Google maps to Computrainer?

Triathlon Forum
21

I’ve done more digging with Map my Ride. I did a test track.

Their GPX is fine, and tracks it creates are entirely “readable” with Real3d, in that it correctly interprets the tracks and structure, and validates the .gpx format. However, MapMyRide’s .gpx does not contain elevation data. Real3D will not bother to render a course when it contains no elevation data. Elevation is optional under .gpx, but it really isn’t “optional” from a computrainer course point of view.

Well, I suppose you can make a flat route in the x-y shape of the course you rode…but that made no sense to me at the time, and it still doesn’t. Throw the .gpx into topofusion and get it to give you the elevation data from a topo database…this will add the elevation data. Maybe mapmyride will do this, somewhere I didn’t look. I just drew a route from Stephen Harper’s place to the park.

So here is the summary: Real3D sees no point in plotting a CT route with no elevation data.

On the .crs problem: It appears GARMIN has created a .crs format which is not the computrainer .crs format. That is the disconnect. It will not import to Real3D, and never claimed it did import either Garmin CRS nor CT CRS.

To answer your next question: no, I won’t be writing a ton of file format converters. That’s why I chose .gpx as the primary format, it’s the closest thing to a standard, and there are a ton of converters from the BILLION formats to the others format out there already. See GPSBabel. Writing them again is wasted effort, and an eternal occupation.

Again, Topofusion…topofusion…topofusion. Incredibly cool 3d map rendering. I have no connection whatsoever to the Topofusion guy, I just think it’s kick ass, and works a dream. When I look at things like MapMyRide in comparison , . Forum member Philbert has worked with the TopoFusion guy to put in the GOVSS analysis, too.

Paul

22

Here’s what I did, starting with this route on mapmyride.com.

Select “Save as Garmin Course”, enter a desired speed, click Get CRS.

Open this file in a text editor such as Ultraedit.

Find/replace the tagging such that the file resembles a .csv file (hint: =CRLF)

Remove the time/date field, swap the latitude & longitude columns, & replace missing elevation values with the previous record’s elevation value (use Excel).

Save as .csv.

Real3D reads this file, no problem, and allows you to do whatever smoothing/manipulation you want from there.

No special skills are needed to do this; I was wondering if there are any existing tools out there to go directly from a 3-dimensional mapmyride.com data output to Real3D or Computrainer.

Do you work for RacerMate or CyclingPeaks, or are you doing this on your own?

Thanks.

23

The .csv format that Real3D reads is compatible with the .csv produced by the Delorme Topo software that RacerMate sells, as well as “the most obvious .csv format you can come up with for lat, long, and elevation”…this is document in the Real3D help file under “File Formats” and specifically:

“Straight .CSV: Use a simple a comma-separated list of points as signed-decimal Longitude, Latitude, Altitude, one triplet per line”

What you have done is use excel to convert the Garmin .crs or the MMR to this.

Probably you can find GPSBabel to convert from your MapMyride format to the GPX then to Real3D. So to answer your question “I was wondering if there are any existing tools out there to go directly from a 3-dimensional mapmyride.com data output to Real3D” the answer is no, for the same reason I have given: There are a myriad of formats out there, and guys spend endless effort building converters into their GPS products. The big companies create their own format to preserve some control and ‘proprietary-ness’ over the “garbage in-garbage-out” problem. At least they need only support their own formats. I adopted .gpx since it was an emerging standard, and some simple .csv format (the delorme version to be compatible with what CT customers were buying for mapping, so I thought I should be compatible with that).

A new format seems to come along everyday, and Mapmyride is no different. Look at GPSBabel, and if they don’t have one, you might ask and one may appear.

GPX was proposed as a standard, and why Mapmyride won’t put elevation data into their .gpx export, whereas they DO in the Garmin CRS, is beyond me…but it ain’t my problem, either, so I don’t think about it much. I should add that I was TEMPTED to proposed a published Real3d format for people to “feed directly into”…but there is no point to that. You either convert from “format1 to Real3dFormat” or “Format1 to GPX”, so its the SAME amount of work. That “Format1 to GPX” in one case blows away the elevation data for the GPX…is just a friggin mistake. Mapmyride should just get it right.

Finally: “Do you work for RacerMate or CyclingPeaks, or are you doing this on your own?”
No on RacerMate, but my products are built to enhance theirs in many ways.
CyclingPeaks (Peaksware LLC): I am the original developer of CyclingPeaks Erg+, CRS+ and Real3D. I (as intellicoach) sold these products to them several years ago. I still have ongoing relationship with them, and do some software maintenance based on their needs and business decisions surrounding these products.

My current venture is another enhancement to the computrainer experience called ergvideo. It is another independent development, but it is being encouraged by both RacerMate and Peaksware, in various ways that are very important to me.

Paul Smeulders
Developer and President, ErgVideo Inc.
Developer and Sole proprietor, Intellicoach.ca
www.ergvideo.com
www.intellicoach.ca

24

Wow. Thanks for the information Paul. I’ll ping MMR & see if they can fix their gpx output.

25

what a pain in the ass! I screwed around with MMR download to GPX, etc. for a couple of hours. I found a solution that works for me:

(1) MMR: download to GPX
(2)www.GPSies.com: upload GPX from MMR
(3)www.GPSies.com: download track as GPX Track.
(4) Real3d: import GPX from GPSies.
(5) Real3d: Build .3dc
(6) hammer

26

Ups to Keeldragger, this saved me a tonne of faffing, hammertime cometh…

27

Racermate made their course creator software free

http://www.computrainer.com/rm_inc/sales/Optional_software.html
or
http://www.computrainer.com/dnloads/TopoGPSsetup.exe

I took a Garmin GPX, and converted it very easily.

28

mapitpronto.com exports the elevation data when you save as .gpx. It is basically the same thing as mapmyride, but it looks up the elevation data for the gps spots you click on.

As more of us do this type of thing, mapitpronto is a good thing to have in your back pocket.

29

Thanks for the info Paul, I’m a Computrainer owner and I have 9 of your ErgVideos that I really like. I’m preparing for Ironman Syracuse 70.3 in june and trying to recreate the bike course for my Computrainer (if the ErgVideo was available, I would buy it…loll). Thanks for a great product. Regards Yves