Trail lengths

01-25-2007, 08:58 AM

Ive noticed that on a lot of rides here in the UK the trail builders
claim "20.4Km" or such like but when i take my GPS out, even with
continuous tracking and taking height gain into it I can still come up
several Km short of the stated distance. Does anyone else find this?

01-25-2007, 09:06 AM

Coyoteboy wrote:
> Ive noticed that on a lot of rides here in the UK the trail builders
> claim "20.4Km" or such like but when i take my GPS out, even with
> continuous tracking and taking height gain into it I can still come up
> several Km short of the stated distance. Does anyone else find this?

Sure. It's the same as penis size, it gets exaggerated. But I'd rather
have it that way than the other way around.

I belong to an off-road motorcycle club, the Checkers, who are infamous
for their "Checker miles". If we say our race course is 75 miles long,
it's really 90 miles of gnarly ****.

Greg

--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

01-25-2007, 10:34 AM

G.T. mumbled incoherently to the rest of alt.mountain-bike:

> Coyoteboy wrote:
>> Ive noticed that on a lot of rides here in the UK the trail builders
>> claim "20.4Km" or such like but when i take my GPS out, even with
>> continuous tracking and taking height gain into it I can still come up
>> several Km short of the stated distance. Does anyone else find this?
>
> Sure. It's the same as penis size, it gets exaggerated. But I'd rather
> have it that way than the other way around.
>
> I belong to an off-road motorcycle club, the Checkers, who are infamous
> for their "Checker miles". If we say our race course is 75 miles long,
> it's really 90 miles of gnarly ****.
>
> Greg
>
> --
> "All my time I spent in heaven
> Revelries of dance and wine
> Waking to the sound of laughter
> Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

Lol, I dont like inaccuracies

But i do exaggerate my jump heights when
surfing so i guess im guilty as well!

--
J
__________________________________________
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] << My personal site
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] << Ainsdale Kitesurf Club

01-25-2007, 10:50 AM

I find more often than not, it is exagerated high, ie, 20km being less than
19km.

It is rather annoying.

Micheal

"Coyoteboy" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> Ive noticed that on a lot of rides here in the UK the trail builders
> claim "20.4Km" or such like but when i take my GPS out, even with
> continuous tracking and taking height gain into it I can still come up
> several Km short of the stated distance. Does anyone else find this?

01-25-2007, 12:45 PM

On Jan 25, 9:58 am, Coyoteboy <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> Ive noticed that on a lot of rides here in the UK the trail builders
> claim "20.4Km" or such like but when i take my GPS out, even with
> continuous tracking and taking height gain into it I can still come up
> several Km short of the stated distance. Does anyone else find this?

I dunno 'cuz I don't live in the UK.

My best guess is that it's the "Pinkbike Effect", where ignorant
wannabe's always make things out to be much bigger/longer than they
actually are. Maybe whizzerb can explain how/why he does this?

JD

01-25-2007, 12:55 PM

JD mumbled incoherently to the rest of alt.mountain-bike:

> I dunno 'cuz I don't live in the UK.
>
> JD

I suspect its not just a UK thing. Not sure why i mentioned the UK

--
J
__________________________________________
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] << My personal site
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] << Ainsdale Kitesurf Club

01-25-2007, 04:43 PM

Micheal Artindale wrote:

I find more often than not, it is exagerated high, ie, 20km being less than 19km. It is rather annoying. Micheal "Coyoteboy" [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] wrote in message [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]" target="_blank">news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...

Ive noticed that on a lot of rides here in the UK the trail builders claim "20.4Km" or such like but when i take my GPS out, even with continuous tracking and taking height gain into it I can still come up several Km short of the stated distance. Does anyone else find this?

Depends on how they measure it.  AFAIK, GPS usually records a horizontal distance whereas bike computers include the lengths of the inclines.  Usually means that the GPS will give a lower value as compared to a bike computer. The more hills on the trail, the worse this can be. On the flip side, a lot of GPS units also tell you the vertical distance covered to make up for it

Michael Halliwell

01-26-2007, 05:50 AM

Michael Halliwell wrote:
> Micheal Artindale wrote:
>> I find more often than not, it is exagerated high, ie, 20km being less than
>> 19km.
>>
>> It is rather annoying.
>>
>> Micheal
>>
>> "Coyoteboy" <coyoteboyspuduk@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:8eSdnTA4C_cscyXYnZ2dnUVZ8s7inZ2d@bt.com...
>>
>>> Ive noticed that on a lot of rides here in the UK the trail builders
>>> claim "20.4Km" or such like but when i take my GPS out, even with
>>> continuous tracking and taking height gain into it I can still come up
>>> several Km short of the stated distance. Does anyone else find this?
>>>
>>
>>
>>
> Depends on how they measure it. AFAIK, GPS usually records a horizontal
> distance whereas bike computers include the lengths of the inclines.
> Usually means that the GPS will give a lower value as compared to a bike
> computer. The more hills on the trail, the worse this can be. On the
> flip side, a lot of GPS units also tell you the vertical distance
> covered to make up for it

Do the trig to figure out how much that difference is for a ridable
trail. It ain't much.

Shawn

01-26-2007, 03:04 PM

"Coyoteboy" <coyoteboyuk@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uOmdndUJOMRimSTYRVnyigA@bt.com...
> G.T. mumbled incoherently to the rest of alt.mountain-bike:
>
>
> Lol, I dont like inaccuracies

But i do exaggerate my jump heights when
> surfing so i guess im guilty as well!
>
Jumping when surfing?

01-27-2007, 07:10 PM

Shawn wrote:

> Michael Halliwell wrote:
>
>> Micheal Artindale wrote:
>>
>>> I find more often than not, it is exagerated high, ie, 20km being
>>> less than 19km.
>>>
>>> It is rather annoying.
>>>
>>> Micheal
>>>
>>> "Coyoteboy" <coyoteboyspuduk@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>> news:8eSdnTA4C_cscyXYnZ2dnUVZ8s7inZ2d@bt.com...
>>>
>>>
>>>> Ive noticed that on a lot of rides here in the UK the trail builders
>>>> claim "20.4Km" or such like but when i take my GPS out, even with
>>>> continuous tracking and taking height gain into it I can still come up
>>>> several Km short of the stated distance. Does anyone else find
>>>> this?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Depends on how they measure it. AFAIK, GPS usually records a
>> horizontal distance whereas bike computers include the lengths of the
>> inclines. Usually means that the GPS will give a lower value as
>> compared to a bike computer. The more hills on the trail, the worse
>> this can be. On the flip side, a lot of GPS units also tell you the
>> vertical distance covered to make up for it

>
>
> Do the trig to figure out how much that difference is for a ridable
> trail. It ain't much.
>
> Shawn

True, but it accounts for some of it

Of course, trails can also be
transient...section goes bad and it gets bypassed, impacting the trail
length which may not be reflected in what the builders claim. Or it
could be as simple as the initial measurement being off....someone
forgets to reset their computer or uses an air photo to pull off
distances or any number of things. Personally, I use the claimed
distance as a rough ballpark at the best of times.

Michael Halliwell