you search and explore the vast world of sports technology. Think about integrating a smartphone and sports apps into your routine. If you need a virtual coach or a calendar type tech feature to get you on track, the Blackberry App World is a nice place to start.
We are fast approaching 2014 but 2013 still has three and a half months to go. Depending on where you are in the world, it could be the end of summer as it is here in Seattle, or the end of winter Down Under in Australia. Either way, biking is now 365 day a year activity that will help with achieving your fitness levels, instantly changing your mood, and skyrocketing your energy levels without the pounding of joints, tendons and ligaments that other exercises such as running does.
The flip side is that biking is not considered a weight bearing exercise which means that your bones can become susceptible to osteoporosis. It is therefore important to supplement riding with strength and conditioning for the upper body along with a walking or jogging routine outdoors or indoors on a treadmill for your legs if that is possible with your fitness and medical conditions. Health and wellness apps are full of useful information about this and more.
I would love to hear more about these three apps and others our Sports Techie community can consider using. Please leave a comment below in this blog or on any of our social media network links below.
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