stiefels.net » Biking

Biking Around the Region

admin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:04:13 +0000

After several weeks of laziness it was again time for little bike tour around the region.

Easter 2009

admin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 18:46:16 +0000

Why aren't there more days like today? Riding the bike to the family BBQ, eating some yummy bratwurst and steaks and napping in the sun. Ahh... This has been so relaxing.
There also were some [geocaches](http://www.geocaching.com) nearby so we decided to do a walk and try to find them. We've found the first cache ([GCRK8Q](http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=c55cc628-a14b-4fa1-b9cb-2ff8e0340c6a)) but we didn't have any luck with the second one ([GCNP5J](http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=31619b4a-4e9d-44bf-be7f-fd6b4c3c8e68)).
Riding back home was easier than expected (with my stomach full of bratwurst) and it only took 4 minutes longer than the ride to the BBQ. My shape is getting better and better.

First Experience with OpenStreetMap

admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 19:14:59 +0000

My hometown Glems doesn't exist, at least not in [OpenStreetMap](http://openstreetmap.org). An empty spot with a road going through it.

So I decided to take my bike and GPS and create a map of Glems. Although is not a big city it took over two hours to get all the data needed for an almost complete map of the important streets.
Back home the actual work started: Drawing the streets on top of the recorded tracks and adding marked POIs. I was using [JOSM](http://josm.openstreetmap.de/), a Java OpenStreetMap editor. I found it pretty convenient and stable to use. The thing which takes a lot of time - especially if you are a newbie like I am - is to look up the available tags for streets and POIs.
One thing I noticed that you can't get it perfect on the first try. There are just too many details you would have to remember (or write down). But fortunately OpenStreetMap is a community project so everybody can add additional information or make changes to the map. There are still a lot of tracks missing around Glems so there is a lot of fun work to do.

First Bike Tour 2009

admin — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:40:47 +0000

Last weekend we had a beautiful weather in south Germany. A good time to jump on the bike and do a small tour around the area for the first time in 2009.

The first destination was Dettingen where I picked up [Kangaroo](http://blog.kangaroo.cmo.de). He was on his way to [Stuttgart](http://gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=pszjqrkkxcetyica) so I decided to join him until Bempflingen (see evidence photo) where we split up and I headed back home.

The way back was kind of exhausting because the road is constantly going uphill but it was a nice trip and I can't wait until the snow is gone (yes, we have snow... again).
Find [more track details](http://gpsies.com/mapOnly.do?fileId=lxsawimkplamdjom) at [gpsies.com](http://gpsies.com).