GMOA would like to announce the Grand Semi-Opening of its brand
new Routegadget site ...
(http://www.gmoa.routegadget.co.uk/rg2).
This has taken a while to get together, partly because we did not
want to go live without being able to put up geo-referenced maps.
Pardon ?
Geo-referenced maps are OCAD files which know exactly where they are
in the world of GPS. This positioning is extra data held in the
file, and put there by significant work by Eddie using OCAD 11,
though fortunately the data is retained when the map is saved back
as OCAD 8 (which is our common MDOC/GMOA standard). The point of it
is that people who use devices like Garmin GPS watches can upload
their routes directly onto the map with no need to fiddle. We feel
this is an absolute requirement for a subsequent Grand Opening to
Joe Public, as their expectations would be exactly that - for
example, they can already upload cycle routes onto Strava, run
routes onto MapMyRun, etc etc without any fiddling.
For the moment, we want to make the facility available to savvy
orienteers, while we see how well it works - hence only a
Semi-Opening. The initial tranche of maps includes Lyme Park,
Philips Park (Prestwich), Bruntwood Park.
The way it works in Routegadget 2 is as follows:
"Events" ... these are the POC Areas - at the moment:
2015-01-01: Bruntwood All Controls
2015-01-01: Lyme Park All Controls
2015-01-01: Philips Park All Controls
Note that the apparent date is a work of fiction, with no current
significance.
"Courses" ... currently there is a single course per area ...
"All Controls"
[Some time in the future, there will probably be another event -
something like "Lyme Park Courses" - with the various suggested
coloured courses available under Courses.]
"Results" will simply accumulate over time, as each new track
is added.
"Draw" (your route) ... you select a course - currently All
Controls is the only choice. For "name" you need to enter something
permanently unique like "JB-141220" indicating a run by JB on 20 Dec
2014. Put your time in as "time", and whatever explanation you want
to supply as your "comment". eg. "first go at Steve's terrain
training route". Load in your GPX or TCX file, and that should be
it.
Of course, you can also draw your route by hand, and claim whatever
time you want - a perfectly reasonable and totally approved thing to
do if you don't have a GPS device or don't have a track available.
There is currently a single route visible, which is part of a wander
round I did checking stuff for the John of Goats event. It did go
straight on with no fiddling. I typed in my time as 110:00 so
goodness know where 807:18 came from. Let's hope more sensible times
are better handled. If you hover over the Name "GPS JB-141214" it
shows the comments I put in when I did the Draw.
And what exactly is the point ?
> (eventually) active young people are accustomed to logging
their stuff all over the place and this simply provides the kind of
home they would expect, for them to put their orienteering
experiences. We will eventually put appropriate words on the back of
all our maps. To engage the interest of these folks we don't want to
be way behind expectations.
> for club orienteers, this could represent a major new training
facility, and possibly raise the profile and usage of all our local
areas. Treat each course as an event and see what times people can
manage (a bit like off-the-night runs in Street League). Define your
own routes around our better local maps - track runs, terrain runs,
up-hill runs, etc. Run them repeatedly as fitness indicators,
challenge your peer group to see who can be quickest, take coaching
groups out and measure them, etc. For challenging bits of forest
(eg. Amberswood) you can test out your compass work running straight
through trees, and see exactly how well you did. See if you can
handle these areas in the dark, etc, etc.
> and of course, if there are errors in the maps, or missing POC
posts, we'd get very useful feedback
We aren't the first people to think of this - a couple of
Scottish clubs are ahead of us :
> Check out "Virtual orienteering round Grantown on Spey".
(However, this hasn't exactly set their world alight - only 3
runners in over 12 months - one of whom set it up!) ...
http://www.basoc.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#14&route=0
> Also, check out the very recent Moravian initiative ... which
sounds like real mini-kites left out in Roseisle Forest for an
unspecified period:
http://www.moravianorienteering.org/content/launched-sunday-21st-dec-moray-m-spot
OK, then, I'm desperate to get started - how do I get hold of a
map ??
One way is to order what you want from me via the GMOA map order
form (or email and bank transfer) and get a waterproof-paper laser
print with map on one side and suggested courses etc on the other.
If you are OK with a lesser quality offering, I can provide the jpg
files which form the background on Routegadget for you to print
yourselves. Email me and ask.
All comments very welcome.
John