Summer, 2019 is within striking distance! Well, it is, it’s arriving this Friday, June 21st. 2019!
If you live in the eastern part of the country, for that matter anywhere east and north of the Mississippi, you know the weather has not been optimal for anything outdoors so far this year. But that is going to change! At least we HOPE it’s going to change! But knowing that everything rights itself in time, we are looking forward to a summer season with hot, sunny weather that’s just made for any cyclist to want to hop on his or her bike and start taking the high road to scenic vistas.

Knowing this day has been coming you’ve already gone through all the necessary steps to make sure your bike is in good condition to take to the open highway or those mountain trails! And if you haven’t done so yet, shame on you. So, we might just cover those steps in an upcoming post! Lucky You!

Making sure your bikes in great shape, is only one point to consider, knowing you're in good shape, physically is also important. So, before you start going on long distance bike hike or inspiring cycling journey, which is what we like to call it. Regardless of what you call it, you need to make sure that you stay on top of your physical game. Get yourself checked out by your physician before undertaking any new physical endurance challenges. After all, if you’re not familiar with all the rigors that long distance cyclists can encounter, and there are a few, having an unknown ailment happen when your miles away from home can cause a serious problem that you don’t need to have happened to you! So make sure you get a clean bill of health from your physician, and you can peddle your way down the road knowing you're in fine shape, physically to enjoy the ride.

Besides a good, reliable bike and the customary cycling attire, one item that serious cyclists take with them on their rides is a good, accurate cycling computer. After all, you want to know not only where your going, but WHERE you are at any time during your ride. How fast you're going, distance traveled, distance to go, your cadence and even the ability to have your route available with turn by turn navigation available. One such bike computer is the Garmin Edge 830!  This reliable cycling computer by Garmin will take any guesswork out of a cyclists trip and provide the peace of mind any cyclist would like to have so that they can enjoy their bike trip. After all, isn’t that the whole point of getting out there on a bike? Well isn’t it?

For an overview of just what the Edge 830 has to offer, we’ve listed a few here below:

Performance GPS cycling computer with mapping

Dynamic performance monitoring provides insights on your VO2 max, recovery, training load focus, heat and altitude acclimation, nutrition, hydration and more when paired with compatible sensors
Cycling safety features include new bike alarm, group messaging and tracking, incident detection and compatibility with Varia™ rearview radar and lights so you can see and be seen

Includes routable Garmin Cycle Map with popularity routing —which helps you ride like a local —plus off-course recalculation and back to start; mountain biking model has integrated Trailforks data, including trail difficulty ratings

Customize with free apps, widgets and data fields from the Connect IQ™ Store

MTB dynamics track jump count, jump distance and hang time as well as grit, a measure of the ride’s difficulty, and Flow, which tracks the smoothness of your descent, so you have a score to beat next time

Battery life: up to 20 hours with GPS; works with Garmin Charge™ power pack for up to 40 hours of additional battery life

Garmin Edge 830 setup and app functionality:

The Edge 830 has both onboard WiFi and Bluetooth connections so it’s possible to directly pair the device to any WiFi network. Once connected, the device will automatically link to Garmin’s servers where it can sync your device.
If WiFi isn’t available and you’ve got your phone, the device can connect to the internet via your smartphone using Bluetooth.
It’s startling how easy it is to set up the Edge 830 with or without the smartphone app, Garmin Express or Garmin Connect. Turn it on for the first time and you’re prompted to input a few crucial bits of personal information (that can later be edited if required) and the GPS is ready to use.
Likewise, fire up the app on your phone, connect it to the Edge 830 device and everything that you wish to achieve such as route mapping, training load, performance and health status and activity syncing, it’s intuitively ready and easy to use.

It’s a similar affair on the computer using the Garmin Connect web-based app, via the Garmin Express computer program. Everything that’s available online in Garmin Connect is in the smartphone app, which ensures seamless compatibility and functionality between your devices. The level of usability and inter-app syncing really impressed me.
Strava integration is top-notch too, and after just a few clicks that are needed to authorize Strava to see my data, the Garmin Edge 830 was already connected, and my rides synced with Strava.
However, on-device Strava Live segments require a Strava Summit membership, and for your smartphone to be connected to the device.

Bundled in this feature-set is the device’s ability to act as an alarm for your bike
The incident detection feature, which alerts a pre-defined contact that you’ve had an accident, requires that the device is paired with and connected to your phone which needs to be smart.

This feature provides the device to act as an alarm for your bike. Activate the alarm on the device and if someone moves your bike then the Edge 830 will send a notification to your smartphone.
Once again, while this sounds like a great idea it won’t stop or even deter a determined thief who’ll end up walking (or riding or running!) away with your precious bike and fancy GPS computer. If they have the mind to steal it!

If you’ve got your smartphone tethered to the Edge 530, the device displays notifications from incoming calls and text messages — these help you to quickly decide whether you need to answer your phone or can safely ignore the interruption to your blissful ride.

Garmin Edge 830 route finding and mapping performance
The turn-by-turn navigation is fantastic on the Edge 830. The on-screen map, when zoomed in, provides excellent levels of detail and accurate guidance instructions with ample warning — both audible and visual — when a turn is approaching.
When you’re not on the mapping screen the navigation notifications with a map appear over your current screen, so, in theory, at least, you should never miss another turn again.

The navigation function works fantastically when you’ve uploaded a pre-programmed route on the device, but relies on the device’s own smart routing functionality, and you’re in for what can be a rough ride — quite literally.
Although the on-device route creation is intuitive to use, and for the most part doesn’t require hours of studying the instruction manual, some of the menu functions are a little clunky. It’s possible to find yourself two, three or even four menus deep before you can change or select the option you’re looking to modify.

That said, if you’re without a smartphone or computer, route creation far exceeds what used to be possible on-device from both usability and technical points of view compared to only a few years ago.

There are plenty of options on the Edge 830 to create routes with different parameters, such as ride type: road, mixed, gravel or unpaved and mountain biking. This makes you able to explore new roads, paths and gravel sections close to home that remained undiscovered.

To help the device create great routes, Garmin uses data similar to that created by Strava’s heatmaps that it’s called Popularity Routing. Garmin claims it should help you ride like a local. The Edge 830 creates routes using this data to help you ride the best, or at least most ridden trails or roads in any area.

Once you’ve dialed in your chosen route parameters and set the device to create a route, it takes anywhere between 15 seconds and a few minutes to generate a route, depending on route length and other parameters, such as waypoints. The route can be either point-to-point or circular.
The get you home function works well, and you can choose between a different route entirely or follow the same route you’ve just taken to get you back to your starting point. If you need to get back to the start for whatever reason, it’s a good, reliable method.
It would certainly be fair to say that Garmin’s claims of ‘riding like a local’ are true; the device’s route creation isn’t ideal but is a great feature to get you out of a bit of bind if called upon.

Garmin Edge 830 displays and information
In record mode the device has four screens as standard — one that displays current speed, average speed, distance traveled, time, calories burnt (with compatible sensor connected) and current elevation. There’s a lap screen — the device records a new lap every 5km by default — that displays current speed and distance with your average speed for your previous laps.

The navigation and map screens show your current location on a map and your route if you have one programmed. The final screen displays past elevation data in a graph, your current heading, and current altitude.
Each display is crisp and purposeful and shows you more than enough information for any given ride.
The device’s display and functionality are customizable with apps, widgets and data fields from the Connect IQ Store. Conveniently, the store is available directly from the device’s home screen.

Garmin Edge 830 battery life
Garmin claims the battery can last up to 20 hours on GPS mode and up to 40 hours with an additional power pack or if it’s in battery save mode.
In reality, these figures are going to be less but like any electronic device it’s battery life depends greatly on how you use it and what you’re using it for, how bright the display is and how many times you use the touchscreen.

In navigation mode and with plenty of device messing about, route reprogramming and general use I drained about 25 percent of the battery after two hours of recording.
With these heavy usage habits, it’s safe to extrapolate that the battery would last eight hours on-trail recording — pretty impressive considering the outgoing Edge 820 only lasted four hours in similar conditions.

Garmin Edge 830 bottom line
With an impressive array of interesting and useful — if a little clunky at times — features, the Edge 830 is a true class-leading GPS that really offers plenty of useful functions above and beyond its competition.
The maps and navigation features are easy to understand and it’s relatively simple to program in routes. On-device route calculation isn’t great, though, and it certainly didn’t live up to Garmin’s claims of riding like a local.

The on-device data and displays are fantastically simple to read when you’re on the move, but it’s certainly worth investing in the additional sensors if you don’t already own compatible ones.

So, there you have it. Summer Sun, heat and cloudless skies. All you need to give you the itch to get out on your bike and view some new sites and smells as you traverse the miles of roads that will soon welcome you as you travel on down them. And with the Garmin Edge 830 your going to able to plot your way not only there and benefit from all that data it gathers. But you're also going to have an easy time traveling back the way you came with its “At a Glance” retrace your route function.

So, I guess we’ll just have to say, see ya on the road!