Track Upload and Download Instructions

Introduction

A GPS track is a series of points on the earth recorded at intervals as you travel along. Depending on the method/equipment used to record the track other data such as heartrate or cadence can be recorded at the same time.

The different manufacturers of the GPS equipement have in their infinite wisdom decided to pretty much ignore each other when it comes to deciding how to save this information on your PC (or Mac etc). There are dozens of formats in use and no one format is going to be perfect for everyone.

Because of this we had to choose a single format for storing GPS tracks on the site, well we choose 3 but one of them is preferred over the others.

For the purposes of the website the only thing that maters is the positional information that will let someone else follow a track someone has created and because of this we have choosen Google Earth KML files as the preferred file type.

KML files only contain the positional info and are of a pretty compact format and so make uploading and storing quicker and reduce the amount of space needed. You can use Garmin CRS or the standard GPX file formats but they are much bigger and will affect the performance of your upload and the number of tracks each member can store.

The following instructions will help you get tracks to and from the website and into a form others or yourself can use.

Creating a track of a ride

The first thing you need to do is get a track of a ride in a file on your PC. To do this you can either use one of many online tools to map out a track and then save it to your PC or you can actually go out and ride a route and use a GPS device such as a Garmin Forerunner or Edge to record it.

Online track creation

To create routes on line without braving the british summer we recommend using MapMyRide. Look at the site for details of how to create tracks and save them. Its free and you dont have to register if you dont want to.

MapMyRide will let you download a KML file of your route so if you use it choose KML as the type to download to your PC and then skip to the upload instructions below. If you download as any other type then you will need to do some conversion work before you can upload to the website.

Recording a track while riding or running

Go out on your run/ride and use your device to record the track. Once back home, receive it from the device and save it to your PC using the software that came with it.

For instance if you have a Garmin Forerunner 305 then there is the supplied software called Training Center or you can (should really) try Sporttracks. The Garmin software only allows you to save tracks in its own formats (TCX, CRS) so once you have saved your track to your PC you need to convert it to a KML.

Converting the track to a KML

There is lots of downloadable software for converting GPX track data between the myriad formats but I cant find anything that does everything and seems idiot proof. In addition most of the software is Windows based so that stuffs you Mac and Linux users.

Fortunatly there is a site called GPSies that performs many conversions and doesnt require you download anything, doesnt force you to register and doesnt cost anything.

Go to the site (choose the 'Convert' tab if not there already) and click the browse button. Navigate to where the file you created is, select it and click open.

Make sure 'track' is selected (not Waypoint) and the type is 'Google Earth KML'.

Click convert.

After a while (a 90 mile route created on a Garmin 305 took 30 seconds) you will be prompted with a 'Open File' dialog. Choose 'Save' and then navigate to where to you want to save the file and click Ok. (This may vary a bit depending on your browser)

Uploading Tracks to the Team MK website

Logon to the Team MK website and use the menu to navigate to Resources->Tracks

Click the link to begin creation of a new track and then complete the fields for Title, Description, notes and ride type.

Near the bottom of the page is a browse button. Click this and then navigate to the KML file you have created. Click open.

Finally click the 'Submit' button. This will upload the file you selected and then display the track on a map. It will also immediatly be available for others to view and download.

Viewing and Downloading Tracks from the Team MK website

Logon to the website and use the menu to navigate to Resources->Tracks

You will see a list of all the uploaded tracks on the site.

Select the track you wish to view and it will be presented to you on a map.

Near the bottom of the screen you will see an attachment. This is the original file that was used to create the displayed track, usually a KML but could be a CRS or GPX.

Right click on the file and selected 'save link as' (this may vary depending on your browser).

Choose the location to save the file and click ok.

Using a Downloaded Track with your GPS Equipment.

Depending on the equipment you have and its capabilities you may need to convert the KML to another file type.

For Garmin 305 users this will mean converting from the KML to CRS or TCX. For users of other equipment you will need to establish what track file types your software required.

Use the GPSies web site as described above to convert the KML into the file type you need.

An additional point here is that on the GPSies convert page you can select 'Show Options'. This reveals some extra things you can do.