Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Hi, Diana,

It depends on what you would like in a GPS unit. Are you looking for one to help you in the truck when driving to rides? Are you looking for one to take with you on training rides and endurance rides? Do you want an integrated heart rate monitor?

Currently, for training my horse, I use a Garmin Forerunner 301 (http://www.garmin.com/products/forerunner301). It is an integrated GPS/HR unit. I use an equine adapter kit from Roger Rittenhouse (
http://www.vmaxept.com) to allow me to use the human heart belt on my horse. The 301 is a wrist unit which is quite convenient for on-board reading. I used to use units that I had to carry in a cell phone case and would have to pull them out to be able to read the data. Now I can do that with a turn of my wrist.

I never do a ride without my 301. Sometimes I will skip the HRM part, but I always have the GPS unit. This helps me know how far I've gone and how fast. The 301 also has a workout feature where you can set up a workout in advance and then the unit will tell you when to do what. I've done that to help me keep on track and focused when doing interval training where I often lose track of how many reps I've done.

When I get home, I load my data to my computer where I keep a detailed log of what I've done. I use SportTracks (http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/
) to keep track of all that for me. (I also use MotionBased.com.) I can see a graph of my ride on street maps or satellite images. I can also see how well we've been doing over time. How often I ride. How fast. How his heart rate changes over time and distance and speed. Very handy analysis for after-the-fact and for planning more conditioning.

Last year after getting my Forerunner 301, I wrote up a review and posted it on the internet. http://tinyurl.com/55g5c I did a lot of comparisons between the F301 and it's predecessor, the Forerunner 201 which has a lot less capabilities. I really should update the review, but all the information is still good and I've been very pleased with the performance of my 301.

GPS reception can be an issue with any GPS unit. However, the units today are way better than the units of yesterday. My 301 gets much better reception under tree cover than my 201 ever did. There are new units coming out all the time with better technology. However, there are limitations. Going through a tunnel, for instance. Or going into deep canyons (which I don't have any of at the rides I go to or here at home). Sometimes very thick tree cover will cause my 301 to lose satellite signals. But it takes a lot more tree cover to make my 301 drop than it did to make my 201 drop. This is not said to discourage you, only to allow you to know the limitations of GPS. You can tell when you look at the track points graphed over a map (or satellite photos) how accurate it was. I do this a lot and as such have confidence in my unit. 

Another handy thing to do is to mark the truck whenever I leave it. Especially in unfamiliar territory. Then if I get lost, I can always tell my unit to point me back to the truck and it will point as-the-crow-flies to my truck. I always mark ridecamps at endurance rides for that very purpose. Sometimes it's disturbing to realize you've ridden 50 miles and never gotten farther away from base camp than 4 miles. ;-)

A F301 can be had for around $180 from Amazon.com (don't forget to use the links from endurance.net if you buy one from Amazon!). The equine adapter kit runs $55-$75 depending on which one you choose.

Good luck and feel free to contact me with any questions.

April
Nashville, TN

On 1/18/06, Diana Peterson < diana2507@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi

I would like to buy a GPS . What are the things i need to know? Where can i
buy one ? What do you use and why ?

Any info greatly appreciated.

Diana