Garmin Edge 305 with Heartrate
I’ve wanted a GPS for sometime now. But I really felt like it was just another gadget that would be nice to have for capturing my routes, but not a necessity to have for biking. I’ve been riding for 17+ years now without one and have gotten by just fine. However there have been times when I’ve been on a unfamiliar trail in the mountains that had to break out the map and compass. That’s always worked well for me and I must say I pretty good with a compass. But when you’re at an intersection of two or more trails staring at your compass, all the while your legs are getting cold and tightening up, the idea of having a tour guide sounds much better. And when it comes down to it… I’d prefer to ride, rather than to practice my compass and map reading skills.
The main reason I was interested in getting a GPS was to capture the routes I ride, so that I could come back to the trail at a later date and ride it again without the need to check my map at every intersecting trail. So when I came across a deal on a GPS that I couldn’t pass up I took the plunge and bought one.
I ended up purchasing a Garmin Edge 305 with Heartrate and Cadence. Only interested in the GPS I didn’t give the heartrate accessory much thought and figured the cadence accessory would probably be useless to me for mountain biking. When I got back home I unpackaged the GPS, the first thing I noticed is that it was surprisingly light, weighed less than a food bar I might carry and compact. While it was charging, I browsed through the manual and had a good idea of how to get it setup in time for my next ride the following day… I just had to wait for the charge to finish to adjust the settings.
Later that evening I checked the GPS and noticed the display indicated that the charge was complete, so I started it up and began browsing the settings. I expected it to be difficult to setup, but was pleased to find that it was quite simple and within about 20 minutes I had the entire device setup and all settings dialed in for me. I entered in my body weight, adjusted many settings to auto capture laps, auto start and auto pause, adjusted my display settings, in fact the settings where so simple that I moved forward with setting up the heartrate monitor as well.
The next day I loaded up the bike, grabbed my biking gear and the GPS and headed off to the trail. At the trail head I strapped on the heartrate monitor and snapped the GPS on to the handlebar bracket that came with the GPS and pushed the “start” button to begin capturing my route. As my bike began to roll forward I heard a sound indicating that the GPS had gone from auto pause to auto start and my route was now being captured. I didn’t give the GPS much thought as I was riding and when I finally finished one lap I heard another sound indicating that the first lap had been captured. I continued down the trail for my second lap and when I finished up the second lap and rolled back out to the parking lot I heard another sound come from my GPS indicating I had reach the starting point of my ride yet again for my second lap. I reach down and hit stop, took off my riding gear and head off to the house.
Later that evening I took a moment and loaded the GPS data into the software “Garmin Training Center” that came with the Edge 305. With my route loaded I began reviewing the data collected, like my max speed, average speed, elevation and heartrate. The next day I hit another trail, collected my route data and loaded it into “Garmin Training Center” and compared the rides against each other. Third ride… same as the previous, capture my route, uploaded and compared the data. At this point I started uploading my routes to Motionbased.com Garmin’s own GPS route website and while I was on Motionbased.com I noticed that I could download other people’s routes to my Edge 305. The idea that I could download MTB routes that I had never ridden before was really exciting. I now had a way to hit a trail that I had never ridden before and in theory navigate the route without having to stare at a map constantly trying to navigate my way.
So I began browsing various MTB routes on Motionbased.com to find trails that I was interested in riding, the kind of elevation and distance I want to cover, trails I have wanted to ride for many years, but just haven’t made my way to as of yet. I now have a growing collection of GPS routes stored on my computer, just waiting for the time when I’ll need them.
Three days ago my buddy Rick and I decided to ride at DuPont State Forest in North Carolina. We’ve both ridden there before many times over the 17+ years we’ve been riding together, but not enough lately to have a good idea of where we’re going, nor what trails to ride. So the evening before the ride I began to browse the DuPont routes I had download and found four bike routes that seemed like the kind of ride we’d be interested in. I loaded the four routes to my GPS and using “Garmin Training Center” I printed out a hard copy of each route. At the trailhead of Corn Mill Shoals we reviewed each hard copy and decided on a route and I loaded it up on the Edge 305 and pressed “Do Route” and we began our ride.
I didn’t even bother to look at my map and therefore starting out was a bit rocky, since we didn’t know which trail to hit and there was two to chose from. But as we rolled along the wrong trail it quickly became obvious that we needed to turn around and hit the other trail. On the right trail the Edge 305 guided us along perfectly and with a quick glance I was able to tell Rick that we had a left or right turn ahead of us and just as the GPS indicated there it was. For the most part the Edge 305 guided us along the entire route without a hitch through a 20+ mile trail and even though we did check our map on a few occasions, It was quite clear within about 50 yards if we had taken a wrong turn. And we did take a few wrong turns and I suspect that this may have been a result of poor signal when the original route was captured, since my signal for the entire ride was excellent. But even with the occasional wrong turn we made, the Edge 305 had us correcting the mistake quickly and much faster than breaking out a map and compass to get our bearings. We also didn’t stick entirely to the same route that I had loaded on my GPS either. So as we left the route, I would back out of the viewer to display a larger area in the display and as we rolled down the trail I could see our position indicator as we rolled away from the route and draw nearer and eventually back on route.
We ended up riding about 22 miles or so, guided entirely by the Garmin Edge 305. Never once did we feel lost and for the most part we where right on track the entire ride. I really liked not having to stop at ever trail crossing, digging out the map to determine which trail to take and the bonus was that our legs didn’t get cold at every intersection while staring at a map. The only regret I have is that I didn’t get a GPS sooner.
As for the Garmin Edge 305, this is the first biking GPS I’ve ever had, so I can’t compare it to any other device. But I am 100% satisfied with my choice to purchase the Garmin Edge 305 and would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in having a cycling GPS.
On a final note… I dig riding my bike and when I’m on the trail “it’s all about the ride”. I don’t pod, I don’t carry a cell phone, I don’t want to mess around with devices and gadgets… I just want to ride! So any device that I can take along for the ride to capture a memory, the experience, without interfering with the ride is a definitely a plus and any device that can help me get more ride time in, is a must have. That day at DuPont the Garmin Edge 305 definitely allowed us to get more ride time in, because we didn’t waste our time gazing at the map at every intersecting trail and I really dig that!
(4 votes, average: 6.25 out of 7)
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