Last modified on: Sunday, August 15, 2010
With 188 GPS tracks & over 1,700 miles of trails available on this site,
GeoBiking, like geocaching, takes you to unknown places easily.
Hundreds of other trails are available on the internet (most for free).
It's Interesting!
You see a lot of places you can't see from the street!
Don't have to worry about being lost!
You can easily vary routes to keep things interesting.
Low Impact Fun Exercise
You can plan routes that match your fitness level, both length & grade.
Since you aren't part of a group ride, you don't have to worry about keeping up or falling behind.
More time off city streets helps you to relax
So much easier & better than using paper maps
Commute to work and improve your health while saving resources.
Disadvantages of conventional maps for biking:
Paper maps are out of date before they are printed
Public maps are often years out of date
Public maps are very often low quality/detail
Many public maps are low resolution scans of paper maps that don't provide enough information to follow a trail.
Most printed maps are not waterproof
A pain to use on the trail:
You must know where you are on the map!
This is not always an easy task.
It doesn't take a big error to get you lost or miss a turn
How do you know if you made the correct turn?
Maps are usually not at a scale of detail that you need
Maps always lie!
Map features are offset from actual locations to increase readability.
A static map can't show actual trail locations
Paper maps have a fixed level of detail, a GPS adds detail as you zoom in
Knowing how to get from one trail to another allows longer, more interesting trips.
Trails are often poorly marked and often start and stop with no indication of where the trail continues or where other nearby trails start.
Advantages of using a GPS while biking:
Maps are easily and quickly created
Easy to use enroute
A GPS can easily be attached to a bicycle handlebar.
A quick glance at the screen can usually let you know if you are on the course or if a turn is approaching.
Most GPS receivers are waterproof
You know where you are on the map!
You can easily change the scale of the display zooming in or out to show your position in relation to any map feature of interest.
Easily see upcoming turns or that you missed one.
GPS recievers can usually place you within 20-50 feet of your location.
Depending on the GPS, you can view local street detail or elevation profiles
With a GPS, nothing is offset, you see where the trails really are.
My trails include connections to other trails.
Map Quality is up to you
GPS keeps statistics for you.
Great for exercising
How far, how fast, how long did I peddle?
Where exactly did I go?
How high am I now, how much elevation have I gained or lost?
Some units can also record heart rate & cycling cadence
Pre-programmed mapcards are available for some units.
There are some free programs that can be used to create maps for these units, but you need data to work with and a non-trivial amount of effort to create your own maps!