GPS as a Harescramble Training Device
After struggling to do anything useful in the woods with my outdated eMap, I decided to check and see what else was out there. When I came across news of the newly released Garmin Forerunner 205 and Forerunner 305, I had to give them a try. The local Dick’s Sporting Goods didn’t have the 305 yet (none of the local stores did), so I picked up the 205. I’ll have a more detailed review soon, but here are some quick bullet points for you.
Highs
- Pretty dog gone stylish for a GPS wrist watch (of course it’s big but what did you expect)
- Extremely easy to start using quickly (I broke it out of the package 10 min before a meeting and was able to record a quick course and upload)
- USB, FINALLY!!! (no more serial cables)
- Power supply for charging in addition to the USB cable
- Extremely cool interface to Motion-based online service that overlays tracks on a satellite image and other cool stuff
- Auto-lap feature that automatic detects completed laps of a loop course and keeps track of the laps
- Claims to work in heavily wooded areas (although I saw some issues with this yesterday - I’m going to try a more thorough test today)
- Extremely high cool factor (until everyone has one)
- Relatively low price
- Ability to share workouts online to compete virtually against others
Lows
- Doesn’t come fully charged out of the box (ok, ok, that may be a little unreasonable but forgive me if I’m a bit impatient with toys as cool as this one)
- Garmin software a bit basic compared to the Motion based service
- Auto shutdown not enabled by default (it stayed on all night and the batteries ran dead)
So again, more to come but I wanted to get out some info on this device from an offroad moto perspective. I’m going to try it in the woods this morning to map out a 2 mile course and see how it goes.
No comments yet.