Garmin Training Center Elevation Craziness

FrankGrimes

I've been having problems with Garmin Training Center for the past while where it gives a crazy graph for both Elevation and Grade for some courses but not for others. It updated to Version 3.4.3 a while back and I've now updated it to 3.4.5 in the hope that this fixed the problem but it hasn't.

I think I remember seeing something about a Garmin update causing havoc with 705 Edge computers but I have a 305 Edge and the problem is with the desktop application not the device.

I download a course route from MapMyRide.com (either as a CRS or TCX file, no difference in problem) and then open it in Training Center. The Grade and Elevation line graphs then are just random squiggles shooting up and down to extremeties immediately and seem to have no pattern to them.

Weird thing is it gives a perfect Elevation graph every now and then (Sean Kelly Tour route worked fine).

It's a major hassle for me as I like to mark the start of every climb with a Valley info point and the top with a Summit info point and it really helps to pace the way up the climb. I haven't been able to find the older version of Training Center (which never seemed to have this problem) still available online or find any way to downgrade so I'm just wondering if anyone here (705 or 305 owners maybe) is aware of similar problems and might have a workaround.

Jumpy

What does the 305 use for recording elevation? Maybe that has a fault? Maybe moisture affects it or something similar.

Nietzschean

simplest solution is to just not use TC, its a pretty useless piece of software

you can put tcx's downloaded from bikeroutetoaster/mapmyride straight onto the device in the courses folder(at least with the 705).

and other software for post-match analysis tends to be much nicer like sport tracks or that...

FrankGrimes

Thanks for the tips but the problem is I want to markup the course I download from MapMyRide before uploading it to the 305 - is there any other software that will do that? Worst case I guess is to upload directly onto the device folder and hope that I can at least see the profile on the device while riding.

Wondered was it a problem with MapMyRide files but I doubt it. Is BikeRouteToaster any use, had a glance a few months back and it seemed basic.

@Jumpy - the 305 Edge uses a combination of a barometric altimeter and GPS readings to record elevation and grade I believe. That's not the problem here though - these are course files I have downloaded and haven't actually cycled yet (which I want to add points of info to before cycling) so it's not a problem with the way the data is recorded.

Beasty

I have exactly the same issue with the 705. The unit itself seems to record the elevation, ascent and descent accurately, but when I download to TC the figures go all over the place (a ride where I start at an elevation of 50m can transform into one at 250m!)

Nietzschean

Beasty wrote: »

I have exactly the same issue with the 705. The unit itself seems to record the elevation, ascent and descent accurately, but when I download to TC the figures go all over the place (a ride where I start at an elevation of 50m can transform into one at 250m!)

i think he's talking about some reverse of that or odd take on it... purely the TC's ability to load tcx's generated by mapmyride.

Could easily be mapmyride.....try put it on the device directly and see does it consistently work

FrankGrimes

I tried putting the downloaded course file onto the 305 Edge directly last night but couldn't find a way to do so (it doesn't show up as a drive in Windows Explorer).

I did a quick test route on the comparably very basic BikeRouteToaster and then went to download this and it then installed Garmin Communicator Plugin for IE8 and it then successfully wrote the course file directly to the 305. A quick check of elevation on that course on the device suggests that the elevation/profile is accurate.

So it seems if I go and map out the full course on BikeRouteToaster and download it directly, at least I'll have the course with profile info on the device. That'll be a big help but isn't ideal and doesn't solve my problem as I want to add points of information to the course before uploading it to the device. Any thoughts on how to go about solving it?

Raam

As a last resort: get a piece of paper and write the distances and bit of information on it and tape it to your handle bars.

double black

Nietzschean wrote: »

i think he's talking about some reverse of that or odd take on it... purely the TC's ability to load tcx's generated by mapmyride.

Could easily be mapmyride.....try put it on the device directly and see does it consistently work

If you're feeling uber-geeky about it you can view and edit the mapmyride generated file (tcx, hst, or crs) with XML Notepad, You'll see the altitude position for each trackpoint, and if it's all over the place then at least you'll know it's mapmyride's fault.

There are also some threads on mapmyride's site relating to uploads to Garmin 305, e.g. here.