Club ride today, wheeeee!

[Stephanie]

I had a great time today! Thanks to the folks who set up the route and the gps files etc. Very appreciated!

Mike and I compared our tracks to Ronzo's and we were both on track! Mike and the Beemer Gang passed me while I was turning around after overshooting a turn. I got confused when Scott caught up to me and I thought he said that Mike and the boys had left shortly after he did. So I continued to wait until Heather and Mr Sweep came along. But what Scott really said was that the Big Guns had left shortly after I did. Its hard to hear when you've got earplugs in and a helmet on.

So it turns out that in the few moments it took me to find a level surface and get pointed the right way they'd gone by.

Anyway, all's well. I should make sure I'm with a group with similiar bikes next time. I was sick of holding up the Big Guns and eating their dust so I thought by going ahead they'd catch up shortly.

See you all next time!

Stephanie

 

[EmmBeeDee]

Yes, thanks to all who went to so much trouble to make this a fun day! Ronzo, Terry, Heather, to name the most visible of you, we'd like to say thanks!

The weather was great; the riding was safe and fun - what more could you ask for?

Mike Downey

 

[LordRJD]

Yes! Thanks to all who organized this event. I had lots of fun as well!

 

[Ronzo]

Folks

I'd like to get your opinions on the following idea to make navigation a little easier......

I personally find that routes have their limitations as they are traditionally done for Dual Sport rides. For many years I was involved in rallying, and in a rally route chart, the navigator has a tulip diagram, which visually represents the turn, as well as a description of the turn TR (turn right), VR (veer right) etc. If we came up with a std set of abbreviations to add to the waypoint numbers, I think life would be easier - you would always know the direction of the next turn e.g

The first letter would be the direction, either L, R, S (left, right, straight)
The second letter (if need) would describe the type of intersection - T, X, V (T junction, X roads, Veer)

For example, waypoints would now look like this

24 L = Left (Turn) at waypoint 24
25 R = Right (Turn) at waypoint 25
26 LX = Left @ X roads
27 LT = Left @ T junction
28 LV = Left @ V (veer left/keep left)
29 S = Straight on at waypoint 29

This is probably all you need, and they would show up great on any GPS - My 60csx has a large block in route mode that reads distance to waypoint, so it would now show 340m to 25 R, so I know I'm turning right - too easy?

We could also add cautions in the code, to warn of danger spots, maybe an exclamation mark ! or perhaps EZ (easy)

30 EZ = Caution at 30

What are your thoughts, should we give it a try next ride :?:

 

[Stephanie]

Ronzo, that sounds like a good idea. I would be willing to help annotate the route as it would certainly be more work to set up.

I have here the Canada Enhanced Basemap and Topo 4 which both are good for showing the more obscure backroads.

I will add however that I didn't find the route too hard to follow as long as I kept zooming in and out as needed to get my bearings.

 

[msnider]

that sounds like an excellent idea.after all there are people like myself who are getting older and get confused quite easily ,not like when i was young and knew it all.

 

[Ronzo]

Well, I think it's worth trying - Example route attached. The WP are tagged, and the VIA points (flags) are navigated but should not show on screen (in theory) :wink: I'll do a test in the suburbs, but this gives you the idea....

We could use chevron symbols < > ^ instead of L R S - whatever is easier to see works for my old eyes!

:evil: Geez ......"The extension gdb is not allowed"

I'll email it to whoever is interested