GPS-tastic

We are really getting into gear now! The local Garmin distributor, Infoteam in Belgrade has very kindly agreed (thanks guys!) to sponsor us by way of loaning us a nice shiny new Vista Cx, a GPS model which is far better than mine (there always is one better, isn’t there!)

What this means, once I have gone to pick it up from Pegaz , the Novi Sad dealer, is that I get to nab that one for the bike, and my less well-appointed Legend goes to our four-wheeled driver, Dusan. We can now agree on an exact geographical point where we will meet up that evening and just, well, head for it!

That’s the trouble with modern technology - a few years ago we would have just hopped on our bikes, glanced up at the sun to see our rough direction, and hit the road.

Now we have GPS, we can’t very well set off without it. And since we are taking it, we might as well do things properly.

At the top of this article is a picture of part of the route taken from Google Earth, which Rob and I spent hours plotting, and I spent most of yesterday finalising. I can hardly wait to get down there for real! You can download the whole route and view it in Google Earth - it’s well worth a look, especially from a 3D perspective. It’s looking like about 400km (including unplanned diversions!) and if you are wondering what the straight line at the end is about, we just plain ran out of time to plan the route, and anyway, we know that area, so we can just relax and rely on our own sense of orientation (hmmm..!)

The cool thing about the Garmin Vista Cx that Infoteam have lent us and that my Legend doesn’t have is an accurate compass and barometer, and also a thingie for showing you your elevation profile, which means I can say at the end of the day, “hey, we climbed 2000ft today”, or whatever! (I hope not!) It’s also got a colour screen, so is a lot easier to read from while you are wobbling around on your bike.

Fancy cycling

Now, my colleague yesterday commented that this all sounded like “fancy cycling”. Well, I do have a vague reluctance to introduce GPS as I have commented before. Isn’t getting lost, finding your way and striking new paths the point of it all? Well, getting lost isn’t THAT much fun, there is still a great deal of uncertainty as to whether the route we have plotted on these ancient maps even exists in MANY places, so there will be plenty of poring over maps and GPS. Plus, there is the added complication of up to 80 kilometres we have to cover per day, plus camping in the evenings, cooking, repairing bikes, etc. etc. etc. So if GPS is “fancy” then so be it!

And the rest of it

Well, there is LOADS more to do, plus I am participating in the Fruska gora marathon tomorrow with friends (a mere walk in the woods really, but for fun), so I can’t even mention all the stuff I got done yesterday - especially preparing and printing dozens of maps, and getting a training run in with the guys too (feeling good, must be the pasta and rice I have started piling in), not to mention everything that needs to be done today.

So I’ll be off, but stay tuned, because Sunday is not far now and it will soon be too late to wonder whether I remembered my toothbrush…!

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Posted on April 27th, 2007 by markowe
Filed under: MTB Serbia (All)