2011 GPS Art and Numbers

It’s already well into 2012, but I finally plowed through all of last year’s GPS data. I cleaned up the tracks, deleted duplicates, and most importantly tried to gain an understanding of just what happened this year, and why. It really works — some of the deepest memories are outside and happen while suffering while on a bike, so they are good time-stones and markers for everything else that happens.

The conclusion? It was an awesome year on the bike. I like to compute yearly GPS stats, if only for my own curiosity.

6575.78 mi
862,748 ft total ascent
28 days 13:03:28 moving
9.4 mph average speed

Not bad for my “short” year, where I really, really tried to limit my long rides (6+ hours). I strayed from the straight and narrow a few times of course (cough cough Vapor Trail) but the result is still interesting. Compared to last year, I only rode 100 miles less, but several days less moving time. So, I rode just as many miles, but rode them significantly faster. Maybe not so much a short year as a fast year!

I don’t buy the 862k climbing number, by the way. It’s a product of running 1/sec GPS logs all year. Since elevation gain is a sum, the more times you sample (with error) the more error you will accumulate, (and the more impressive your stats become!). I guess I could be filtering those numbers… too bad I don’t know anyone that programs GPS software around here.



Like last year, I flipped on the “GPS Art” boolean in TopoFusion and let my wheels and legs do the painting. This year I went a bit less impressionistic. There’s more definition, and individual rides are a lot easier to pick out. The width of the brush is proportional to the time spent ‘out’ and the color is set by an equation based on speed, grade and heart rate (where available). There’s no justification for it, I just played around until I got something I liked. It’s art, you know.. .. I get to do whatever I want!

Tucson’s canvas is first, followed by Salida. I had to let it run for a while in Salida so that my poor little Vapor Trail ITT paintbrush could make it home. I was really surprised how many dots are out coloring the Arkansas Hills and the Sawatch Range. It was a short summer, but long lived.

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