NikolasFarrel

Yesterday, a friend and I discussed whether to develop a geocaching type app for cyclists. The idea is to get more people involved in cycling. I think it would be interesting for children and adults alike, but the discussion was stalemated as there were options both for and against. What do you think? Now everything is at a brainstorming level and we need the opinion of people who are into cycling.

skijor

How would it be "biking specific"? I mean other than just getting from point A (home or maybe your campsite) to point C (the geocache destination/area). How would this app be any different/more cyclist-appealing than what's already out there?

Riveting

I already use the Geocaching app while on two wheels. What's novel about your new idea? Will the caches be cycling specific, as opposed to the trinkets in the children's caches. If the cycling caches have any "value" whatsoever, they'll all be vandalized and/or stolen.

For the children's caches I typically try to leave a cycling shaped rubber eraser, or very small plastic bike.

NikolasFarrel

One option is to partner with bike shops. For example, as an element of gamification, you can lay out a route where a cyclist can find pieces of code for a repository where there will be parts for the bike. The more difficult the task, the more valuable the part. The bike shop will be able to get additional advertising and new customers, and cyclists will be able to upgrade their bikes. Then it is possible to exchange parts through the application if you did not find the desired part but were involved in the search. It's a conceptualization for now. Thanks for the feedback.

njkayaker

Local shops won't do much for large bicycle clubs (outside of sometimes providing a discount).

I suspect they'd have even less interest in being involved with geocaching.

The advertising aspect doesn't seem worthwhile and they wouldn't get many customers from it.

Regarding "more valuable" "bike parts", most bike shop customers likey have cheaper bikes or people with expensive bikes are going to be more picky. So, random "parts" aren't going to be worth the trouble for most people to look for.

If the idea was well thought-out (doesn't seem so yet), it might "increase the number of cyclists" but likely by a very small number.

It's not clear being "cycling specific" would do more than promoting what already exists.

=======================

According to this, there are 1.6 million people geocaching in the US.
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/11/10095...acism-and-bias

Geocaching, as it stands now, is a fairly niche activity.

According to this, there are 48 million people hiking in the US.

https://trailandsummit.com/is-hiking...-more-popular/

According to this, there are 43 million people regularly cycling in the US.

https://www.statista.com/topics/1686/cycling/

NikolasFarrel

Maybe the local shops just don't realize all the benefits of geocaching? You can for example do as a quest, a clue can be in the bike shop and then lead on.

While doing geocaching on a bicycle, a person can cover longer distances in less time and there are also benefits in terms of fitness. A person spends more calories while riding a bicycle.

You can also consider the benefits for children's education by applying geocaching + cycling. The playful and active form is much more interesting for children than just say sitting in class or in front of the monitor moreover there is nothing better than riding a bike with friends.

Now a little about the usefulness of cycling - the route to be overcome and focus on stopping in certain places in order to find clues and some historical information about the place. Biking also involves overcoming the route of a certain complexity and sometimes on rough terrain, which requires a certain configuration of the bike and equipment (correct me if I'm right)

njkayaker

There are no real benefits to a shop.

This really doesn't do anything to sell bikes.

???

None of these things really has anything to do with bicycle shops. Not, do they require the involvement of shops.

At the moment, shops are not having problems selling bikes. They might even be having problems getting bikes to sell.

Anyway, these mostly presume already having a bike. Very few people are going to buy a bike to do geocaching.

​​​​​

NikolasFarrel

I see your point, let's think over the idea further. Perhaps a popular app like Pokemon Go should be explored and tried to do a similar one. For example, participants must find a virtual geocache by passing a certain quest. The quest involves passing quite a long route and the bike will be just right. Participants will be able to write their own quests and in this way, participants can have an active time. Alternatively, you can present your idea at a hackathon and thus watch the reaction of top experts. That's just now we need to decide with what to go to a hackathon or maybe other IT activity. I read in an article https://www.codica.com/blog/how-to-c...iable-product/ That it is better to demonstrate your idea not in words, but on the finished product, even if it is rather crude, and after receiving answers from the experts in the industry to proceed to development, perhaps the original idea will be changed but I would not like it. Do you think such a move would advance development?

SpedFast

I have close to 100 hides -- all are accessible by bike because I was riding a bike when I hid them. Some are on MTB trails and trail heads, some are just along roads with nice places to pull over with a bike (or car). Lots are in city parks and cemeterys where people can park and walk. I ride routes that take me by my hides on a fairly regular basis so I can do maintenance on them and get exercise. I usually see cars parked nearby doing the cache but have yet to see anyone on a bike. Not that they were intended solely for bikers, per se, that's just the way I like getting around when geocaching. But biking and caching, while a great excuse for a ride, don't seem to be very prevalent. I should add that I get the looks from people that think I ran into the bushes to relieve myself when that's not the case haha. Good luck

njkayaker

Pokemon Go was developed by a large company extending something already worth a lot of money.

Does anybody do the Pokemon go stuff any more?

In any case, it's still too vague to really be an idea.

Why do you need an app? Do people use specific apps for geocaching?

NikolasFarrel

Honestly, people looked at me the same way, and especially when I tried looking for the stash. People, who are unfamiliar with geocaching would come up and say, "Are you missing something? Might help." Made friends like that a couple of times and searched for geocaches together. I wish there were more people like that. But there are times when people are very wary and you think, "I hope they don't call the police."

NikolasFarrel

There are devoted Pokémon Go fans, teenagers, and some people who are familiar with Pokémon from the TV series. Google Maps exists and is developing so why should Pokemon Go stop developing? It's augmented reality + geolocation data. Yes, Geocaching has its official app for android and iOS. Pokémon Go may not be available in some regions, but that doesn't negate its popularity worldwide.

Everything can start small. If there will be a larger company that can offer to join the unit or buy out the idea. There are quite a few options.

Why the app? We use phones or tablets very often that's why my choice is this app more and more traffic is on phones and mobile devices.

njkayaker

Which geocaching doesn't have. So, irrelevant, as far as anybody can tell.

Wut?

​​​​​​What is the "official" app?

Geocaching has been around for years. And nothing like this has happened.

​​​​​​???

Seems half-baked (optimistically) and not very coherent.

NikolasFarrel

[QUOTE=njkayaker;22338126]You might want to take a look at this. https://www.geocaching.com/play

​​​​​​​When I talked about google maps and its development I meant the development of GPS devices.

njkayaker

It's a company with a geocaching app.

It's not "official", it seems. It's just relatively popular/commonl-used.

​​​​​​???

GPS was developed by the government.

Companies made very expensive products that could use it.

It became wide-spread and inexpensive a fair while later.

That is, nothing like a cycle-specific geocaching app for a not that popular activity (see earlier stats).

Darth Lefty 

There’s still geocaching? I used to do it 20 years ago when I lived in the desert and they were on cool landmarks. I gave it up when I moved to the burbs and there was a Tupperware full of happy meal toys on every street corner. Under the rules they were saturated, nowhere left to place a new one. I haven’t done it since before iPhones, at least.

Kat12

And before that was letterboxing, the analog version...