First Look: Garmin Edge Bike GPS

I just purchased a Garmin Edge 500 because it will help me document my bike path explorations as well as keep an very useful log of all my runs, calorie burn.

As a Test I did a 3.33 mile run from the Little River Cafe to Ft. Ancient at Morgan’s Canoe Livery.

Utilizing a USB connection and the Garmin Connect Website, I downloaded and named my Activity Details: Little River Cafe to Fort Ancient 3.33 Mile Run

Photo: Gramin Edge 500 Mounted on my Treck Road Bike 2.1

Utilizing Google Maps, the Garmin Connect website allowed me to see exactly where I pushed the START button at the Little River Cafe.

That’s awesome because it is so accurate. I was just about to enter the bike path when I pushed the button. It tagged me exactly in the right spot.

Here is an image of the entire length of the 3.3 mile run.

Well, it was accurate at the start where it was wide open to the satellites. But the reception on the Little Miami Valley bike path is not great with all the trees. I ran this route yesterday, January 22 [read: winter]. I imagine in the summer I will get worse readings with lots of leaves on the trees. Still, one of the reasons I like this section of the Little Miami Bike Trail is due to the lower temperatures in the heat of summer.

Gets the Drift with a Weak Signal
At some points, the GPS line is 50 feet or more off the actual trail. I don’t know if you call that drift or what, but I could tell the reception wasn’t that good. Often times it would register I was going 14 miles per hour when I was clearly over 16mph. However with the GPS when it finally gets a position on me, it does get a fairly accurate overall calculation, even with the drift. I compared this with my Cateye bike computer and it was close. Stay tuned for back to back comparison of my Cateye Computer and my Garmin Edge 500.

In this image you can see the tracking is slightly off the actual bike path [see image for: Little Miami Scenic Trail]

The last mile, just past the I-71 Bridge, the signal was very weak. you can see the red line ends and the red pin (my final destination) ends. You can clearly see the bike path and just how far off the red line is from the path. This path is in a gully surrounded by trees, bad for reception.

4 out of 5 Star Rating
All and all, I am not too disapointed. After all, I can hook this up to my computer. I download the Garmin GPS data via USB port via a very cool garmin connect website. The Garmin Connect website downloads and journals, sets goals and makes graphis of all my bike trips. Not a bad feature to keep track of your progress or decline in your workout routine.

Here are some screenshot graphs of Speed, Elevation, Heart Rate, Cadence and Temperature found on the site.

Speed

Elevation

Heart Rate, Cadence (I don’t have a cadence device yet) and Temperature.
There is even a player that overlays any two metrics. This graph shows elevation and speed.

There are other features I wll be exploring with you and sharing on my blog.

Here is a winter bikepath slideshow I took of this stretch between Ft. Ancient and the Little River Cafe

1.9 Miles of New Bike Path in Middletown, Ohio

Middletown Bike Path Extension Opening 036

Originally uploaded by John Beagle

The Middletown Bike path is part of the Great Miami Recreational Trails (GMRRT) which connects to trails in Montgomery and Miami Counties. Here is a section of the new bike path extension:
Ok, this video is incredibly boring, but it is a significant bike path event in Middletown, Ohio.

Middletown Mayor thanked everyone for coming and acknowledged the council members who were there including Vice  Mayor Jim Armuruster, Anita Scott Jones, Josh Laubach, and AJ smith. Mayor Mulligan said, “This section we are  dedicating today is Section 3,  1.9 miles long and begins at the current termination point, St. Rt. 4 and Carmody  boulevard.”  This section cost approximately $433,000.

Vice Mayor Jim Armbruster said, “Certain people I want to thank for making this possible of course is the Ohio  Department of Natural Resources, Middletown Community Foundation, Arthur Harvey Foundation and the Barnitz Fund,
Miami Conservatory District…”

The Middletown bike path now is 6.8 miles from Carmody (ST RT 4) to Trenton, St RT 73 just east of the Great Miami  River bridge.

The next 2.1 mile section going north will stop at the Franklin city limits. This future portion will be funded by Energy  efficiency and conservation block grant (EECBG) funds* in the amount of nearly $500,000.

Bike Path October Leaves

Bike Path October 2009 052

Originally uploaded by John Beagle

A beautiful fall Sunday on the Little Miami Bike Path just north of Oregonia, Ohio.

At some places you could not even see the path. Fun!

Dangerous Bike Path Intersection

View Dangerous Intersection Bike Path in a google map.

Just west of Caesar Creek Lake, the Little Miami Bike Path crosses Highway 47 is a bit dangerous, if you believe the sign. It’s not dangerous if you stop and look both ways. But if you are flying across intersections, the southbound traffic on the path can not see the southbound traffic on HW47 very easily.

Funny Bike Performance Video

A funny Robin Moore Productions video featuring the hit song, Performance.

The Performance song is available on your iphone or you can buy an mp3. MC SpandX

According to his resume, Robin More worked for T3 New York September 2006- February 2007 as a Freelance Video Editor.
The Wall Street Journal Brand Campaign
• Edited 10 videos for The Wall Street Journal’s “Every journey needs a Journal”
campaign website (www.journey.wsj.com)
• Created 2- 4 minute videos of celebrity interviews, inter-cut with behind the
scenes footage of photo shoots with the photographer (www.platonphoto.com)

It is good to see people enjoying bikes. People who bike regularly are healthier, happier and funnier. Thanks Robin Thomas Moore for the Funny Video.

Video: Morrow to Oregonia Bike Path Trip

What’s it like on the Little Miami Bike Path in SW Ohio? Here is the first of a series of videos will be doing for my blog, MyBikePath.com.

This 8.36 Mile stretch of the 76 mile Little Miami bike path is one of my favorites. Many updates on crossings and path conditions. Music courtesy of Pandora and BlackBerry.

Video updates distances, road crossing cautions and horse poop.

Xenia Bike Station

I started many bike trips here, at Xenia Station. Xenia Station, located at 150 Miami Avenue in Xenia, Ohio, in the United States, is a replica of Xenia’s 1880s brick railroad station.

Xenia Station is the hub for 5 regional rail trails. I plan to ride the length of all the bike paths, I have linked up my stories so far.  Two of the bike paths are incomplete segments of the Ohio to Erie Trail, which will ultimately run from Cincinnati to Cleveland.

North: The northern branch of the Little Miami Scenic Trail runs from Xenia to Yellow Springs and on to Springfield.

Northeast: The Prairie Grass Trail (a part of the Ohio to Erie Trail) runs from Xenia to Cedarville and to London and beyond.

East: The Xenia-Jamestown Connector will run from Xenia to Jamestown and beyond, but there is now a short gap from Xenia Station to Jasper Road.

South: The southern branch of the Little Miami Scenic Trail is a part of the Ohio to Erie Trail and runs from Xenia to Morrow, South Lebanon, Loveland, Milford and beyond.

West: The Creekside Trail, known as the Creekside Recreation Trail in Montgomery County, runs from Xenia to Dayton.

Miamisburg to Dayton Bike Trip

Stewart Street bridge over the Great Miami River in Dayton, Ohio

I had a rude awakeinng on my bike trip today. The plan was to take Great Miami River Recreational Trail north from Friend Park (paved bike path) to downtown Dayton past St. Rt 35.  However the Bike Path Closed at Stewart Street for Bridge Construction in Dayton, Ohio.  This was the end of my bike trip north. Headed back south to Friend Park.

Friend park is so small that it isn’t on any map I could find. It was the place to pickup from my last bike trip which started in Franklin Ohio, just south of the lion bridge.

This was a pretty good workout because the bike trip included several hills and for the most part was very scenic. The bike path is free from debris in very good condition in safe neighborhoods and areas.

Bounded by I-75 to the East and the Great Miami River to the west, this one plus mile of bike path subjects riders to exaust fumes from the highway.

There was a 1+ mile strip where the bike path is bounded by I-75 to the east and the Great Miami River to the west. The vapor from the cars on the trucks was heavy in the air during that stretch. Even so, it was interesting to ride along the road I ususally take when going to or from the Dayton Airport.

Wright Brothers Seaplane base was on this stretch of the Great Miami River

Here on the Great Miami River in 1913, Orville Wright made the first successful takeoff and landing from water. Performed the feat in at Wright Model C airplane fitted with the first airplane pontoons.

This area was chosen because of the 90 degree bend in the river. This allows take off and landing into the wind no matter what direction it is blowing.

I have created a Flicker Photo Set (24 photos) here:

Miamisburg to Dayton Bike Path

Yellow Springs to Springfield Bike Path

This is my final leg of the 72 Mile Little Miami Bike Path in SW Ohio. I have rode every section and blogged about much of it.  The bike path runs from Buck Creek State Park near Springfield to Anderson Township (east of Cincinnati).

Since I hadn't been to Springfield yet, I'm going right.

The bike path has its roots in 1846 with “The Little Miami Railroad Company” which connected Cincinnati with Sandusky. In 1986 the Little Miami Bike Path was fully funded. The ‘Spirit of the Little Miami Railroad’ was resurrected in October 1991 with an official opening of one of the most important and historic connections, Xenia to Yellow Springs. (Source: Little Miami Scenic Trail).

Today’s leg is 14 miles round trip from Yellow Springs to I-70. At no point does the bike path on this leg come close to the Little Miami River. This is one of 2 legs that don’t travel alongside of the Little Miami. The other is Spring Valley to Xenia. The path generally follows the Little Miami River.

The Bike Path was in very good condition around Yellow Springs

It was a beautiful Sunday morning around 9 am when I started on a trip that had the bike path in excellent condition. It was a real pleasure to ride this section of the Little Miami Bike Path.

The dog owners were very cooperative this morning. Keeping their pets on leashes and away from the bikes. I like to ride in the AM because there are fewer people using the bike path.

Beautiful bike path views for the entire ride!

The only disappointment was the ending of this great adventure. Where does the path officially end? Shouldn’t there be some sort of marker? I passed a map station about a half mile ago, was that it?

Map Stop near Springfield

Not much to look at. Bet I’m near the end.

This is the real end of the Bike Path in Springfield

I followed the sign to the corner of Leffel Ln and S Yellow Springs Street and ended up in the middle of a large intersection.

This is the End?

To sum up my 14 mile bike adventure from Yellow Springs to Springfield and back to Yellow Springs, I’d have to say the condition of the bike path made for a real enjoyable ride. But the ending was like a mystery.

Where is the real end of the Little Miami Valley Bike Path? Perhaps its not right to call this the end or the begining. This might just be another piece of a very large and wonderful bike path, if indeed it gets extended to Sandusky, just like the original railroad.

WWII Fire Tower along Rt 1 Bike Path

In the State of Delaware from Bethany Beach to Dewey Beach on Costal Highway 1, there is a 10 Mile bike path on the berm.

I generally don’t like to share my bike path with cars, but in this case it wasn’t so bad since the lanes were one way on either side of the highway. Plus riding your bike along the coast of the Atlanic Ocean in the middle of summer isn’t so bad.

As a bonus, there was WWII fire control tower number #3 along the way.

A Fire control tower is a military structure used along the American coast during World War II as an observation post to detect enemy vessels offshore and direct the fire from nearby coastal batteries.

There is a significant effort to restore the Fire Control Tower. Once Tower 3 is restored, plans include having it open to the general public in addition to offering interpretive tours of this historic landmark. For more information visit: http://www.savethetower.org

Continuing on north from Bethany, I have to warn you that  there is a narrow lane when crossing the bridge.

This is a poor solution for bikers. I got over and back with only 2 near hits.

Overall, it was a nice 20 mile round trip journey. Bring your bike to the beach, you never know what you might find.

See Bethany Beach Bike Path to Dewey Beach, DE Flickr Set for all photos along this bike path.