FJRForum Official 2015 Iron Butt Rally Tracking/Analysis thread

[grommet]

Pretty cool to look at spotwalla and grommet's map side by side.

Pretty soon I'll have to integrate the current spotwalla data with the bonus location data . . .

I'm having such a blast with all this. Too bad it will have to end in a week. Oh, well, I'll have to spend more time on my own bike then

 

[RJAMT]

Got to greet a couple of riders collecting the U.S. Grant house. I waited until they took their picture and made their log entries before walking over. A quick acknowledgement of my admiration for their task, a handshake, wish them good luck and a safe ride then they were off.

The park ranger asked me what's with the "snap a pic and go" so I explained the rally and showed him the SpotWalla page. He seemed fascinated.

I can confirm that the Spot tracks are running about 20 minutes behind the rider. If you want to be sure of catching someone be more that that ahead of their track.

 

[Bounce]

Anyone noticed that this weekend is also the BIG DEAL "Fare Thee Well" concert for the Grateful Dead in Chicago? Thousands of Dead Heads spinning to and fro may add a little to the traffic mix. Keep a nose pealed for patchouli.

 

[Bounce]

Riders currently east and south of Memphis are getting drenched. https://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=NQA&product=N0R&overlay=11101111&loop=yes or here: https://radar.weather.gov/Conus/southmissvly.php
For those with multi-day rally experience, how do you track weather while on the road? With a "playing field" the size of North America, riders could miss all that rain by bagging upper midwest locations or maybe New Orleans and Mobile locations.

I always looked at the sky.

 

[eflyguy]

OK, who is down past Corpus Christi and still heading SOUTH in Texas right now? Obviously going for the Palo Alto battlefield bonus in Brownsville. That's going to be one heck of a ride to Kingsport!

 

[robeth]

So excited.......#167 just rode within 20 miles of my house. Would love to go out and say "hi," but house is full of grand kids right now.

Will see everyone at Kingsport tomorrow! Look for the old guy and two kids waving Big Orange pom poms to greet the riders!

Ride safely.

 

[Uncle Hud]

grommet posted: Pretty soon I'll have to integrate the current spotwalla data with the bonus location data . . .

If you can display dynamic GPS data (location, track, and routing algorithms) with all bonus locations and send that to a tablet, you'll have a wickedly effective Rally toolkit. Extra credit for weather radar.

 

[stryg8r]

Another FJR rider needs a little help and would like to ask the group for a favor.

Perry Karsten is having trouble with his J&M Elite Series headset. One side is not working and he would like to replace it in Kingsport if possible. He's offered to buy whoever has one a new replacement for their trouble. What a deal!

If you can help please let me know and I'll get you connected to Perry. Thanks in advance.

218 461 8411

Derek

 

[karstenp]

Hi, this is Perry's wife - Perry has confirmed that it is his left speaker and not the cables.

 

[nealopp]

Anyway, a gpx file is not too complicated. I have never worked with them before but they are just their own flavor of xml. An xml file is just a text file with special tag markers in it. The process would be helped if a couple of you could send me examples of gpx files you have. Simple ones, with a few waypoints in them. There are some examples on the web, but making something exactly like what you have will be easier if I have somewhere to start. email them to me at patrick at exactcad dot com.

Hey Mr. Grommet,I'm not sure what file format you're using, but give GPSbabel a shot and see if it will do whatever transliterpolatonating you're looking for! GPSbabel.org

 

[JimNtexas]

OK, who is down past Corpus Christi and still heading SOUTH in Texas right now? Obviously going for the Palo Alto battlefield bonus in Brownsville. That's going to be one heck of a ride to Kingsport!

Thats likely to take a few minutes. To get there you have to pass through a Border Patrol checkpoint. The road is Highway 4, a two lane road which leads to Boca Chica beach, so it's likely to be pretty busy today.

 

[wfooshee]

The Gulf Islands National Seashore bonus is less than a hundred miles via 98 from my house. I don't even want to try US98 on July 4th! Destin alone would take 90 minutes, at least. I saw a track heading south in Alabama, though, and I headed up to I-10 just in case. The I-10 route from here to there is 143 miles, but less time, since Google Maps knows a little about traffic. I still think they're optimistic on the time along 98!!! Anyway, I checked when I got to I-10, 45 miles from home, he'd turned East so I came back home.

NOW I see someone heading into Mobile. If he's going to Gulf Islands, there's no way I can get there now, he's a little over an hour, I'm almost 2 and a half.

Disappointing, because it's the closest bonus I can recall having ever known about during the rally, and if it gets hits on leg 3 I'll be working. Maybe I'll watch for it tomorrow, too.

EDIT: And..... Mobile turned north, so he was a never mind, too. Sitting in my air conditioning watching this morning's Formula One qualifying on the DVR, then!

 

[RenoJohn]

Interactive map available.

Thanks to grommet for scraping the bonus data from the PDF ...I've created a BMR style interactive map of all bonus listings.

It is available on the countdown page.

*** In addition to countdown timer and interactive map, the page also has rubberband maps, Grateful Dead music and leg 2 results.

HERE

 

[SBennett]

OK, who is down past Corpus Christi and still heading SOUTH in Texas right now? Obviously going for the Palo Alto battlefield bonus in Brownsville. That's going to be one heck of a ride to Kingsport!

Thats likely to take a few minutes. To get there you have to pass through a Border Patrol checkpoint. The road is Highway 4, a two lane road which leads to Boca Chica beach, so it's likely to be pretty busy today.

Leaving the bonus location area will likely add to the 20 hour estimate that I received using Google Maps, Basecamp, and S&T -- from Brownsville to Kingsport! This will be interesting...

 

[eflyguy]

This is excellent, thanks! There are quite a few bonus locations near me, I'll be keep an eye on the tracks if any head this way!

Thanks to grommet for scraping the bonus data from the PDF ...I've created a BMR style interactive map of all bonus listings. It is available on the countdown page.

*** In addition to countdown timer and interactive map, the page also has rubberband maps, Grateful Dead music and leg 2 results.

 

[08FJR4ME]

O.K. so when are these folks going to head east? I may have to take a personal day next week.

Dave

 

[eflyguy]

OK our TX friend is already heading North again on 77. There must have been a bit more of a lag in the location data while they were getting the bonus.

 

[stryg8r]

Less than 2 hours after posting....Perry Karsten has help for his headset issue waiting for him in Kingsport. This is a great group and I thank everyone that stepped up to help so quickly.

Derek

 

[BritRider]

Interactive map available.
Thanks to grommet for scraping the bonus data from the PDF ...I've created a BMR style interactive map of all bonus listings.

It is available on the countdown page.

*** In addition to countdown timer and interactive map, the page also has rubberband maps, Grateful Dead music and leg 2 results.

HERE

Great job RJ and Grommet. Got spot on one screen and the interactive bonus map on the other. Hours of fun zooming in and out trying to see where the riders are going.

 

[wheatonFJR]

When this is all said and done, it would be fun to the the movie of the podium finishers and their respective runs. Don't know if that's possible, but would be awesome to the the decisions each made, size by side in elapsed time.