POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Advantages of GPS

Real Time Positioning, Getting Lost, and Getting Back on Route
Advantages Over Traditional Navigation Means • Post Event Analysis

Riding with an individual GPS unit provides so many significant benefits and advantages over other traditional navigation methods such as paper cue sheets and maps and painted road markings that we believe once you ride with one you won't be able to ride without one again – we know we can't! Riding with a GPS unit will totally enhance your cycling experience forever!

Real Time Positioning, Getting Lost, and Getting Back on Route
It is impossible to get lost when using a GPS unit because you will always know exactly where you are at all times!You never have to worry about getting lost again!

You can also easily see if you are off route and if so, most of the time you can also see where you got off route and how to get back on route. This also makes our job significantly easier because we don't have to figure out where someone is in order to direct them how to get back on route and significantly decreases the chance that we will have to go pick a rider up if they get horribly lost in a worst case scenario.

Advantages Over Traditional Navigation Means
One fatal flaw with using maps and cue sheets that can never be overcome is that if you don't actually know where you are they are effectively useless. GPS units completely solve this problem by showing you your exact current position at all times!

In fact because all you need to navigate with the GPS unit is to track your progress along the route overlaid on the GPS map, paper cue sheets and maps effectively become unnecessary. As you follow the route on the GPS you can intuitively see the next direction you need to take and the distance to it just by looking at the map. Road names and road name changes also become effectively irrelevant, which is great because sometimes the name that is actually on a road sign does not match what is printed on a map.

The maps loaded onto the GPS units have detail down to individual streets and rivers and contain infinitely more information than any paper map or cue sheet ever could. By zooming in and out on the GPS map, you can show as much or as little detail as you want, from showing exactly how far you have progressed across the entire route to the name of the nearest cross street you'll be passing next.

As opposed to paper cue sheets and maps, the GPS map screen automatically adjusts and moves to be centered on your exact current position while riding so you'll never have to stop and refold it or change it over. In addition, GPS units are waterproof and can't blow away and get worn out or destroyed from rain, sweat, or being rubbed bare in your jersey pocket.

And as opposed to painted road markings that can fade or get worn out or torn up and orange flags that can easily come off, the route information on a GPS unit on remains completely within our control and cannot be affected by any external factor such as weather conditions, traffic, road construction, or vandals.

Post Event Analysis
Out GPS units log the actual progress across the route of the participants we provide them to. After the event is over, we download this data and analyze it so we can see the route they actually took in order to indentify tricky spots on the route where they may have gotten lost or confused and improve our navigation means accordingly. In addition, we also analyze their riding paces and times in order to assure efficient and complete route staffing and support coverage for future events.