"Warning: Slightly technical discussion ahead... :)
I've been a long-time user of Google Maps, and I think the biggest benefit is their open API. Anyway, there is a site called ""www.gmap-pedometer.com"". It uses Google's API and allows you to plot a course, updating your distance cumulatively as you doubleclick each turn. Note that it plots straight lines, so requires some extra work if you're worried about curves in the road. It also has the option to display the elevation profile for your entire course (seems to display cleaner in Firefox than in IE).
The goodies don't stop there. Once you're done plotting a course, you can save it as a URL to come back to anytime. Also, the route may be exported as a .GPX file (which is nothing more than XML). That file can then be opened with Google Earth and ""played"" so you can see your entire ride from a birds-eye view. You have to adjust your view angle and speed in the options menu prior to starting your ""tour"", but it's great for seeing in 3D satellite imagery where the nasty climbs, highways, bridges, etc. will be on your ride.
It isn't over yet. For the true geeks, you can also upload the .GPX into into a GPS device, like a Garmin Edge, and use it for navigation while you're riding. Or, alternatively, you can reverse this entire process and map out a ride you've done that has been recorded with the Edge.
So who wants to volunteer to provide .GPX files for the online ride library? Just kidding... ;)
Just thought I'd share some insights on some of the cool technology I've found to be useful.
Kris"
Ride planning for the techno geeks amongst us
This was done on a 5BBC Lincoln Tunnel ride. The thread is located at:
http://groups.google.com/group/5BBC/browse_thread/thread/89d4b7daada4157...
Pretty cool.
...i can't seem to download it. is there a direct link to it?
don
Above url should bring you to Google Earth Home page to download. I'm using Google Earth (Release 4 - BETA) which seems to be stable.
"...i have v3 running (current stable version) on a macbook pro (10.4.7; 2g ram, etc.). i think you need a higher version to import gps info. what i'm looking for (and what i'm waiting for a response from garmin on) is a gps device that can download your trip to your computer so you can create trip profile that include elevation profile, etc. was hoping we could plot manually in an application (local or web based) that could produce a trip profile...not seeing anything yet.
anyway, the link i was having problems with is the ride file itself...not gogle earth. :)"
http://www.krislau.com/2008-08-05+5BBC+Lincoln+Tunnel+Redux.kml
Just open it with Google Earth and you should be in business...
"safari/firefox ""read"" the file and display the xml content. can you zip the file so i can download? i'm sure this is a mac browser issue. thanks for your help. :)
don"
"You should be able to just do a ""File/Save As"" of the text. As long as you retain the .kml name it should work. If that doesn't work, let me know and I'll zip it.
"
...got a syntax error. opened in text editor to see if xml format was mangled, looked ok (from my limited knowledge of xml). :)
don
"...took care of an application freeze i was getting with 4.0.1694.0:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/28838
got my garmin edge 305 today...lots to play with while it's raining. :)
don"
>So who wants to volunteer to provide .GPX files for the online ride library? Just kidding... ;)
I've got a few rides from my gps in garmin mapsource. I can export them as gpx if you want them. If your using a gps another good site is motionbased.com. I think its run by Garmin.
I don't have an Edge yet, but would love to get those files from you anyway to see some of the rides.
Thanks!
"...the edge automatically calibrates elevation and re-checks/re-calibrates every 15 minutes...this is good news. very accurate unless weather drastically changes between each 15 minute calibratrion. :)
see my previous post on this.""
don"
I though it was doing something like this. My Edge sometimes starts out at a different elevation than the true one but it corrects when I look at it again later. Of course tha screws up your cumulative gain/loss. The answer is to start it a half hour or so ahead of time, if you have enough charge for it.
Jud
...to manually force a calibration at the beginning of the ride? then it's on autopilot the rest of the ride?
don
"http://wiki.motionbased.com/mb/Barometric_Altimeter
the parent page...
http://wiki.motionbased.com/mb/Main_Page
my garmin edge 305 should arrive today... :)
don"
I talked to the Garmin support guys (you're right BTW, they are very nice and helpful). There is no way to force it to calibrate altitude at the start, but it should be doing so itself, automatically. Sometimees I force it to the bike page before it has finished acquiring four sat's and he thinks this is the issue. If it acquires 4 sats it should calibrate altitude but if it only gets three, it will use baromteric until it gets the fourth sat some time later. I can't swear this was the problem, but I'll check it out this weekend.
