I would agree with that. except that the errors that I'm referring to are the path deviations from a smooth path, which the GPS doesn't measure at all. Those will accumulate linearly.

The other type of GPS error, the jagged path, also accumulates linearly. But I intermittently see that, so I don't describe it as characteristic.

This is what I mean. Exaggerated obviously, but when the bike's actual movement has a series of curves, and the GPS takes discrete measurements at periodic points along the curves. The distances are different, even though the end points are the same.