msu2001la

I'm probably not using the right terms, but I want to be able to mark certain sections of a ride and later view their location on a map. Is this possible using a Garmin Edge 520 or alternatively using the Strava mobile app?

I'm using this for non-workout purposes, and trying to use these tools for a bit of site analysis. I want to identify all locations along a lakefront route where I can actually see the lake from the route. I'm thinking I could start a ride, and pause it at points where I cannot see the lake, then restart where I can see again... but does this show up on the map after I import? Alternatively I could just start a new route for every section, but hoping for an easier solution that doesn't require me to stop. I'm looking at dozens of locations along a 15 mile route.

Is there something obvious that I might be missing? Like the lap feature, maybe?

Steve B.

The 520 can mark locations. Not sure how it works on a button device, but on my 1030 I can go to the map screen, zoom in to my location and drop a pin at that location. I believe this is typically used as a tool to navigate to a pinned location, but might be what you want.

You have to experiment with some of the features, such as can you drop multiple pinned locations ?, do these pinned locations show up on a completed ride ?, so that you can view in Garmin Connect ?. That would let you view these locations while on a PC or tablet.

pdlamb

Also not familiar with the 520. However, on the 800 and higher, you can mark sections with new laps. You'll need to find a way (good memory, maybe?) to figure out which sections were "good view" laps and which were "no view."

surak

The 520 has a dedicated lap button. That's the easiest way of marking something without fumbling around its awful, slow menus.

msu2001la

I will try this. Do you know if the point where you start a new lap will show on the map after uploading?

There is a "mark location" feature as well, but as you say it's like 3 levels deep in the menus and might be challenging to do while riding.

surak

I don't think it will show up on a map, but when you use the analyze view in Strava it shows each lap as a segment. I haven't marked laps anytime recently so can't check what it looks like on Garmin Connect.

msu2001la

Confirmed if you hit the lap button, when you upload a ride to Strava (and Garmin) it will show separate segments for each lap, so this is probably the easiest way for me to track this since I can just push the button and start a new lap each time the view changes. I don't yet know if this data carries through on the exported .tcx file, but I can eyeball it from the Strava map for my use.

Oddly enough, the "mark location" feature doesn't seem to add marked locations to the maps. I hit that menu option several times on my test run and it only showed one marked location. It's also buried 3 menus deep and not practical to use on the fly.