Touring bikers are enthusiastic about GPS navigation until they get lost for the first time. The most common reason for this is that they have taken one of the many unprocessed tracks from the tour portal. This is because if a GPS device only had limited satellite reception while travelling (forest, gorge), the data deviates from the actual route and the track shows wild deviations. Especially in regions with many branches, you are literally in the forest with such tracks. Check downloaded tracks on the computer beforehand. This requires a digital map of the tour region and GPS software that can display the track on the map. BIKE-Touren author Ralf Glaser shows here the tools that have proved their worth.
BUY MTB TOUR MAPS - IF SO, WHICH ONES?
Power users often invest a small fortune in commercial digital cards over the years. For home use, however, there is nothing to stop you from leaving your wallet behind and starting with free maps. The OpenStreetMap (OSM) project has provided serious competition for commercial map providers in recent years. Tens of thousands of "contributors" worldwide have compiled their tracks into a global map that is free for everyone to use. In well-visited holiday regions, OSM is in no way inferior to commercial maps and is often even superior to the latter in terms of the level of detail. But before you download the OSM planet file: Working with OSM raw data is a job for real geo-nerds with advanced skills. Fortunately, this is not necessary. There are now countless ready-to-use maps in a wide variety of formats based on this OSM raw data, which are freely available for download. Some of them are very well suited to the needs of mountain bikers or even optimised for them.
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THE FORMAT QUESTION: VECTOR OR RASTER MAPS?
Which map format is the right one ultimately depends on the intended use. If the same map is to be used both on the PC at home and on the GPS device, a map in vector format is the right choice. Such vector maps are usually not particularly attractive to look at. But apart from that, they do have some advantages. In simple terms, vector maps simply consist of a collection of map data. Lines (roads and paths), areas (e.g. forests or lakes) and points (e.g. the nearest mountain pasture). The GPS software uses the styles stored in a TYP file to calculate the final appearance of this map data. Different TYP files can therefore be used to give one and the same map a different look. For example, once optimised for the desktop at home and once for the GPS device.
However, the biggest advantage of vector maps is their routing capability. We know this from sat navs in cars: enter the destination, calculate the route and off you go. It's certainly not the best idea to let the GPS device create your bike tours using routing. But if there is a technical problem with your bike on the way and you want to get down to the valley as quickly as possible, then this is a very helpful feature. Vector maps that are very suitable for mountain bikers are, for example, the OSM leisure map or the Openmtbmap. Both are based on identical data from OSM. And ready-to-use installation files for both are available to download from the Internet. The OSM leisure map tends to offer the "nicer" design. The Openmtbmap, on the other hand, is optimised for mountain bikers. Here, the trails are coloured differently according to the single trail scale.
In simple terms, raster maps are simply photos of maps. To make these image files suitable for navigation, they are geo-referenced. This means that each pixel of this digital (map) photo corresponds to a coordinate. The biggest advantage of raster maps is their usually higher quality graphics. They are similar to the usual paper maps and are therefore easier to read. However, this is precisely why raster maps take up considerably more memory than their vector counterparts. What may be irrelevant on a PC at home often causes problems when travelling. Due to the smaller working memory of mobile devices, classic raster maps can hardly be used smoothly. They are therefore only of limited use for navigation on the move.
A good compromise with the best of both worlds is working with so-called online maps. Everyone is familiar with such maps, e.g. from Google Maps. Even high-resolution satellite images are available on the internet in this format and can be used for route planning. Online maps also consist of raster data. However, unlike classic raster maps, these do not come as one large "image", but are divided into small, square tiles that are seamlessly joined together by the software. Provided you have a stable internet connection, this trick allows you to work smoothly even with a high-resolution world map. After all, it is not necessary to load the entire map (which would take days for a high-scale world map), but only the tiles required for the current map section. However, the biggest disadvantage of such maps is already implied in the name. Using online maps offline, i.e. on tour, is usually not possible without further ado (more on this in part 4 of the series).
COMPARISON OF FREE OSM-BASED CARDS
Provider 4umaps.eu
MTB attributes YES
Garmin compatible NO
Online map YES
Routing NO
Provider leisure-card-osm.de
MTB attributes NO
Garmin compatible YES
Online map NO
Routing YES
Provider openmtbmap.org
MTB attributes YES
Garmin compatible YES
Online map NO
Routing YES
GPS SOFTWARE: WHICH IS GOOD IN PRACTICE?
The bad news right from the start: Unfortunately, the Swiss army knife with the wool-milk function is not in sight on the GPS software market either. Every programme has its strengths and weaknesses. Those who work professionally with GPS data usually use a combination of programmes, some of which only use a few functions for special tasks. So if you don't want to familiarise yourself with several programmes for home use, your only option is usually to look for the best compromise.
Which software is the right one depends heavily on the intended use. If you want to work comfortably with GPS tracks at home without having to regularly install new maps, then you should buy software that can work with the online maps described above.
The next consideration is: Do you only want to check and correct existing GPS tracks, or do you also want to create your own GPS tracks? In the latter case, you will also need software that allows you to import elevation data from digital elevation models into the tracks you create. After all, when you create your own tour, you don't just want to know how long the route is, but also how many metres in altitude it has. In contrast to digital maps, the scales are tipped a long way in favour of commercial solutions when it comes to GPS software. Although there are now quite useful programmes available for free, the paid-for programmes are clearly ahead in terms of functionality and compatibility with various data formats.
THE FOUR BEST GPS PROGRAMMES FOR MOUNTAIN BIKERS
OVERVIEW GPS PROGRAMMES
- COMMERCIAL
Software QuoVadis
Windows YES
Mac NO
Satellite images / online maps YES / YES
Access to DEM (Digital Elevation Model) YES / YES
Integrate DEM YES
Price 149 Euro, shareware version available
Info www.quovadis-gps.de
Software CompeGPS
Windows YES
Mac YES
Satellite images / online maps YES / YES
Access to DEM (Digital Elevation Model) YES / YES
Integrate DEM YES
Price 89 Euro, shareware version available
Info www.twonav.com/de/software/land
- FREEWARE
Software Garmin Basecamp
Windows YES
Mac YES
Satellite images / online maps YES (with costs) / NO
Access to DEM (Digital Elevation Model) NO, only with Garmin maps
Integrate DEM NO
Price Freeware
Info www.garmin.com/de-DE/shop/downloads/basecamp
Software QMapsShack
Windows YES
Mac NO
Satellite images / online maps YES / YES
Access to DEM (Digital Elevation Model) YES
Integrate DEM yes, conversion may be required
Price Freeware
Info bitbucket.org/maproom/qmapshack/wiki/Home
- SPECIALISTS
Software Trackanalyse.NET
Windows YES
Mac YES
Satellite images / online maps YES / YES
Access to DEM (Digital Elevation Model) YES
Integrate DEM NO
Price Freeware
Info www.gps-track-analyse.de
Left EU-DEM: www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/eu-dem The latest and most precise free DEM for Europe is provided in GeoTIFF format and is therefore unfortunately not executable in most GPS programmes without conversion.
SRTM: www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/dem3.html The data from the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission dates from the year 2000 and has a relatively coarse resolution. However, the hgt format used is directly compatible with more GPS programmes.
CHECK LIST FOR GPS TRACK VERIFICATION
1. check horizontal level
- Open the track and zoom in until details are clearly recognisable.
- If the track runs through open terrain, it is best to use a satellite image as a background.
- In wooded terrain, a raster or vector map is more suitable.
- Does the track lie as accurately as possible on roads and paths? Correct any major deviations.
- Are there any trackpoint bumps? These occur mainly during longer pauses due to the change from satellite to satellite and can cause deviations in terms of tour length. Delete superfluous track points.
- Are hairpin bends recognisable as hairpin bends or rather as loops? In the case of loops, the altitude values are often incorrect.
2. check vertical level
- Display altitude metres. Do the values for ascent and descent approximately match? For circular tours, this is an indication of good values.
- Call up the altitude profile. Is the profile relatively smooth? Everything is ok, the altitude metres in the track will probably correspond almost exactly to those in reality.
- Does the profile generally show a clear sawtooth pattern? Such deviations, even minor deviations at individual points, can quickly add up to a deviation of several hundred metres in altitude from reality. Depending on the programme, activate "Damping" for altitude metres or open the track in GPS-Track-Analyse.NET and visually "smooth" the track.
- Are gross errors recognisable in sections? (E.g. vertical ascents, rough zigzag pattern, often occurs on rock faces). Select this section manually in GPS-Track-Analyse.NET and smooth it using "Adjust elevation values". If a sawtooth pattern is also recognisable elsewhere, then smooth the entire track.
- If the altitude values have been heavily edited, then carry out a plausibility check of the altitude metres using the altitude values on the map (e.g. valley: 800 metres altitude, pass: 1700 metres altitude = net altitude difference of 900 metres. Do the values in the GPS track match approximately?)
CONCLUSION If you're not quite so precise, you can get away with Garmin Basecamp and the OSM vector maps for free. If you also want to create your own tracks, you should invest your money in a programme such as CompeGPS or QuoVadis rather than in commercial maps to start with. GPS-Track-Analyse.NET, on the other hand, is an extremely useful tool for all users.
You can read this article or the entire BIKE 2/2016 issue in the BIKE app (iTunes and Google Play) or buy the issue in the DK shop reorder:
Gitta Beimfohr
Editor
