Everyone Should Get Off the Grid From Time to Time

I recently spent a week with friends riding my bike. This annual vacation has become a ritual for me as our team members from all over the country assemble for RAGBRAI. This gathering of cyclists is the oldest, largest and longest bicycle touring event in the world. As I was riding this year I became increasingly aware of the impact that technology has had on even this very low tech event. And it is not all positive.

For sure mobile phones have made keeping track of our team members much easier. Almost ten years ago when I first started riding in this event we were using walkie-talkies to keep track of the team. We shared the same channels with thousands of other riders. The cacophony of conversations made any meaningful contact with one another the exception. Cell phones changed that. Cell phones are a good thing. Other high tech tools using GPS technology now allow medical assistance to be dispatched much more efficiently. If you are waiting on the side of some country road for the EMT to arrive, you would agree that this too is a good thing.

Not all of this technology appeals to me. Riding along it was often the case that the peaceful quiet of the countryside was pierced by the sound of a fellow rider’s cell phone demanding to be answered. More often than not it was not a call from a team member looking to meet up. Rather, the conversations centered on the most recent crisis at the office. Protracted conversations about a client’s complaint, a machine’s failure, or a boss’s demands punctuated the otherwise awesome ride.

Here on the rural roads of Middle America was playing out a wonderful example of why all of us need to sometimes get off the grid. I tried hard this year to refrain from checking my office voice mail or using my smart phone for checking office email. Other than calling my wife and sharing some details of the ride, I stayed out of touch.

The always-connected society in which we live has made the work day 24/7. While some would argue that this has increased productivity, others point out that it has exacted a high price in elevated stress. With a world economy and business environment making local time almost irrelevant, many of us do need to modify our schedules and technology has made this possible. But there is a time to just say “No” …to turn it all off.

The next time you go on vacation, for a day or a few weeks, think about leaving the lap top off, the cell phone on mute and your voice greeting message indicating that you are unreachable. To be sure, if you win the lottery or President Obama wants your advice on some pressing world issue, there are ways to find you.

Added 8/24 Here is a great NPR story relating to this issue

Everyone Should Get Off the Grid From Time to Time

I recently spent a week with friends riding my bike. This annual vacation has become a ritual for me as our team members from all over the country assemble for RAGBRAI. This gathering of cyclists is the oldest, largest and longest bicycle touring event in the world. As I was riding this year I became increasingly aware of the impact that technology has had on even this very low tech event. And it is not all positive.

For sure mobile phones have made keeping track of our team members much easier. Almost ten years ago when I first started riding in this event we were using walkie-talkies to keep track of the team. We shared the same channels with thousands of other riders. The cacophony of conversations made any meaningful contact with one another the exception. Cell phones changed that. Cell phones are a good thing. Other high tech tools using GPS technology now allow medical assistance to be dispatched much more efficiently. If you are waiting on the side of some country road for the EMT to arrive, you would agree that this too is a good thing.

Not all of this technology appeals to me. Riding along it was often the case that the peaceful quiet of the countryside was pierced by the sound of a fellow rider’s cell phone demanding to be answered. More often than not it was not a call from a team member looking to meet up. Rather, the conversations centered on the most recent crisis at the office. Protracted conversations about a client’s complaint, a machine’s failure, or a boss’s demands punctuated the otherwise awesome ride.

Here on the rural roads of Middle America was playing out a wonderful example of why all of us need to sometimes get off the grid. I tried hard this year to refrain from checking my office voice mail or using my smart phone for checking office email. Other than calling my wife and sharing some details of the ride, I stayed out of touch.

The always-connected society in which we live has made the work day 24/7. While some would argue that this has increased productivity, others point out that it has exacted a high price in elevated stress. With a world economy and business environment making local time almost irrelevant, many of us do need to modify our schedules and technology has made this possible. But there is a time to just say “No” …to turn it all off.

The next time you go on vacation, for a day or a few weeks, think about leaving the lap top off, the cell phone on mute and your voice greeting message indicating that you are unreachable. To be sure, if you win the lottery or President Obama wants your advice on some pressing world issue, there are ways to find you.

Added 8/24 Here is a great NPR story relating to this issue

Gone Biking!

There will be no new blog material added for 10 days or so. I am riding RAGBRAI again this year so will be gone thru July 27th. Going to take a break from new technology and use some pedal power instead.

Gone Biking!

There will be no new blog material added for 10 days or so. I am riding RAGBRAI again this year so will be gone thru July 27th. Going to take a break from new technology and use some pedal power instead.

High Tech Reaches the Two-wheel Set

I recently returned from a bicycle trip through Virginia and was surprised to see how electronic technology has permeated this seemingly low-tech industry. For sure, bikes have embraced space-age mechanical technology with frames built of high strength composites making them light and strong. That being the case, for years about the only electronic technology one would see among fellow riders was a speedometer. Things have changed big time.

Over the five days of my 300 plus mile trip, I saw several bikes equipped with GPS systems. These devices, about the size of a small cell phone have some powerful features. Instead of gathering speed information from your spinning wheel, it computes your speed using satellites. Why one needs to have that level of accuracy while peddling through Colonial Williamsburg is beyond me, but it is cool.

Using the GPS you can load in your planned daily route and the display will show you exactly where you are and how far it is to the next rest stop. Call me old fashioned, but when the heat index is hovering around 100 degrees, sometimes you just don’t want to know how far you have to go.

One other feature provided by the GPS is readout of your altitude. Again, my legs tell me that I am going up hill. Do I really need to quantify how much climbing I am doing?

Of course there were several riders carrying on phone conversations using
Bluetooth™ ear buds. It is somewhat disconcerting to ride up behind a solo cyclist who is babbling away with no one else in sight. Talking while riding a bike is as dangerous as driving a car under the influence of “Ma Bell.”

One of the great new beneficial technologies comes in lighting. Using LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) instead of regular incandescent light bulbs, bicycle lights are now brighter and battery life is extended almost exponentially. I have a tail light on my bike that has used the same single AAA battery for more than a year and I am sure it has been on for more than 200 hours. Likewise I have an LED headlight that can be set to strobe. The bright white blinking light grabs the attention of drivers who might otherwise fail to see my bike coming.

I leave at the end of the month for another bicycle trip in Iowa. Who knows what I might see?

High Tech Reaches the Two-wheel Set

I recently returned from a bicycle trip through Virginia and was surprised to see how electronic technology has permeated this seemingly low-tech industry. For sure, bikes have embraced space-age mechanical technology with frames built of high strength composites making them light and strong. That being the case, for years about the only electronic technology one would see among fellow riders was a speedometer. Things have changed big time.

Over the five days of my 300 plus mile trip, I saw several bikes equipped with GPS systems. These devices, about the size of a small cell phone have some powerful features. Instead of gathering speed information from your spinning wheel, it computes your speed using satellites. Why one needs to have that level of accuracy while peddling through Colonial Williamsburg is beyond me, but it is cool.

Using the GPS you can load in your planned daily route and the display will show you exactly where you are and how far it is to the next rest stop. Call me old fashioned, but when the heat index is hovering around 100 degrees, sometimes you just don’t want to know how far you have to go.

One other feature provided by the GPS is readout of your altitude. Again, my legs tell me that I am going up hill. Do I really need to quantify how much climbing I am doing?

Of course there were several riders carrying on phone conversations using
Bluetooth™ ear buds. It is somewhat disconcerting to ride up behind a solo cyclist who is babbling away with no one else in sight. Talking while riding a bike is as dangerous as driving a car under the influence of “Ma Bell.”

One of the great new beneficial technologies comes in lighting. Using LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) instead of regular incandescent light bulbs, bicycle lights are now brighter and battery life is extended almost exponentially. I have a tail light on my bike that has used the same single AAA battery for more than a year and I am sure it has been on for more than 200 hours. Likewise I have an LED headlight that can be set to strobe. The bright white blinking light grabs the attention of drivers who might otherwise fail to see my bike coming.

I leave at the end of the month for another bicycle trip in Iowa. Who knows what I might see?