| Top 20 Questions |
| 1 |
What is Geoladders.com?
A GPS based website offering detailed route information for various sports such as mountain biking, road biking, walking, running, etc. GeoLadders hosts 'free' weekly, monthly, and yearly amateur competitions based on a user's completed routes. Results are dynamically displayed as a ladder (competitors listed in order of their rank/points). Routes in Geoladders are assigned a point value based on distance, ascent and difficulty, every route ridden adjusts a riders ladder rank. It's motivating, healthy and good fun!
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| 2 |
Do I need a GPS to use this site?
No, you can track your rides and get ranked on the ladder as long as you're riding routes that already exist on the site. If you want to create your own routes you will need a GPS. There are also other benefits to using a GPS on the site such as gpsPlayback, Virtual Partner & The Game of Control.
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| 3 |
Do I need to become a member?
No, not to browse routes or view the ladders. But membership is free and provides access to the bulk of the Geoladders site and feature set. To become a member just create a login name and password, we promise you will not get spammed. For premium services see the Features page.
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| 4 |
How do I change my password or login name?
Click on the dashboard tab (last tab across the top), then click on the 'Edit My Information' button on the right side (in your Basic Information block). Enter a new password at the top (and/or login name).
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| 5 |
How do I post a ride?
If you have a GPS plug it in to your computer (MAC or PC), click the 'Upload My Ride' button at the top of the 'Ladders' page, follow the steps.
If you don't have a GPS, post your ride manually on the matching 'route page' (example) , on the left under 'Manage Rides' | 'Post Ride' option. Your posted ride then appears on the ladder page in the 'Completed Rides' section and on your Dashboard. Your weekly, monthly, and yearly ladder ranks are also adjusted.
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| 6 |
How do I create a route?
If you have a Garmin GPS click the 'Upload My Ride' button at the top of the 'Ladders' page, follow the steps.
Or, if you don't have a Garmin GPS save your route as a .gpx using a third party application then upload the gpx file here (bottom left corner).
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| 7 |
What is gpsPlayback?
Watch yourself and others, 'move' on a GoogleMap (as a 'moving dot'). Up to 6 riders can be played back at one time, great for comparing performance, seeing how long a break was, or how quick a flat tire got fixed. When a ride is uploaded it is immediately viewable in gpsPlayback (example).
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| 8 |
Can I display a GeoLadders route on my website?
Currently you can link to any route. At some point it will be possible to display a route (map) and define it's size on your site.
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| 9 |
Can I upload and download routes using my MAC?
Yes, our direct GPS uploads & downloads work on MAC and PC. Supported browsers include Apple Safari, Internet Explorer 6, 7, and Mozilla Firefox.
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| 10 |
What GPS units are supported?
Garmin Edge 205, 305, 605 & 705, Garmin Forerunner 305, 405, Garmin 76cs, and many others (both USB & serial are supported).
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| 11 |
What GPS do you recommend for this site?
The Garmin Edge 305 or the newer 705 unit. We do not recommend the Edge 205 or other units without a barometric sensor since they offer less accurate elevation readings.
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| 12 |
Do you support GPS units other than Garmin?
Not directly, but we do support them in a manual mode (i.e. uploading or downloading routes as a gpx file, bottom left).
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| 13 |
Where does the route content come from?
User uploads and our internal auto-creation tools. When a user uploads a GPS track to Geoladders content such as Googlemap overlays, 3D graphs, gpsPlayback, Garmin Course file, gpx file & route stats are automatically generated 'on-the-fly'. Anyone can create a route if they have a GPS, optional content such as geo-tagged pictures, route description and comments are added by the user. Some users go 'all out' and produce fantastically detailed routes, including slide-show walk-thrus, picture galleries and printed directions.
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| 14 |
How do I edit one of my posted rides?
Click your Dashboard tab (last tab across the top). Scroll to the bottom, notice your 'Completed Rides' in gray. On the far right of any ride you'll see an 'edit' link which will allow you to make changes to your posted ride.
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| 15 |
Why is there a 'two ride per day' posting limit & '7 day window'?
These rules help keep the ladder fair by not allowing new comers (or anyone) to post a large number of rides all at once (e.g. rides they might have done before they joined the ladder). Also, if someone wanted to be destructive, it's quite teadious with a two ride per day limit.
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| 16 |
What is gpsUPLOAD.com?
A visual, routes based search engine using the same backend data as Geoladders.com (same login data too). It's a generic site for route lookup and comparison, with it's non-competitive bent, perhaps appealing to a broader range of traffic than GeoLadders.com.
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| 17 |
What is Virtual Partner?
A pre-recorded activity (i.e. ride, run, hike) that you can compare your performance with (e.g. activities of others or yourself). Your progress is displayed on your Garmin GPS in feet or miles as your move (i.e. showing the distance ahead or behind in relation to your downloaded virtual partner).
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| 18 |
How do I download a Virtual Partner file to my GPS?
Go to any route page (example), and click the 'Download' button below the map (example), click the 'Virtual Partner' tab).
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| 19 |
How do you fund Geoladders.com and gpsUPLOAD.com?
Primarily through GeoLadders Premium memberships.
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| 20 |
How do I submit a feature request, ask questions, or provide other feedback?
Please e-mail us at info@geoladders.com. Your comments and questions are welcome.
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| Game FAQ's |
| 1 |
What is the game of control?
The Game of Control is a routes based team game for mountain bikers created and hosted by GeoLadders.com.
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| 2 |
How much is it to play the game?
It's Free to play as many times as you like.
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| 3 |
How do I join a game?
You're automatically added to a game once your ride volume hits 2 rides per week.
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| 4 |
Do I need a GPS?
No, you can post your rides manually, but since you don't have a GPS to create routes you are limited to posting only on routes that already exist on the site (Geoladders.com).
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| 5 |
Why was I in a game last week but not this week?
If your ride volume drops below 2 rides per week you're labeled as inactive and removed from next weeks game.
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| 6 |
Why do I need to post my rides the same day to count in the game?
Bonus points are automatically awarded at the end of each night, therefore everyone must post before the 12:00pm nightly cut-off.
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