Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I think another source of contention (like this groups needs a 
source!) is that a good part of the time we are speaking as if all 
GPSs were equal.  When I do a ride wearing my Garmin 301 on my wrist, 
I am going to see more error than if Joe does the same ride with his 
much better unit (60Map?) in his saddlebag.  It's a question of 
quality, and the primary use the unit was intended for.  So when I say:

> If I ride a mountainous, treed, twisting trail and it GPSs at 46 
> miles, I'm gonna believe that ride was an honest 50.

and Joe says:

> I'd accept it as 50 too, but I'd suspect it was probably really 
> about 48, give or take a mile.

we may well BOTH be "right"--my unit may be short as much as 10%'; 
Joe's unit under the same circumstances would only be short about 
1-2%...so if HE measured 46 miles he might be justified in thinking 
the ride short, while I am justified in believing the distance is a 
true 50 miles based on my experience with my own unit.

So when we talk about "trails measured by riders by GPS"--we need to 
bear in mind there may be a big difference in the quality of the unit 
(and the effort to be accurate) from ride to ride.  (By this I mean a 
conscientious ride manager with a good unit who sets out to measure 
the trail may get a different result than a casual rider with a 
wrist-mounted unit who is primarily riding the trail in competition, 
and is just noting the distance as a side-issue).

terre



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