Cycling – Steve Novoselac's Blog

Garmin 1000 – USB Mass Storage Mode

This past weekend, I decided to do a bike ride from Sun Prairie to New Glarus.
https://connect.garmin.com/activity/embed/816793841

I have ridden my bike from Sun Prairie to Madison plenty of times so I knew the route about half of the way. What I didn’t know was the best route from Madison to New Glarus, as there are many routes.

So I got a few routes from @chdbrwn via MapMyRide. I exported them out and tried to get them on my Garmin 1000. No dice. Hooked up to the computer, Garmin wouldn’t show up. Tried a few different computers, nothing.

Then it dawned on me.. am I using the right cable? Well, turns out I wasn’t. I have a ton of USB cables and I was using one of the many, which with the Garmin 1000, would charge it if hooked to the computer, but it wouldn’t show up as a device or sync with Garmin Express. Syncing is fine since I usually sync over wifi or via the phone connection.

I found my “official” Garmin cable and it showed up right away. Now, to get the files on there. Previously on the Garmin 810 you could just copy into “Courses” or “Rides”, etc and files would show up. Turns out on the 1000 you need to put the files in “NewFiles” folder on the device and reboot, and when it comes back it, the Garmin will process them and they show up on the device. Great!

But, the file I exported from MapMyRide turns out didn’t have any cues (basically turns), so I was riding just looking at the line on the map the entire ride. I could have used RideWithGPS to add cues, but I tried their “Write to Garmin” and it wasn’t working, not sure it was putting things in NewFiles either.

Seems like turn by turn and mapping/routes shouldn’t be this complicated in the year 2015.

Bottom line, make sure you have the right cable, and also set up your cues on the route file before importing. Happy Riding!

New Bike, iPhone, RunKeeper

Since working at Trek, I have been hounded to get a new bike, even more so than by my friends in Portland when I lived there, and EVERYONE has like 5 bikes there.

So, I finally decided to pick up a new bike, a Trek 7.2 FX, Newport Blue, 22.5 inch. It’s a Hybrid – not a road bike, not a MTB, but somewhere in between.

Some pictures are here, of the bike building process, because when you work at a bike company, you take 25 minutes of out of the day to build a bike.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scaleovenstove/sets/72157619164047726/

So after getting my bike, I had to get some more gear. The usual, helmet, lights, pump, bag, tools, all that stuff. Most other people will get a “computer” for their bike, a little electronic device to track speed, etc. Guess what? I already had one, it is called an iPhone (what doesn’t the iPhone do.. “there’s an app for that”.. is true.)

I jumped on Amazon and looked for a good armband for the iPhone 3G, with good reviews. This is the one I ended up with

So what other parts are there to this equation? The app of course. RunKeeper Pro. (http://www.runkeeper.com) It lets you set your activity type, you start the music before you start RunKeeper, lock the GPS on, and start your activity. You can “lock” the screen so you dont bump it, and then tap it to get pace/speed info. It will also tell you every 5 minutes and/or every mile what your speed/pace is. Once you are done with your activity, you upload it to their site. It maps it out, elevation, speed, nice google map interface. Aggregates miles over weeks/months, and lets you share with your friends.

Here was a ride I did the other day, http://www.runkeeper.com/ui/activities/1000402

RunKeeper really keeps you motivated. I haven’t used Nike+, but I am guessing it is pretty similar. But Nike+ doesn’t work on the iPhone, just iPod Touch.

I really like my bike, there was a Gary Fisher I had my eye on though, so maybe that will be my next bike. Using my iPhone and RunKeeper, I can keep track of my rides, miles, and share with my friends (which kind of helps you stay motivated too). Fun Stuff – Go By BIke!