Navigation - Co-Pilot, Samsung Galaxy S4, Google Maps

Navigation:

I got my original route from the web in .gpx format and another blog, however I had to do a few things:

First off it was a LEJOG route (Lands End to John O'Groats), great start but it means the route was going the wrong way so I have had to reverse the routes, this was accomplished with this site:

 http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php

Just load your route up and reverse it simple.   My advice do it step by step and make sure it's reversed, I had to check mine a few times.

Next step was editing the route for myself, I did this in google maps classic, but I had to convert all of the gpx files to .kml so i could import them to google, this was done with the following site:

http://kml2gpx.com/

When I had finished editing the route for myself (and it has been adjusted several times) I had to convert the .kml back to .gpx format using the same site as above.

With all of my .gpx files ready I needed to convert them to a format that my sat nav could read.  I am using co-pilot on a Samsung Galaxy S4.   Co-pilot uses the .trp format so again it was a quick search on the web for a converter:

http://www.routeconverter.de/formats/

Once all my routes were converted it was a simple matter of loading them into co pilot, thats fairly easy, just drop the files onto your co-pilot folder where the other .trp files are stored (not the demo ones) just a quick search in the co-pilot folder is all it took.

The routes you have uploaded will now be available in the my route section for you to load up.

ISSUES:

The only issue I have had with this process is co-pilot will turn certain routes into 3 x the journey for no reason.  Looking at the trip in co pilot shows the route going along a road, suddenly it will leave the road, wander 10 miles out and come back to the next point a few hundred yards were it left???  Further investigation shows that it only does this when you select bicycle or walk as your transport.  If you select car etc.. it works fine...  Even if you select quickest route on the bike.

I have emailed co-pilot technical support and recieved no help from them...

Also if anyone knows of a decent offline map editor for co pilot on the android I would love to be able to edit the .trp format on my pc.

Oh and a last word on power, GPS on a phone eats battery, so I have purchased two external ones that provide power via usb.  They are both rated at 20,000 mAH so which will keep my Sat Nav going for a while :-)  This along with some abuse of the power points in any pub/cafe I come across will hopefully be all I need, I also recommend buying a usb charging plug, I got one of fleabay with 4 points on two fast charging points and two normal, so enough to charge the phone and powerbanks in one go and my ipod nano as well :-)

Updates on my bike and My Hermes parcel delivery suck

Mudgaurds, Spares Kit and Saddle Cover

My mudgaurds arrived and I was a little worried over the quality, after seeing all of the "topline" mudgaurds available and the price!!!  I was a little stuck because my bike has front suspension and disc brakes, trust me this seriously limits your options.

I went onto amazon and fleabay and good old fleabay threw up the following:

ETC Suspension Mudgaurds £12.00 inc postage

When they turned up I was very surprised, lightweight but very sturdy with the added bonus they are quick release.  Very easy to fit,the only adjustment I had to make was to raise my rear pannier higher which may work out better as less likely for mud to fling up, see pics below:

Front Mudgaurd

Rear Mudgaurd

Spares Kit

Perhaps the heaviest item to carry on the bike next to water and my petrol stove (more on that later) is my spares kit.  Being unsuported I have to carry enough spares for the bike and any repairs, tent etc..  this adds up.   I was originally going to carry the spares kit in a lunchbox in one of the rear panniers, but I would rather centralise the weight so I have bought a frame bag pics below:

Centre Frame Bag

It fits all my spares apart from the innertubes which will go into the front panniers.  It also has plenty of space left for any other bits and pieces.  (you may be thinking about where spare water bottles are going to go and fuel bottle but the boys in the engineering department have that one under control).

Seat Cover

Because I intend to camp for the trip, I don't want to wake up and get on a bike with a wet saddle so I have added a waterproof saddle cover to fit overnight.  It's from halfords although I got it on ebay for pennies, pics below:

Seat Cover

And Finally......  My Hermes parcel delivery ...

One of the main pieces of kit I am waiting for are my front panniers, sourced from fleabay.  Unfortunately the seller put the wrong house number on and put next doors number.  Well next door say they haven't had them!!  they then provided me with a tracking number saying they were delivered and signed for??

I have tried all of the other possibilites locally no one has seen the parcel,  and heres where it gets bad, My Hermes won't speak to me, they have ignored the sellers emails (so far) and their chat help is permanently unavailable..  so we can't even find out where the driver dropped them.  Not a good impression of that firm.


Sorted:  Hermes finally replied to the seller, amazingly the signature on the parcel was my next door neighbor (who earlier claimed they hadn't had any parcel that wasn't theirs), they have had the parcel for a week, they knew it was mine and despite a visit from my daughter and then myself denied they had any other parcel.  The absolute irony of this was that I went next door to give them a parcel that had wrongly come to our home...  what goes on in someones head to be that deceitful the name on the parcel was in bold and at the top but they still took delivery knowing they were never going to let me know even when asked...... 

When I showed the signature with their name on it suddenly appeared, strangely enough it had my name on they knew it was for me but claimed I needed to prove who I was lol, showed my driving licence and they handed it over..  I was seconds away from involving the police, had issues with them before I guess they thought they would just make things awkward.. sad sad little minded people.  I have always taken their parcels straight round, but this time they have finally emptied my good will bag, so parcels will now go straight back to sender and I will refuse to sign for any delivery.

I feel sorry for the seller although they made a mistake, my neighbors did all they could to make a bad situation worse...

Music for the Ride

Music for the Ride:

It's quite late and I have been thinking about music for the ride, one of the obvious tracks for me is Roll, Roll, Roll me away by Bob Segar.  I am also passionate about motorbike riding, and I own an Honda Valkyrie affectionately known as "The Fat Lady", and yes this Fat Lady sings :-) I will do a post on her, as I plan to take her for a ride before I leave to say goodbye for two weeks.

The Fat Lady
Ride For Respect Wooton Bassett 2012

Anyhow, here's the lyrics and a link to the song, if I am ever feeling listless or my mood is low, this song and a ride on my Valkyrie are sure to lift me up a little!

Roll Me Away:

Contemplating Other things
From Crib Goch to Snowden to Tryfan

Video Link

Words and music by Bob Seger

Took a look down a westbound road,
Right away I made my choice
Headed out to my big two-wheeler,
I was tired of my own voice
Took a bead on the northern plains
And just rolled that power on
Twelve hours out of mackinaw city
Stopped in a bar to have a brew
Met a girl and we had a few drinks
And I told her what I'd decided to do
She looked out the window a long long moment
Then she looked into my eyes
She didn't have to say a thing,
I knew what she was thinkin'
Roll, roll me away,
Won't you roll me away tonight
I too am lost, I feel double-crossed
And I'm sick of what's wrong and what's right
We never even said a word,
We just walked out and got on that bike
And we rolled
And we rolled clean out of sight
We rolled across the high plains
Deep into the mountains
Felt so good to me
Finally feelin' free
Somewhere along a high road
The air began to turn cold
She said she missed her home
I headed on alone
Stood alone on a mountain top,
Starin' out at the great divide
I could go east, I could go west,
It was all up to me to decide
Just then I saw a young hawk flyin'
And my soul began to rise
And pretty soon
My heart was singin'
Roll, roll me away,
I'm gonna roll me away tonight
Gotta keep rollin, gotta keep ridin',
Keep searchin' till I find what's right
And as the sunset faded
I spoke to the faintest first starlight
And I said next time
Next time
We'll get it right

 Northern Lights

The second song that came to mind was a real oldie, and one I had only come across a few weeks earlier called Norther Lights by Rennaisance.  It just makes me think of adventure and travel and Scotland :-)

 Northern Lights


he northern lights are in my mind
They guide me back to you
The northern lights are in my mind
They guide me back to you

Destination outward bound
I turn to see the northern lights behind the wing
Horizons seem to beckon me
Learned how to cry too young, so now I live to sing

The northern lights are in my mind
They guide me back to you
Horizons seem to beckon me
Learned how to cry too young, so now I live to sing

Know it's hard away from you
Traveling roads and passing through
It's not for money and it's not for fame
I just can't explain, sometimes it's lonely

Marking the space between the days
Early hours pass away
I sing to you of northern lights
I sing for you of northern nights

Past or future, here or there
Shelter comes in words from you, so talk to me
I hear your voice, it comforts me
In morning dreams I take your hand, you walk with me

The northern lights are in my mind
They guide me back to you
Peace enfolds the still night air
Home again I look for you and find you there

Destination homeward now
Take the easy way, bring me down
Making the hard way now I see
Hard to be really free, I'm missing you near me

Marking the space between the days
Early hours pass away
I sing to you of northern lights
I sing for you of northern nights

The northern lights are in my mind
They guide me back to you
The northern nights are in my eyes
They guide me back to you

The northern lights are in my mind
They guide me back to you
The northern nights are in my eyes
They guide me back to you

The northern lights are in my mind
They guide me back to you
The northern nights are in my eyes
They guide me back to you

The northern lights are in my mind
They guide me back to you
The northern nights are in my eyes
They guide me back to you

Strained Kneee & Winter Jacket

Strained Knee Running Round the River

 

Last week I went for a run around the river at lunchtime, next day the tendon at the side of my knee was sore and it gave me a nasty limp.  I can cycle just fine with no pain, but walking or impact on the leg makes the tendon painful.  I am having to take the worst medicine of all and stay off my bike and any other leg exercises until the tendon decides it's ready.

(update on the knee)  it's the 19th of September and a week to go, my knee is feeling almost normal, if I am not silly another 7 days rest should mean no complications :-)

It's really annoying, shouldn't interfere with my ride but I am not taking any chances so it's rest n recuperation time.  Still the views round the river are fantastic:

Aerial view of the river

It's a great run round the river, out to St Johns and back in along the river aprox 3.5 miles, you couldn't find a more scenic route.

New Jacket

I dug out my trusty winter cycling jacket softshell.  It has pretty much had it's day, the zip was broken and it had a tear.. I don't remember it being broken when I put it away.  Leaving later in the year means I am going to face some cold mornings especially in Scotland, but the upside and there is always an upside is that I will avoid the midges.

The last trip I took to Scotland apart from visiting Bill & Jazzy was a weeks camping on the shores of Loch Lomond,  I still bear the scars and was practically canibalised by the local midge population aparently I was quite a delicacy.

Perfectly Adapted for eating the English

All Joking aside these buggers in their BILLIONS can seriously ruin a trip, they did mine.  I can deal with the cold, I can't deal with being eaten alive!!

Coincidentally I work very near a TKmax, I popped in during my lunch and on the clearance rail was a dare2be softshell velociouss jacket marked down from £65.00 to £22.00 an excellent bargain.

• Water repellent finish
• Reflective detail for enhanced visibility
• Stretch bound cuff
• Windproof membrane
• 2 x zipped lower pockets
• Ilus D-Lab woven stretch polyester fabric
• Adjustable shockcord hem and neck cinch
• Weighs less than 500g, based on size L
• Ventilated back panel
• Lightweight
• 35% lighter than our traditional D-LAB Softshell

This will be the final addition to my clothing for the trip, really looking forward to seeing how it performs in the cold scottish mornings.

Paracord Watch

I was looking for something to do for an hour and I decided to renovate an an old Kahuna watch I had with a tatty wrist strap.  I figured I need a watch for the trip and this would do:

Watch with paracord strap for the trip

Not as good as the ones on the internet maybe, I think my para-cord is a little thick but it wasted some time while I was listening to music.

I have made some of these before, a little neater but it will do the job, the paracord and buckles are readily available on fleabay and cost pennies.

I am not going to pretend to be an expert on these things I taught myself from youtube videos :-)  Just do a search for paracord watch strap, you will be amazed what some people can do!!

Why a paracord watch??  well that wrist strap unfolds to an amazingly long piece of cord in emergencies, with all sorts of uses.

Hygiene & First Aid

Wash Kit

 Ok so two weeks on the road mean I am going to have to carry my wash kit with me:

DPM Roll Courtesy of my local Army and Navy Store TW Ryders

I am not so keen on the camouflage wash roll but he ho it's seems the best option and less bulky and comes with a detachable mirror.

I have so far added:

1 x toothbrush
1 x small toothpaste
1 x microfiber cloth (facetowell)
2 x disposable razor (more on this below)
1 x shaving foam
1 x solid deodorant
1 x aftershave and apres rasage (v.small)
1 x nail file and emery stick (look after your feet)
1 x soap bar (small)
1 x small shower gel
1 x Large microfiber travel towel (not shown)

Quick Tip on Smelling Less like a smelly Wooky:

After a while on the road and sweating it's likely my clothes are going to have a little perfume of their own, so my tip for this is:

Or whatever your preferred dryer sheet is (personally the pound shop ones are great).  Keep a couple with your clothes and they will prevent a build up of unwanted perfume.

You can also:

1. Pack a few inside your tent (prevents a damp smell)
2. Put some in your sleeping bag
3.  Pack them in your trainers

Basically if it's likely to smell put some in.  I am going to be stopping off a lot of places and it would be good not to make people go green when i get close :-)

Beard or No Beard:

 Ok here's another choice, I  already have a beard but I was thinking of cutting the shaving for two weeks and letting a full beard grow; the only problem is that I tend to itch badly on a full beard if I cycle.. and then there's how I will look after two weeks what do you think.. Full beard or not??

Wish I had packed some clippers

First Aid:

I have trained in first aid and some survival first aid so I feel fairly confident in this area and I have learned from experience that having a basic first aid kit to hand is an essential.  I pretty much carry one on every trip and keep one in my car and my motorbike. Here's what I have decided to take with me for this trip, taking into account that i have a lot of other kit on the bike that can be adapted for emergency first aid use, microfibre towels, electrical tape etc..

Contents:

1. Scissors
2. pins
3. savlon
4. bandage
5. alcohol wipe
6. compeed (blister plasters if you don't know what they are get some and read the cover)
7. ice pack
8. micro pore tape
9. triangular bandage
10. non adherent absorbent bandage
11. plasters various sizes
12. foil blanket
13. ICE (in case of emergency) Medical information stored on a usb with my blood type medication and conditions as well as contact information etc..  very useful for a bicycle or a motorbike:

Link to utag website

I am also taking some pain medication and some of my own normal medication I make no recommendations on these other than you should make sure if you are on any medication that you don't forget to pack it and have it easily available.

I am traveling solo (hate the word alone) and I know how quickly hypothermia can get to you and how easily you can become confused so the foil blanket is a real life saver, especially if you come across someone else who needs help.

final word, your first aid kit should be easy to get to and easy to open, thats why i prefer a pouch if your cold tired and fingers are numb you don't want to be struggling to open a box or tin etc..  My kit is going into handlebar bag and that will pretty much never leave my sight.

Mudgaurds & Weather

I am trying to decide whether or not to buy mudguards.  What's there to decide??  The problem is, getting mudguards to fit my bike, and do I need them.  The weather has been amazing this year, seriously no one can complain about a poor British summer the question is if it will continue?

 Here's a website for John O'Groats historical weather:

 http://www.myweather2.com/City-Town/United-Kingdom/Highland/John-o-Groats/climate-profile.aspx?month=10

If I look at the previous years weather, I am likely to get some rain, with this years good weather thats probably going to be less than average.   I am taking waterproofs and my kit will be waterproofed, I think the best thing is to buy some and fit them anyhow.  My bike is not going to be light by any means and I think mudgaurds will have the potential to save a lot of wet misery.

I have purchased some quick release ones:

 I will post some fitting pics, when they arrive.