Two Wheel Blogs

I was up late last night getting my geek on with a new power tool. Golden Cheetah is a new software application currently under development which intends to make some form of bicycle powermeter analysis software functionality to the good people out there who don't do Windows.

From the Golden Cheetah web site:

The goal of the Golden Cheetah project is to develop a software package that:

• Downloads ride data from power measurement devices, such as the CycleOps PowerTap, the ergomo, the Polar Electro, and the SRM Training System
• Helps athletes analyze downloaded data with features akin to commercial power analysis software, such as Cycling Peaks
• Works on non-Microsoft Windows-based systems, such as FreeBSD, Linux, and Mac OS X
• Is available under an Open Source license

OK, like I said, all you Winders users out there: sorry but you can't play. Golden Cheetah isn't intended to run on machines that run all the regular bicycle powermeter software. I got an email from the project lead, Sean Rhea. Sean had told me about a month ago that he was working on an import capability which would allow Golden Cheetah to analyze SRM files. His email yesterday said he'd posted a new version which would do it. I couldn't wait to give it a try.

I downloaded the latest version last night. I loaded up the code and grabbed the nearest SRM file. I clicked Import, and the program crashed. Knowing that's what early code does, I reasoned that perhaps there was something wrong with that particular file. So I tried another one. Golden Cheetah loaded up the second file so fast I didn't realize it had happened. In an instant there was a graph of my power data on the screen in front of me.

Now this was getting interesting. Next test, can it do multiple files... I clicked import again and selected a month's worth of SRM data. In less than a second they were loaded up and ready for analysis. I really wasn't ready for how fast it handles these files.

This morning I have 4 month's of data - all of 2007 so far - loaded up and looking good. I've got a new power tool and I think I'm going to like it more and more as Sean and his team adds to it. For all you Mac and Linux users out there who might be wondering whether you'll ever have cycling powermeter analysis software for your favorite operating system, that day has arrived.

Check it out at http://goldencheetah.org