The week in review is a collection of all the good stuff I’ve written over the past week on the internet, plus a small stack of links I’ve found interesting – usually related to endurance sports. I’ve often wondered what to do with all the cool stuff people write, and even though I share a lot on Twitter and Facebook is a better forum to post it to all of you. Most of the time, these different streams don’t overlap, so be on the lookout for all that good stuff!
So with that, let’s take action!
DCR posts from the past week:
Here’s all the latest news on the site, as January progresses:
Wednesday: Garmin’s ECG feature is now available: here’s how it works!
Friday: Strava Responds to Pricing Fiasco, What Strava Costs in Each Country*
Things will start to slowly pick up speed this week and in the weeks to come…good times ahead!
YouTube videos from last week:
Here’s what hit the tubes on the You of Tube, don’t forget to subscribe there to be informed of the videos the second they arrive!
Things I found interesting around the Interwebs:
Here’s a not-so-small rundown of all the random things I stumbled upon while doing my civic duty to find the end of the internet:
1) On Specialized’s sponsorship changes and signing Eric Lagerstrom: This is a great article, and something I’ve been talking about for a long time – just being a fast athlete isn’t enough to earn sponsorship dollars. And frankly, it really hasn’t been long. The value of sports sponsorships is to raise the profile of the sponsoring company (measured in several ways). It’s a business transaction, that’s all. If an athlete doesn’t, then it’s effectively more of a charitable cause (which is fine too, if it’s really for charity). Eric and Paula do an incredible job of not only spreading the word about the sport of triathlete, what it means to be pro, but also just as important: their sponsors. Don’t get me wrong, you can still be a professional athlete and at the top of your game and win scholarships, but if you want the much more lucrative sponsorship money, you have to find a way to appeal to your audience. , there are exceptions when you get to the Messis of the world, but for the remaining 99.99% of professional athletes, winning is just one piece of the puzzle.
2) Google is reportedly working on an AirTags competitor: Would it be too much to ask for these platforms to be half compatible in terms of position point relays? I mean, just ask a friend.
3) The World Surf League declares the Apple Watch as official sports equipment: This seems to imply that not only is each competitor given a device, but they are also expected to wear it too, to get real-time data tracking. Of course, Apple isn’t the only game in town for tracking wave stats. But certainly, a notable victory. This uses a third-party app, as opposed to a built-in feature/app.
4) Hammerhead adds surface type planning to the map planner: This is a minor change to the big feature map, but it’s worth noting that it also notifies you of upcoming surface changes (e.g. from pavement to gravel or vice versa), on the unit itself. It’s a nice touch.
5) New levels for Zwift Runners: Previously these were capped at 21, now there is up to level 30.
6) Apple VR headset to deliver health/wellness experiences: It will be interesting to see if VR headsets in the next few years (from any company) will make significant inroads into the health/fitness space. One of the challenges for VR headsets (like this VR demo I did with Zwift years ago), is simply sweat resistance. Sweat is much worse to deal with electronically than regular water, and most helmets aren’t designed for sweat. Meditation probably won’t be a problem, but yoga certainly could be.
7) Two women saved in Canada thanks to Apple Satellite SOS: At this point, Apple Satellite SOS calls are still relatively interesting/remarkable. This one being two Canadian women who tried to get around some road closures and ended up in a snow bank deep in the forest with no cell coverage. In this case, no helicopters or the like were needed, they were able to get the local police up that road to sort them out (while no one was coming up that road anytime soon otherwise). Easily solved with satellite connectivity, potentially deadly without.
—
With that, thanks for reading!