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Old 03-15-06 | 03:24 PM
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L Dude 7
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Joined: Dec 2005
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Determining 'true speed'

I've become a data junky with my commute.

I have a Garmin Etrex GPS on my handlebars.
I load all the tracks from my commutes in to Garmin Map Source software (to see few of all my routes), then use GPs Babel to convert it to GPX to load it in to GPS Action Replay (to run the 'dot race' of my past commutes, and see where slow and fast points are.)

The trip home from work almost always takes longer than the trip to work. Work is at a slight elevation decline from home (a couple hundred feet over 6 miles), the prevailing winds tend to blow to the office. The commute home is more lilely to be in the dark (thus, needing the hub-generator light on.) The traffic lights home cause more delays. (right turns at long lights there, with left turns returning.) And, I tend to be more tired in the evening.

The GPS can get elevation information and delays at lights. However, is there a good way to determine wind drag? Is there a wind gauge that could be strapped to the bike? (And then somehow calibrated with bike speed to get actual wind speed?) And then there is the matter of putting all of these things in to some sort of formula to determine exactly how hard I am pedalling. (maybe a heart rate monitor for the control?)

Any good ideas to satisfy the need to know just too much information about the daily commute?
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