FAQs

How do I get started?

The short answer:

• Browse around using the map on the homepage, navigate and zoom to locate existing trips (indicated as icons on the map) – click the icons and explore – or: click ‘Recently Added Trips’ in the sidebar

• Use ‘Upload GPS Data’ to upload a gpx file you may have lying around and create a trip

• ‘Add a Trip’ to do just that, create your own trip. Your ‘Personal Trip Diary’ is your personal log where you can keep track of all the trips you created. ‘My GPS files’ stores all GPS datafiles you upload. If you have pictures taken during your trip, put them in a zip file, use the ‘upload pictures’ button and witness our geotagging!

And the long answer:

You could consider the MTBGuru website as a worldwide directory of outdoor trips or rides; you can create your own trips and/or browse existing ones. A trip has its own page associated to it and contains all kinds of information on that trip, such as distance, elevation gain etcetera. It will be drawn as a track on a map. Photos taken during the trip can be uploaded and are automatically attached to the point on the map where they were shot – aka temporal geotagging!

Creating a trip can be done by either

• clicking the ‘Add a trip’ button in the sidebar; you can then either upload a GPX file or enter all data manually
• Clicking ‘Upload GPS Data’ and creating the trip from an uploaded GPX file

Either way, you can still manually overwrite the trip data. Of course, using the GPX file is recommended since all the work will be done for you. The second option is useful if you have a GPX file that contains multiple tracks corresponding to multiple rides you did – you can then create trip pages from each track without the need to upload separate GPX files.

Ratings and description are items that you can provide as well. There are check boxes that allow you to keep a trips private or share it with other users; also, you can control whether you want to allow other users to write comments or not.

Pictures can be uploaded as individual image files, or as a group. In the latter case you will need to create a zip archive file containing all the image files. Click upload and let the site do the rest. Currently it will take a couple of minutes (longer if there are a lot of photos) to process the images, since in order to keep our server load within bounds, we process them in the background. Make sure to refresh the page after some time to see the pictures!

You can use the site as a personal log, as a tool to browse around and research what other great trips there may be out there, or to have a convenient way to share pictures and other information with your riding/hiking buddies.

We’re using Google Maps, and as you probably know, you can view this in ‘map’, ‘satellite’ or ‘hybrid’ mode.

And if you have Google Earth installed on your computer, make sure you click on the ‘Download Google Earth file’ link on a trip page – out of each GPX track we generate a KML file that Google Earth understands and with one click you’ll be able to view your trip in full 3D glory!

What are GPS tracks and how can I download them from my GPS device?

A GPS track is generally a series of datapoints, each point being characterized by numbers representing longitude, latitude, elevation and time. These numbers identify the time and location on earth your GPS unit was at when the datapoint was taken.

GPS units are becoming increasingly popular with bikers, hikers, joggers and trail runners and a lot of the features you’ll find on MTBGuru are based on the GPS tracks that users upload to the site. So how can you record the data and get it from the GPS device to the site?

Almost all GPS units have the capability to record multiple tracks consisting of a large amount of datapoints. Sometimes it does this automatically or semi-automatically for you (for instance, the Garmin Etrex Vista), sometimes you need to press start/stop buttons (for instance, the Garmin Edge), sometimes you need to program the device. Refer to the manual of your device or the manufacturer’s website.

Most GPS units come with software that allows you to copy all track data to your computer, typically using a USB cable that connects to a USB port on your PC. Older models may use a serial cable that connects to the serial port on your PC. The format of the data can vary wildly though and almost every manufacturer has its own proprietary data format. Fortunately, an open standard for GPS data is becoming increasingly popular and supported by many manufacturers: GPX, a light-weight XML format. Garmin’s Mapsource software for instance allows you to export your GPS data to GPX files, which you can then directly upload to MTBGuru.

Currently, we only support the GPX format. You need to use your GPS software to download the data from the device and save it as a GPX file. The GPX file may contain multiple tracks, waypoints and routepoints, so you shouldn’t worry too much about its actual content.

Notes:

• If your GPS software doesn’t allow you to create GPX files, you can use the excellent gpsbabel tool to do it yourself; it allows you to convert almost any GPS data format known to man to any other one – including GPX, of course. It is available on almost all computer platforms. You could also use websites such as GPSVisualizer to perform the conversion (it also uses gpsbabel).

• GPS data files generally contain trackpoints, waypoints and routepoints. Keeping these apart is sometimes confusing but not that hard: trackpoints are datapoints that contain location coordinates, as well as time and elevation data – a ‘track’ is a collection of trackpoints; waypoints are just isolated sets of location coordinates each defining a single point on the planet; and routepoints are essentially waypoints that are ordered and put together in a group that defines a ‘route’ (describing for instance a way to go from point A to point B).

• Ideally, a GPX track that you upload contains full trackpoints, i.e. including time and elevation data – this allows us to calculate things like average speed and generate the elevation plots. Sometimes, for instance time data could get lost in the file conversion, or in the way your unit saves the data – the file will still be useable, though only for displaying the track on the map.

• Though modern GPS units are getting very accurate, there will always be a small error in the data. Elevation data is acquired by using the GPS signal, or by integrated barometric altimeters – a combination of both usually yields the best results but keep in mind that also here significant errors can exist.

Why do I have to upload a zip file of multiple images? Why can’t I instead upload an entire folder?

Because of the way browsers work. For a number of reasons, mainly related to security, browsers can’t open and read folders on your hard drive – this is why most photosharing sites (such as Flickr) require you to install an upload software tool on your computer. You can point a browser to individual files though.

The easiest way to upload multiple images to MTBGuru is to put them in a single zip archive file that you upload just like you would an individual image. It will be unpacked and a thumbnail gallery will be displayed below the ride map. You could also upload a sequence of single images, but that’s the more tedious route. We may build a better upload tool in the future, but we think the zip file solution is a fairly painless one.

Why don’t I see my pictures right after I’ve uploaded them?

After you’ve uploaded your image file or zip file containing multiple image files, we process the files: the images are resized, thumbnails are created, etcetera. Because we currently have some limitations with respect to available CPU time on our server, this processing is done in the background and takes some time to complete.

Depending on the number of pictures you’ve uploaded, it may take a few minutes before everything is done – you’ll see a note saying ‘New pictures are currently being processed’. Hit ‘refresh’ in your browser to see the progress. In the meantime though, you can still make full use of all features of the site (browse, create new trips and so on).

What’s picture ‘time calibration’ for?

After you’ve uploaded photos taken during your trip, you’ll see small camera icons being displayed on the map – each icon represents one (or more) pictures that you shot when you were on that actual position on the map. This automatic geotagging of your photos is based on comparing the timestamp of the photo to the time data in the GPS track.

Sometimes this won’t work – say, when your GPS has adjusted itself for daylight savings time but your camera hasn’t. Or any other situation in which the clocks on your devices weren’t in sync during the ride.

That’s were the ‘time calibration’ feature comes in. It allows you to manually correct any synchronization errors: you’re prompted to enter the time values you read on camera and GPS at a given instance on your ride.

Note that by default these times are assumed the same, and in many cases you won’t need to use this feature at all. But if you don’t see the camera icons, or they seem to be at the wrong position, or if you simply want to have more accuracy, ‘time calibration’ allows you to adjust things.

A simple trick that you can use is to take a picture of your GPS screen (displaying its clock) during the ride – that way you’ve captured both clock values so you can easily enter them in the ‘time calibration’ fields. Alternatively, you can manually tweak the clock values (for instance, if you know or suspect there’s a 1 hour difference).

Why are distance data different between GPS and odometer, even if the GPS and odometer are supposedly very accurate?

There’s a multitude of possible explanations for this, but these are the most likely ones:

• The bike odometer’s accuracy is based on how accurately you know the wheel circumference – if this value hasn’t been set accurately in the odometer, your distance reading will be different than the real distance you’ve covered.

• Even assuming the odometer is giving you a 100% accurate distance value, there still can be a difference. The odometer is tracking the displacement of the front wheel, and takes a reading every revolution. It is hence very accurate in measuring the travel that the wheel does. A GPS device on the other hand, even the very sensitive ones, will not be sensitive enough to track all the tiny ups and downs that the wheel does on for instance technical or ‘bouncy’ trails. Which of the two readings is the best is in a way a matter of taste: the GPS will effectively average out the bumps of the trail and give you a reading that is probably more in agreement with what you’ll see on a topo map – the odometer on the other hand tells you the real distance your wheel traveled.

How accurate is the elevation gain/loss reading that is being calculated?

Most GPS devices use either the GPS signal (using triangulation), a built-in barometric altimeter or a combination of both to give you an elevation reading. The latter will generally give you the most accurate results, but unfortunately in many cases there will still be significant errors – for instance, the barometric pressure may change during your ride for other reasons than elevation change (i.e. weather changes), or the sensor itself can get out of calibration.

That being said, the devices with barometric sensors will usually give you reasonable results. There is however a problem that typically occurs on technical trails: all the tiny ups and downs of the trail result in minute elevation changes that are being recorded. These accumulate and on longer rides it will generally result in overestimates for the elevation change numbers compared to what you’ll see on a topographic map.

Accuracy is generally measured with respect to what your route mapped on a high resolution topographic map would read – this can be obtained by downloading your GPS track data and mapping the track on for instance National Geographic’s Topo! tool. Of course, the cumulative elevation numbers you will get this way are depending on the spatial resolution of the topographic elevation data – effectively resulting in some averaging. which numbers are best is in a way a mattter of taste: the topo value gives you an averaged and ‘reasonable’ looking number, but on the other hand, you did ride all those tiny bumps up and down (the problem statement is somewhat similar to the ‘length of a fractal’ problem).

We chose to apply some averaging in calculating the total elevation gain and loss from the GPS track data, in order to get fair agreement with values that are typically obtained using topographic data.

Can I upload 1 GPX file with multiple tracks and create trips from there?

Yes. MTBGuru analyzes your GPS track datafile and will identify different tracks when multiple track segments are present. You can create trips for each of these segments. You don’t need to perform any manual formatting of the file.

How can I search for or browse trips?

Currently there are two ways to search or browse trips:

• Using the map on the front page
• Browsing the ‘Recently added Trips’ list.

The latter lists trips in reverse chronology of creation (newer ones are highest on the list) and you can click ‘Next’ to continue browsing.

We are working on a full search tool that will be integrated in the sidebar or control panel. We’ll keep you posted when this feature is ready!

Do you support waypoints and waypoint management?

This is on our to-do list! We are currently already saving the waypoints that are in your GPX files so you won’t need to redo anything when waypoint support will become available.

How can I add links or other html formatting in my trip descriptions?

We support Textile, an easy and elegant way to mark up text with html elements such as links. You can use this to add links to keywords in your trip description or to format your text.

I’m training hard and want to share this with the world, but I don’t want others to see my lap times. Can I hide those?

Yes. You can create a public trip and still hide all time information. After you’ve created your trip, go to ‘Trip settings’ in the sidebar and change ‘Show Timing’ from ‘Show’ to ‘Hide’.

What is your policy on people uploading trips on private property or bike rides on trails on which bicycles are not allowed?

We urge everyone to respect their local laws, including property laws and local rules and regulations, for instance those enforced by the Bureau of Land Management. We ask our users not to upload and make publicly available GPS data or photos of trips that have taken place on private property without consent of the land owner or land manager. Please read our terms of service. We reserve the right to remove public trips and/or uploaded data which are deemed unlawful. When in doubt, please note that you can choose to make your trips private.

Why are you using Google Maps and not for instance Yahoo! Maps or other alternatives?

Because the Google Maps API is simple, clean and most importantly: its terms of use are the least restrictive.

My pictures are on Flickr or Picasa online – can’t you integrate these on your site?

Yes, after we have made the time to implement this feature ;). Currently Flickr or Picasa online integration is not available, but we plan to offer this in the foreseeable future.

I want to do X or think feature Y would be really cool but I don’t see anything mentioned about it here or elsewhere on the site

We’re continuously working to improve MTBGuru but there are certainly things we’ll be overlooking. If you have any ideas or suggestions for us, let us know at mtbguru@mtbguru.com!