Feature Request: Terrain Distance Effect

[ethanoconnor]

Hi there,

I've been doing some runs and hikes lately where the terrain effect on distance is quite significant (average slopes of > 30% for extended stretches); would it be possible at some point to add a "calculate over-ground distance of path" option to the climbing analysis dialog (or elsewhere)?

Thanks,

Ethan O'Connor
ethan.oconnor@gmail.com

[Krein]

Sure.  I looked at this in the past (hacking it in to see what kind of an effect it would have) and it wasn't very impressive, even on my more aggressive hikes/rides.

Perhaps I need to start recreating more agressively!  '>

I think it should probably be on the main stats screen - terrain distance.

At a 30 degree slope (which is steeper than 30%) you gain 15% more distance than straight line.  Even if there are extended sections, most of the route is not going to be near that.  

I found that even on long, aggressive rides (say, 60 miles and eight to nine thousand feet of climbing) it only added a mile or so.  But, I still think it should be added.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[ethanoconnor]

You're definitely right that the effect is often way smaller than you might intuit... but there are some trails around here that average 45% for a mile at a time and > 70% for .3 miles or so. I can admit that maybe the slope-adjusted distance isn't really relavant for understanding your performance on these kinds of trails, but it'd be cool to get topofusion's results to better match up with the guidebooks' when I'm showing friends '>

Thanks as always for the great software...

Ethan O'Connor

[Krein]

Yeah, even if it's small I think anything to increase the distance of a GPS collected track is good.  I usually find them to be shorter than reality or cyclometer or whatever.

[Larry]

Hi Krein,

'Terrain distance' would be useful for hiking trails too. Maybe even more useful, at least on steep trails.