Db1k 2012

[Padmei]

Love to see your track log. Hard to imagine how the 1st gate would have messed you up even with detouring to keep dry feet.

It may not have been the 1st gate but I think it was - it was early in the morning & if you rode to the end of the road following the gps you ended up at a farmhouse- thats all I can remember. There were many bikers riding all directions untill Ryan turned up & opened the gate for us.
My point I was making however was that 2 forms of reference are better than one.

[Transalper]

It may not have been the 1st gate but I think it was - it was early in the morning & if you rode to the end of the road following the gps you ended up at a farmhouse- thats all I can remember. There were many bikers riding all directions untill Ryan turned up & opened the gate for us.
My point I was making however was that 2 forms of reference are better than one.

Don't mean to sound like I'm hassling but am just trying to get a handle on the situation to help minimise it happening again.
Attached is a pic from my logs in blue with the route file in purple. Could it be that you came round the bend then looked at the GPS which at a glance you may have seen the route line on screen without identifying which direction you had come from ?
The way point was labelled 'turn left' but people may have been fooled in to following the line up the screen which would have been the wrong line, the way you came not the way you were supposed to go? This also depends how you have your maps displaying as in Track up or North up.
Not sure if that made sence either.

Oh and yes, I done 2010 with chart and GPS and at times double checking one against the other was good, except the gps waypoints do not reference the same numbers as the roll chart so finding which cell number you are up to can be tricky if you haven't kept up with rolling the chart on.
You might need to make or get a bunch of free standing waypoints at the correct places to match the roll chart cell numbers to check the chart against when you need to... I have one I could possibly clean up and post.

[Monstaman]

Evening gents, Nordie has my bed now.

I think I forgot to tell him I was top and tailing with Shrek tho

Dudes have fun, will be thinking of you, make sure you give big bro and twin bro shit tho

[Padmei]

Yep that's the place alright.

I haven't checked my gps 'picture' (iykwim) but yours seems to indicate a very straightforward turn. I'm sure mine may not have been as clear as that at the time. it will be interesting to compare. Maybe you have a better visual background on your GPS.
I'll have another looksie tomm morning & see if it looks similar.

I'm not that good with the old techno stuff so waypoints are kinda off my radar. If i got into difficulty I noticed on the roll chart there are road names etc - I would kinda calculate with those. If I was still lost i'd try & find my way to Fairlie or Alex - it's all an adventure

EDIT - actually no I had another look on your pic & saw the arrows running along the fenceline. I think all mine had was the last waypoint & the next waypoint. We were looking at how to link the 2 up & thats where it was confusing. Those arrows are your tracklog or directions in your gps???

[NordieBoy]

Hand painted arrows on the track log...

[Transalper]

Hand painted arrows on the track log...

What he said. The arrows are drawn on just now to indicate the direction of the route and the direction we were travelling.
I do have a direction indicator pointing to the next waypoint and the name of the waypoint displayed on top of my map display screen on the Map62s to help stop me getting turned around.

[Padmei]

OK - looking at my gps. 60csx with only the free automaps background on it - no topo background so no fences, etc. The waypoint A5 does say 'Left' so hard to say from here whether it or not it would be obvious to take that gate.

Is waypoint A113 the access gate to the cool carricktown track? That's the other one I was lost on.

I think after looking at your gps pic TA that not having the topo background is a big disadvantage in this case. That is where I'll utilise the routesheet as backup.

[buggsubique]

that gps is capable of topo isnt it? The maps are free, you should install them.

[droid]

[Padmei]

that gps is capable of topo isnt it? The maps are free, you should install them.

[droid]

Where are the free maps?

[cooneyr]

OK - looking at my gps. 60csx with only the free automaps background on it - no topo background so no fences, etc. The waypoint A5 does say 'Left' so hard to say from here whether it or not it would be obvious to take that gate.

Is waypoint A113 the access gate to the cool carricktown track? That's the other one I was lost on.

I think after looking at your gps pic TA that not having the topo background is a big disadvantage in this case. That is where I'll utilise the routesheet as backup.

The free auto routing maps don't have roads/tracks, in fact anything, for much of the route. I have bought topos but I think there are some freeby topos combined with the autorouting map set. Transalper or Nordie might be able to post a link or confirm that the following one is the best link? I think it is the link you need.

Point A113 is the beginning of Awakino Saddle (Kurow to Ida Valley). Carricktown start is A188 (south west of Cromwell).

Cheers R

[buggsubique]

pretty sure thats them in the link. Im in blenheim and have my netbook with me where its all setup on. If youre over this way i can install for you. I use garmin map source, its a piece of piss.

[droid]

[JATZ]

The free auto routing maps don't have roads/tracks, in fact anything, for much of the route.

Cheers R

Really ? That's all I have used.
It was a bit hit and miss on the Awakino challenge section but we got through.....eventually
I think I remember the corner Padmie is talking about, and it looked like a farm track, used only by the farmer on his/her tractor. I guess you just have to trust your gps and keep an eye on it, I'm pretty sure I rode straight past the turn off too

[Transalper]

Yea, that looks about right for the open topo map link I have and usually use.
Attached is what it looks like with them, also I added the black dotted line in to the last attachment (GT Topo Map) to make it look like an intersection where as it really just looks like a bend in the road on them too. There are no fence lines or gates on any of the GPS Topos I've seen.
Everyone has to be vigilant in being aware that they are reaching the next waypoint and trust that even when the road looks like it goes straight ahead, if the GPS says turn now then that's probably what you really need to do. If we don't realise we have passed a waypoint and missed a turn, then checking the GPS late it is quite easy to wonder where it all went.
I knew that one was there from the pre run so it really is hard for me (as with Ryan) to be sure what it would have been like first time through all hurried and so on.
This corner through the gate near Fairlie is indeed the one Ryan is going to Dazzel.

[cooneyr]

Really ? That's all I have used.
It was a bit hit and miss on the Awakino challenge section but we got through.....eventually
I think I remember the corner Padmie is talking about, and it looked like a farm track, used only by the farmer on his/her tractor. I guess you just have to trust your gps and keep an eye on it, I'm pretty sure I rode straight past the turn off too

You could do the ride with no maps on your GPS i.e. use a old yellow really basic etrex which can't hold maps. The free autorouting maps don't have roads for sections such as Old Kaiwarua Rd, Awakino Saddle, Carricktown, Lammerlaw ranges, Omarama Saddle, Black forest etc. Just noticed the latest version of the free autorouting does have a "road" downstream of the gate in question i.e. Jefcoates Rd. Much of the route in my earlier post might have been a bit strong. Maybe I should have said no roads, tracks etc for much of the interesting stuff.

Your quite right it does look like a farm track at the gate in question. There are more than a couple of places where you turn onto what appears to be farm tracks (all paper rds) so yes you just have to trust your GPS or roll chart. GPS is pretty accurate (2-3m error max) at each point so you can be pretty confident of trusting it. I can understand those only using a roll chart getting that gate a bit wrong but those with a GPS should be able to put them straight.

More information is better so roll chart and GPS is the best.

Cheers R

[buggsubique]

http://gwprojects.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1810

This is the link I used. Using Garmin Mapsource you should be able to plot / edit / create / tweak the entire DB1k route, incl turn / wpt notes etc to suit your own nav needs. I did this for a 900km route mid year and it was sweet. Takes a bit of farkling to get used to doing it, but you should be able to plot a route that includes both autorouting and off road wpts.