bikebasket

Heading for Vietnam tomorrow on the bikes with 4G internet and Google maps as an aid. One thing i still haven't sorted is some sort of route recorder. So just a continuation from my first ever origin and built up day by day.

I figure i can do this manually everyday after every ride with google maps or something. How can i do that and have a record?

Is there a live map app that records your ride as you go without it being a big drain on the battery? I'm thinking that without it up dating constantly then i might as well just do it manually every evening.

Cheers

L134 

jefnvk

Gonna depend wildly on your phone. I have a Moto G, riding across France with Strava only killed half my battery or so in a day.

You can easily nullify this with a battery charger in your bag with the phone as well.

Juan Foote

I was going to recommend a backup battery pack/charger. I have a couple that I use. My favorite is a small solar charger that I place on the top of my rack back. It charges my phone a bit over half way for free and is ready about every 4-5 hours. I also carry a battery type rechargeable charger just in case.

raybo

Teamprovicycle

Stteeerrrrrrraaaaaaaaaahhhhhvaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tourist in MSN

There are lots of apps that will do that but as noted above, set the phone in airplane mode. It would also be a good idea to shut off all background apps you do not need while doing it to make sure other apps are not consuming energy. And turn off wifi.

And make sure your app will continue to work while the screen is turned off. Test it before your trip so that you know in advance if a different app is needed.

I use a regular GPS, not a phone for that. But I have used my phone to try it, I shut off all apps, put phone in airplane mode, shut off wifi, turned on GPS and then started my GPS app, once it figured out where it was I set that to start recording the track, then I manually shut off the screen.

If for some reason I am not using my GPS unit, on the phone, I use pro version of Soviet Military maps, but that is a very old app that almost nobody else uses any more.

spinnaker

The app is not going to matter. If your GPS is being accessed then it is going to use the battery. There is no way around that.

fietsbob

go to a cafe, plug in the charger, send data home.. store it there..

spinnaker

That isn't going to help with recording of the data while riding.

davester

How often are you going to be able to charge the phone? My phone will usually run Strava or Ride with GPS for about 8 hours of riding or more if I've got it in low power mode with bluetooth and wifi turned off. I carry a battery pack that is good for about four full charges. That means that you could get almost 5 days between charge stops, more if you get a solar charger.

CliffordK

Yep... I do about the same. I have an older cell phone dedicated to the bike with an extended battery. I run the phone in Airplane mode all the time.

For some reason, I can turn WIFI on and off while still in airplane mode. So, WIFI goes off when touring if I can remember to do it.

I'll also set the screen time out to about 30 seconds or less.

I frequently run both STRAVA and RideWithGPS on the phone concurrently. Strava (free) has better routes than RideWithGPS (free), while RideWithGPS has better real time data.

It is best to start the route and zoom and scroll around a bit when I have access to data, so I can get the maps downloaded, otherwise I may just get a line on a blank screen.

I have used Strava in Chrome to create new routes on the cell phone. It complains non-stop about it, but it does actually work.

davester

Note also that due to the way phones use Assisted-GPS (AGPS), you can get a much faster initial position fix if wifi is turned ON and connected to a nearby router when starting a ride. This is because almanac data telling the phone where all the satellites are located in the sky gets downloaded much more quickly by wifi than by the GPS signal that the phone uses to position itself relative to the satellites. After you get that initial fix you can turn off the wifi if you need to do so to conserve power to the max.

350htrr

I have recorded 400+KM of touring on one charge on the battery, about 5 days riding, onto my phone using RideWithGPS and the phone in airplane mode. Then when I got to where there was WI-FI I downloaded the info the app gathered...

gauvins

In my experience, a smart watch is by far the most efficient device to track rides. It'll map + capture sensor data, for a couple of days on a single charge.

For example, the Vivoactive HR's battery has a reported capacity of 200mAh. Less than 10% of that of a typical smartphone. A battery pack will get you going "forever".

fietsbob

and writing it down, is too archaic, of course..




...

spinnaker

What is you want to record your whole rout as the OP wants? Are you going to map every single point as you go? I often use googlemaps and my tracks to sort of relive my tours. I was thinking of a little park where I had lunch in Italy. I was able to load my track into google maps and zoom right in on that park where I had lunch. You would need to take meticulous notes to provide that detail.

My suggestion for the OP is to just buy a regular GPS or one with no frills specifically for recording tracks

fietsbob

Its touring, not the electronics / gadget section,
( perhaps redirect your queries there?)




I have used a highlighter on paper maps I collected as i went along ..

on my international tours , now I have a good sized map collection...




....

adamrice 

There are a lot of apps that'll do this. I use an iPhone and Cyclemeter; on tour, I've been able to get through a long day's ride logging my route without running the battery down all the way. What does run the battery down quickly is having a weak cellular signal, since your phone works harder to maintain that connection, whether you're actually communicating or not. Something to keep in mind (or use airplane mode, as others suggest). I wouldn't go for a multi-day tour without at least a 10,000 mAh battery in my kit.

There are also a lot of dedicated bike computers with GPS, and increasingly, I think that's a better option if you can swing it.

350htrr

Why would you want two or more gadgets, todays phones will do all that one needs/requires... IMO Todays phones are a one unit do all proposition, no, you do not need a separate GPS unit, no, you do not need a Walkman/CD unit, no, you do not need a camera, no, you do not need a laptop/tablet.... and so on... IMO the most that you would need is an extra battery.

adamrice 

Indeed, I rely on my phone to track my rides right now. It's a viable setup. But not ideal.

I would be reluctant to have my phone mounted on my handlebars (I carry mine in a pocket). Assuming you can overcome that objection, if you want to use your gadget for navigation or for monitoring your performance live, you can get a bike computer with an always-on screen, or you can mess with waking your phone up constantly because you won't have sufficient battery life to keep the screen lit up for the duration of a long ride.

My previous phone had pretty erratic GPS; my current one at least seems to have solved that. I don't know what the general state of GPS performance is with smartphones, but that might be a consideration.

350htrr

Ideal... well now.. THEN you WILL NEED one of EVERYTHING... including three telephoto lenses about $3,000 just for them, a GPS unit, a Walkman, a tablet, a ... It's a balancing act when on tour... "if" That IS it what you want to accomplish, Like, If you want professional picture's… well there you are... AS FOR the screen on all the time my RideWithGPS does NOT require it, it will come on when waypoints are reached and tell you where you are and where you need to turn to get where you want to go, and in airplane mode my phone has lasted 5+ days...

spinnaker

What if you don't want to run down your phone? Or don't carry your phone with you? Or like the features of the specialized device? Lots of reasons.

350htrr

Then you carry an extra battery pack... Easy peasy. Then you carry whatever you think you need and don't need to bother with a phone. What I am saying is there IS a wonderfully versatile thing called the cell-phone that can do practically everything you would want to do with a small easily carried "gadget", like the swiss army knife if you will . IMO

bikebasket

Sorry for late reply. Been pedaling our asses off since leaving Ha Tien in Vietnam on the 19th (via Sihanoukville).

Timeline seems good for recording routes no?