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40+ Mile ACM Ride in Google Earth


Marty Backe

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This is an experiment. Lately I've been recording my rides with a Garmin 60CS. If you have Google Earth installed you can view my recent 43 mile ride around some local Los Angeles rivers and paths.

I want to accumulate a large collection of EUC friendly routes to ride Southern California. As people enter the sport in my local area I can point them to a collection of rides to try for themselves.

If you have Google Earth installed you should be able to download the file, launch it, and Google Earth will take care of the rest.

 

20170225 - ACM ride on Coyote Creek and San Gabriel Rivers.kmz

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The Ninebot One E+ has a good reputation for surviving the abuse of a variety of scenarios where the machine and the rider unexpectedly part ways. It's circular shape conveys the idea of slowly depleting it's energy before coming to an awkward rest on its side.

The Monster touts a stable ride, wider tire, larger diameter wheel, etc. Given its non-circular shape do you think it's 60ish pound shape would (will) tolerate many unexpected dismounts at low speed (15 - 20 mph) ? Would exterior padding of the Monster be helpful in improving it's potential crash worthiness ? 

Is the monster essentially not a crash contemplative machine if ridden properly?

I enjoy your posts and enthusiasm for the EUC gizmos.

My father's brother (deceased 1999) lived in Rancho Mirage, commuting to L.A. to work at V.J. Lloyd Fine Furniture ( El Cajon Bkvd. - old business front landscape 1990's ) until retiring to Scottsdale, AZ. Although both he and my Dad were not the best of friends during his life I met the man twice during his life.

A marine during WWII he was at Guadalcanal. He said he liked Hawaii. He's buried there at the Punchbowl.

Screenshot_2017-02-26-23-33-45.png

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The Google Earth Tour was entertaining but since I'm not familiar with the area I got lost as the tour played back. So.....

I took the Latitude / Longitude gps data from your Google Earth Tour every thirty seconds during playback and:

    1-created a csv file for upload to

    http://convertcsv.com/csv-to-kml.htm

    creating a kml file for use with GPSPrune

    2-imported the kml file into 'GPSPrune' (executable jar file requires java to be installed)

    3-saved a map picture of the route

    4-exported the data as a gpx file

    5-exported the data as a kml file for Google Earth

Marty-Backe-43-mile-ride-So-Calif_gpx.gpx

Marty-Backe-43-mile-route.png

Marty-Backe-43-mile-So-Calif-route_kml.kml

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17 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

This is an experiment. Lately I've been recording my rides with a Garmin 60CS. If you have Google Earth installed you can view my recent 43 mile ride around some local Los Angeles rivers and paths.

I want to accumulate a large collection of EUC friendly routes to ride Southern California. As people enter the sport in my local area I can point them to a collection of rides to try for themselves.

If you have Google Earth installed you should be able to download the file, launch it, and Google Earth will take care of the rest.

 

20170225 - ACM ride on Coyote Creek and San Gabriel Rivers.kmz

Sounds fun.
(Unfortunately, I don't have google earth and they won't let me install it at work.)

 

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1 hour ago, Bob Eisenman said:

The Google Earth Tour was entertaining but since I'm not familiar with the area I got lost as the tour played back. So.....

I took the Latitude / Longitude gps data from your Google Earth Tour every thirty seconds during playback and:

    1-created a csv file for upload to

    http://convertcsv.com/csv-to-kml.htm

    creating a kml file for use with GPSPrune

    2-imported the kml file into 'GPSPrune' (executable jar file requires java to be installed)

    3-saved a map picture of the route

    4-exported the data as a gpx file

    5-exported the data as a kml file for Google Earth

Marty-Backe-43-mile-ride-So-Calif_gpx.gpx

Marty-Backe-43-mile-route.png

Marty-Backe-43-mile-So-Calif-route_kml.kml

That's the route for sure, and that was a cool exercise that you undertook. But if you pause the Google Earth tour and zoom out (with the scroll wheel of your mouse) you can see the same representation. And you can select to show it in Google Maps and you'll get that view too.

My posting is probably only of interest (and marginal interest at that) to Southern California riders. But it really is just a demonstration for other people who may have an interest in documenting some of their more interesting rides.

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47 minutes ago, abinder3 said:

I'm thinking of subscribing to the iOS app "Trail Link".  Seems like it would be very useful.
(I believe that it's also available on Android.)

 

 

Allen

There are quite a few apps like this. My favorite so far is the one sponsored by REI. Lots of mountain bike trails to explore.

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52 minutes ago, abinder3 said:

Sounds fun.
(Unfortunately, I don't have google earth and they won't let me install it at work.)

 

You don't have a PC or Mac?  I've heard that there are people who only have smart phones.  This post-PC world is starting to seem strange to me ;)

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17 hours ago, Bob Eisenman said:

<snip>

The Monster touts a stable ride, wider tire, larger diameter wheel, etc. Given its non-circular shape do you think it's 60ish pound shape would (will) tolerate many unexpected dismounts at low speed (15 - 20 mph) ? Would exterior padding of the Monster be helpful in improving it's potential crash worthiness ? 

Is the monster essentially not a crash contemplative machine if ridden properly?

<snip>

 

I've never fallen off my Monster yet. I'm sure it'll happen some day, but until then I don't know how well it'll hold up to crashing. I don't tend to ride it places where I may fall.

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1 hour ago, Marty Backe said:

But if you pause the Google Earth tour and zoom out

An Android phone, running the Google Earth tour sees the local vicinity without a colored (blue?) path trace when zoomed out.

I watched the tour on a laptop but a colored path trace giving a tour path overview wasn't seen with the settings I used on Google Earth (basic import and run). Importing your kmz file into Google My Maps was also not successful in producing a path trace.

Perhaps you have a kml or gpx path file from original sources that was simultaneously turned on(title square checked) in Google Earth while playing the tour. Perhaps I'm wrong. My impression of the Google Earth Tour function is that it flies the coordinate route but does not create or display an overall trace.

Coyote Creek reminds me that locally in the Salem Woods a half mile away the coyotes can be heard in the middle of the night as they call to each other at certain times in the year.

Whatever......!!!!

.

Screenshot_2017-02-27-18-11-17.png

Screenshot_2017-02-27-18-20-13.png

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1 hour ago, Marty Backe said:

There are quite a few apps like this. My favorite so far is the one sponsored by REI. Lots of mountain bike trails to explore.

Trail Link just happened to be one that I came across one day.
I'll have to look into the REI as well.

Thanks for the info.

 

Allen

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1 hour ago, Marty Backe said:

You don't have a PC or Mac?  I've heard that there are people who only have smart phones.  This post-PC world is starting to seem strange to me ;)

Actually I have both, but rarely use either.  Find using my iphone satisfies almost everthing that need to do.
(I do have a 'cheapie' PC laptop that I need for controlling my salt water aquarium and my hexacopter.)

 

Allen

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1 hour ago, Bob Eisenman said:

An Android phone, running the Google Earth tour sees the local vicinity without a colored (blue?) path trace when zoomed out.

I watched the tour on a laptop but a colored path trace giving a tour path overview wasn't seen with the settings I used on Google Earth (basic import and run). Importing your kmz file into Google My Maps was also not successful in producing a path trace.

Perhaps you have a kml or gpx path file from original sources that was simultaneously turned on(title square checked) in Google Earth while playing the tour. Perhaps I'm wrong. My impression of the Google Earth Tour function is that it flies the coordinate route but does not create or display an overall trace.

Coyote Creek reminds me that locally in the Salem Woods a half mile away the coyotes can be heard in the middle of the night as they call to each other at certain times in the year.

Whatever......!!!!

.

Screenshot_2017-02-27-18-11-17.png

Screenshot_2017-02-27-18-20-13.png

I'll have to try Google Earth on the phone. There are too many Google Earth controls to try and describe. But there is a way to turn on the entire track (blue line).  I have it turned on by default. I did try it on my wife's computer first (with zero configuration) and worked there OK. Hmmm.   Anyway, it's a great time to be alive and have all of these free tools at our disposal (including this forum).

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On 2/26/2017 at 9:31 PM, Marty Backe said:

This is an experiment. Lately I've been recording my rides with a Garmin 60CS. If you have Google Earth installed you can view my recent 43 mile ride around some local Los Angeles rivers and paths.

I want to accumulate a large collection of EUC friendly routes to ride Southern California. As people enter the sport in my local area I can point them to a collection of rides to try for themselves.

If you have Google Earth installed you should be able to download the file, launch it, and Google Earth will take care of the rest.

 

20170225 - ACM ride on Coyote Creek and San Gabriel Rivers.kmz

I thought I recognized that area ... I used to live in Lakewood, and would ride my bike along some of those paths ...

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16 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

I've heard that there are people who only have smart phones.

With a 'smartphone' the user can download an app for 'geocache' discovery. If you like moving to a precise GPS location and looking in obscure places for a geocache which is typically not in direct view then geocache searching might be for you. I get the impression that parents walking their kids ,who like to look here there and everywhere, get a good thrill from geocache searching. 

Screenshot_2017-02-28-09-47-47.png

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A geocache along the Marty Backe 43 mile route in So. Cal.

Geocache coordinates: N 33° 56.846' W 118° 07.052'

Geocache name : GC6NG1F

Geocache nickname 'Arch'.

Geocahing website url: https://www.geocaching.com/seek/gallery.aspx?guid=49ea3de9-0d54-4a06-b477-eb75fa33e937

Under the historic arch. Near a terminus of the 43 mile euc route. 

 

Locally (Salem, MA) I'm still looking for the geocache 'Seadog' : GC170Z6

GC6NG1F.PNG

GC6NG1F_picture.PNG

GC6NG1F_within euc map route.PNG

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