8/24/14 7:36 PM

Bite the bullet and ordered a Garmin Edge Tour for D2R2 after getting a positive report from Dan. With only 2 rides to learn to use it, I decided to put both the cue sheet AND the GPS on my handlebar. With the existing bike computer already on the bar, this makes for a very crowded bar,..

It was a good thing I did that.

1) 8 miles into the ride, the GPS decided to turn itself OFF!!!

The reason of that is not yet clear. I wsa on a flat stretch so I slowed for a momet to absorb what had happened. Decided there's nothing I could lose by turning it back on, I did. In the mean time, read the cue sheet to confirm there's no turn for another 1/2 mile. By then, the GPS had turned back on and resumed navigating. The rest of the ride was flawless

2) The Garmin got confused when part of the course involves going both ways on the same road.

This year's 115K route was hemmed in by two bridges that are under repair. So it had to use the same road to go out, do some climbing loops, and go back on that same road. Well, while going out on that road, my Garmin kept on urging me to "MAKE A U TURN"!

Fortunately for me, I had looked at the course map before the ride. So I knew that road was used in both direction. I simply ignore the Garmin for the duration of that part of the course. However, that renders the Garmin totally useless for that portion of the route! I was glad I had the cue sheet on my bar top to rely on!!!

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Other than those 2 problems, the GPS worked very well. Since I was mixing routes, I simply loaded the GPS files of the 2 routes as seperate files. Follow instruction on the 115K route to lunch, switch to the 100K route with a couple of tap on the screen... Viola! I'm now following the new route without missing a beat!

I turned on "ride recording" at the start, saved it at the end. Got the total mileage and elevation. Upload to the computer to varify that's what I did. I would have had to do all that by hand (as in years past).

Last edited by April on 8/24/14 7:46 PM; edited 2 times in total

8/24/14 7:39 PM

(despite mulitple warning about the bridge being out and the rsulting re-route, quite a number of riders found themselves on the wrong side of the river)



Should I send this to Sandman (organizer) to remind next year's riders to pay attention to cue sheet?

Last edited by April on 8/25/14 12:29 PM; edited 5 times in total

8/25/14 12:51 AM

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8/25/14 4:10 AM

Until it doesn't. :)

The unit seems to have a sort of sleep mode, which may be why yours turned off. Sometimes it will say it intends to turn off, and I can tell it not to. Of course you have to see the message to tell it not to. I don't know what triggers this exactly. I suppose it's a battery conservation thing.

I also had a few directional glitches. I suspect most of these are due to the course file. It may not be easy to make a perfect file, particularly on courses this complex, and where some of the "roads" are not really roads by most definitions. The GPS pointed me the wrong way a few times, but then showed me off course. It also gave me a few erroneous "make a U turn" messages when the graphic showed me on course, which I was. But I don't think it will send you far off course, just some glitches come along that you need to sort out. So I agree you need the cue sheets as a backup.

My unit lost the battery after about 8 1/2 hours (advertised "up to 17" I think) so I rode the last 10 miles or so with the cue sheets and then the even better technique of following a local who knew the way.

Overall I think the GPS is a big help, and the problems are manageable as long as you realize it's not infallible.

If that pic is the one you emailed, I think the caption is "No way I'm riding Pennel Hill!"

Great day at a super event, eh?

8/25/14 8:25 AM

(dug up my long-unused flikr account password, photo above)

Last edited by April on 8/25/14 11:49 AM; edited 2 times in total

8/25/14 11:17 AM

Another situation where it got confused was on really tight (nearly 180 degree) switchbacks, which create a similar situation to the out and back on the same road scenario. There seems to be a threshold distance required between any two tracks in order to avoid this confusion.

8/25/14 11:55 AM

It should have been smart enough to just stop navigating till the rider move to the end of that out-and-back segment? Rather than keep nagging about "Make a U turn"!

Also, unlike a car GPS, the Garmin doesn't seem to tell me how much further before my next turn. So, the cue sheet helps that I can relax for a while if I know I'll be on that stretch for a couple miles!

8/25/14 12:12 PM

When I rode a century with a downloaded course, I believe the GPS did give distance to the next turn, and also gave a ding as the turn approached. I didn't get either consistently at D2R2, though sometimes as the turn got close the GPS went to a closeup view of the turn and gave a time (in seconds) and distance (in feet) to the turn. So maybe it has to do with how the course file is produced (and these were stitched together at the last minute with the bridge closure). Also, maybe over the winter I'll actually RTFM.

8/25/14 12:20 PM

The "ding" is not that loud. So I really wanted to see how much further before I need to perk my ears up.

It's entirely possible it's due to the nature of the D2R2 route though.

8/27/14 10:51 AM

quote:

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My unit lost the battery after about 8 1/2 hours (advertised "up to 17" I think) so I rode the last 10 miles or so with the cue sheets and then the even better technique of following a local who knew the way.

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8/27/14 11:03 AM

Concerning battery life, you should check the amount of backlight you are using. I use 100% since I have poor eyesight, but that really shortens the life. For long rides your backlight should be set to zero. I -think- the main power button on the left side gets you to the backlight control screen.

8/27/14 11:07 AM

I was having Starda farts enough of the time I gave up. Honestly, even gave up trying to fix the Cadence on my HRM setup, Polar. Takes a lot out of the pleasure fuking with the devices.

Of course, where you could get lost for hours... I am looking into doing some back roads stuff. And getting lost out in the boonies with no stores/people, and no cell service certainly is something to plan around.

So even my phone's GPS will fart out not being able to get the map data with out a signal. Even though the SAT signals might be intact.


I still have the magellan gps I quite using when we went to smart phones. I used it out on the bike when I first got here. Never tested how long the battery would last though....

Last edited by Sparky on 8/27/14 11:18 AM; edited 1 time in total

8/27/14 11:11 AM

But I thought backlit is not on during riding. It's only use when fiddling the controls.

8/27/14 11:20 AM

You can set backlight to stay on all the time- I do.

8/27/14 11:52 AM

is 15 second, which is what I left mine as.

That's the shortest time out there is. Can't squeeze any more juice out of that particular lemon!

8/27/14 12:13 PM

There were times when my backlight went off and I tapped it back on so I could see the display better - there being a turn about every mile, many in the middle of the woods... I'll look at the manual for battery conservation measures, but I doubt the unit will be reliable for really long periods.

Based on my earlier rides, I was not surprised that it did not last the full 160k (I was actually expecting to be out longer than the 9:15 it took). So I figured I'd get as far as I could and then use the cue sheets (which as you know are meticulous). I also got a "low battery" message at one point but ignored it for the same reason.

I guess as a last resort you could take along an extra, though that seems kind of dorky. :) Or you could use a generator with a USB charger, though I don't think I'll be hauling all that up those hills.

8/27/14 12:28 PM

...is this thing only charge through USB?

I hadn't looked any more closely. But say, if I'm traveling WITHOUT a computer (bike touring), how the hell do they expect me to charge the unit?

Do they expect me to buy an adaptor? Is thta it?

8/27/14 12:40 PM

I have a charger for my Garmin 200 which works, though they didn't include one with the Touring. So I guess you would have to buy one, if you won't have access to a laptop or something.

8/27/14 1:13 PM

quote:

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I guess as a last resort you could take along an extra, though that seems kind of dorky. :)

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8/28/14 5:37 AM

Another factor is that the cue sheets, particularly on this ride, provide valuable info you can't get from GPS. For example, on the 160 there was a washed out, unmaintained downhill where the cue sheet said "consider walking in places" (I did), and there was a monster, 4 mile climb described as "big gnarly dirt up." Knowing that the D2R2 folks do no use such language lightly, it is helpful to have such info (for much of the climb I saw around 2.5 mph).

8/28/14 5:51 AM

...after the first few charge/discharge cycles, though it will eventually deteriorate with use.

8/28/14 6:49 AM

...have always been used for such information which is valueable.

The GPS on the other hand, has the advantage of showing the elevation profile (I haven't quite figure out how to switch between the two smoothly), at any time. So on my "GPS training ride", my friends were calling out "oh, the next stretch goes straight up!"

I studied the RideWithGPS file they send us before hand. So I roughly know where (and how long) the climbs are, and where (and how much) the max climbing GRADE is also. All that, is helpful to mentally prepare for what lay ahead. It's a little like making a first ride of the course as though I've done it once before. (I take care NOT do it too much, or it loses the "freshness" of a new route)

8/28/14 6:03 PM

Took the unit out on a road ride again.

I've drivene bits and pieces of the route by car over the past few months. So I kind of sort of remember some of the turns, but not all of them.

The GPS was quite often "late" in calling out the turns, probably about 30% of the turns were NOT called. (no beep). Of those, half of them I recognized and stopped to check to see if I should turn. Confirmed, I made the turn despite the GPS didn't call for it. THEN, I heart the single beep confirming I've just made the correct turn.

What I noticed in those cases, the GPS still thought I was some distance away from the intersection. Hence, the beep was "late" from the riders point of view.

Of the other half which I didn't recognize, 30-60 seconds later, the GPS would scream "Off Course" to me! It helps. But not ideal.

And NEVER EVER use the same road in both directions if the GPS is the only thing you're going to rely on for navigation. It gets confused CONSISTANTLY without fail!!! Telling me to make a U-turn EVERY SINGLE TIME!

Now, it definitely has some value. But is that $250 value? I'm no so sure any more after this last episode.

8/28/14 6:17 PM

I remember the Auto Garmin I have on a few occasions having me go south on a hywy only to have me take the next exit and head back in the direction I would have gone on my own in the first place. It also does the U-Turn Spasms less than infrequently. Part and parcel?

8/29/14 3:22 PM

quote:

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quote: My unit lost the battery after about 8 1/2 hours (advertised "up to 17" I think) so I rode the last 10 miles or so with the cue sheets and then the even better technique of following a local who knew the way.

Yeah, that's a bit disconcerting. My unit showing it only had 15% left after my 5 hours (and change) of riding time! (though total time close to 8 hrs)

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