[Sportsandrec] Accessing Garmin GPS

[Thornbury, Kelly]

I just wanted to share this web site I found for accessing information on 
Garmin GPS bike and running computers.

http://www.strava.com

Strava is a web site designed by bike enthusiasts to download and analyze 
GPS files from a variety of devices, including Garmin ForeRunner and Edge 
products, and Android and iPhone GPS.

I recently purchased a Garmin Edge 500 (initially for the enjoyment of my 
captains), and found that most web sites and software was inaccessible. I've 
been stuck with asking someone to read ride information from the unit. Even 
the tables for information were graphic, and I couldn't navigate the 
software features. Strava has been mostly accessible, and more importantly, 
their support people have been extremely helpful in walking me through any 
problems I've come across.

There is one problem with downloading Edge 500 files to the site, there are 
a few bugs in the plug-in from Garmin (this is not an accessibility issue, 
and its a problem with most third-party sites and this unit) , but they are 
working on this problem. This site does however allow you to email your 
files and they are posted to your profile, usually within a few minutes.

This site is also fairly new, and the support staff and designers seem eager 
to listen to suggestions and consider changes to make the site more 
user-friendly for everyone. There are both free and subscriber formats to 
the site (and I'm not sure what the differences are), and if you are into 
using GPS to track exercise, this is a site worth looking into.