[RJen]

This is not unusual for any gps track. Your bike computer is measuring distance by the circumference of your wheel, while gps is laying down points at some determined rate (every 1, 10, 30 seconds) depending on the setting of your unit. I have mine set for 1 sec. intervals and it’s not unusual for me to lose 10% in distance. Anything that effects accuracy can round off a lot of switch backs. Convert your track from .gpx to .kml and plot on Google Earth to see the errors.

[RJen]

Classic!
I can’t comment about IMBA, but it seems a lot of land managers are mostly concerned about their legal exposure these days.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

[RJen]

In Settings/GPS you may set restrictions on GPS plots as to minimum time and distance and also accuracy. My minimums are set to .5 seconds and 5 meters with plots ignored when accuracy is beyond 20 meters. These settings should keep you with a pretty tight track. Since GPS altitudes are notoriously inaccurate, a useful app is DEM1 which will download a local elevation file that Orux will optionally use instead of GPS altitude.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[RJen]

I just returned from Davis and agree with the previous posters that this is a great biking destination. I’ve also stayed at RestRite and Blackwater camping, but if you need a room, the state park has lodge rooms and cabins available to rent.

The CVI trails are beginner friendly if you stay out of the moon rock section and it’s next to a Forest road if anyone wants to bail.

The Forest road (Canaan Loop) is a beginner ride with a few challenges a couple of miles out from the park. Inside this loop is the Plantation trail system with numerous access points to both state parks.

From inside Blackwater park, the Dobs House trail loops around from the Nature Center.

I didn’t ride the Blackwater Canyon Rail Trail this time since it was reported to be very overgrown with all the rain they’ve been having, but if you get a chance, check it out – it’s different from any rail trail you’ve ridden – 15 miles of 3% downhill grade doesn’t sound bad until you start back. Another climbing ride is FSR18 out of Douglas that goes to the old Olson fire tower. None of the trails in the area are what you’d call "groomed", so forget about "flow" and just enjoy the exploration experience.

I think the brewery in Thomas, behind the gas station has the best brews.

Someone mentioned "Coopers Ridge" and if they meant Coopers Rock, that’s another kick ass trail system. Very gnarly down/uphills, camping next to the trails, and 6 miles of beginner friendly trail.

[RJen]

"jeff" wrote

Ok RJen, I did a little digging and the issue is your phone isn’t reporting your location correctly (at all). It shows you at 0/0 lat/lon at 9:50am and 10:37am (twice) EST today.

The trails you’re seeing as available check-ins are trails with a 0/0 location in the database which is a bug on our end (fixed).

So… we need to figure out why your phone doesn’t know where it is. 😀

I’ll continue our discussion with a support ticket.

[RJen]

Houston, I believe we have a problem – Today I attempted again to do a check in (no cell/wifi) and as usual got the constant "loading" msg, so I just left it there and continued my hour and a half ride. When I returned, I noticed that I indeed had a check in waiting so I hurried home to my wifi and long anticipated badge, but when I did check in, I had three (3) rides for the day. ?? Besides several Sheriff badges, I had badges from Virginia, Colorado, and Australia so of course, also included was the "Sampler". Not bad for a 15 mile ride in Florida 😃

[RJen]

I think a link to the land manager would solve a lot of questions. Here in S Florida summers rain is quite frequent and our trail will close if it received an inch or more the previous afternoon. We have a club FB Page that announces closures, but the primary source is the land manager.

[url:2x8t7zrd]http://www.leeparks.org/facility-info/facility-details.cfm?Project_Num=0253[/url:2x8t7zrd]
[url:2x8t7zrd]https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mudcutters/147312821987511?v=wall[/url:2x8t7zrd]

Even with this we still have the whiners that will drive 150 miles to find the trail gated.

[RJen]

There is a function built into the app for that. You should be able to check in offline, log your check in, and then when you get back to cell service or wifi and hit "check in" there is a section at the top that says "pending check ins" that you can click on and finish your check in.

I tried this, but when I opened the app after following there was a "gps error" msg and I never was directed to log the check in so, naturally, when I was back on line, "no data available" appears when checking in.

I’m wondering what would cause the gps error since I started recording my track, after selecting "follow", with my tracking app (Orux) and it tracked without any error. Does the Singletrack app not share the gps with other apps?

[RJen]

Orux will also interfaces with a heart rate monitor and cadence sender through bluetooth – Polar and ANT although I haven’t tried this.

[RJen]

"bonkedagain" wrote

I haven’t looked around in about a year so there may be something better available now, but last year I settled on Orux Maps. The interface is a bit clunky and opaque, the documentation sucks, but it has lots of good map sources (including Google Terrain topo maps!) and does provide an easy way to download offline maps. It is mostly, although not completely reliable, that is, crash free and when you tap something it actually does what it should. It’s free, so nothing lost but your time for trying it.

The main reason I chose it was for the offline topo capability.

I’m convinced that this is the best Android tracking app out there. The current version (5.+) is very stable, the online selection of maps is huge, off line maps are easily loaded, including Garmin Topo, you are able to upload tracks & photos to services such as EveryTrail, and it has the ability to monitor another riders location through a tracking service. The only down side I can think off, is that since it offers so much custom configurations (you can have profiles for different configs) that there is a definite learning curve required.
[url:2fiv90ys]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.orux.oruxmapsDonate&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5vcnV4Lm9ydXhtYXBzRG9uYXRlIl0.[/url:2fiv90ys]

[RJen]

For us Luddites out here without a data plan, I think the app is missing the market for all of us that would like to participate. I normally use a dedicated gps or my tablet to record my tracks with preloaded maps. Since .gpx files carry date and time for each point, why couldn’t I check in with an upload of my track to verify??

[RJen]

IMBA has also gotten into virtual riding, but they include embedded photos w/information in addition to short video. Their list so far is short, but for a planned trip to Birmingham, I found Oak Mtn informative.
[url:16oxiuj9]http://www.imba.com/maps/geostories[/url:16oxiuj9]

[RJen]

Besides the obvious already listed, I recommend a spare drop out hanger. A small twig in the derailleur is all it takes to ruin your ride. This past week end it happened to me at about 20 miles into a 50 mile ride. Since the bike is new, I didn’t have a spare DO, but was able to convert to singlespeed using a chain break, multitool, zip tie, and tape. If I would have had a replacement DO, I wouldn’t have had to use the 35 mile break out. WRT first aid kits, band aids are for applying after you get home. If a chain ring takes a hunk out of your leg, you’re going to want all the gauze and tape you can carry. Latex gloves are good if it’s someone elses blood. 😀

[RJen]

Go to Mudcutters.org or Mudcutters on Facebook to find trail maps and directions.

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