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Average gradient - is it correct?

Moseleyi
over 4 years ago

I'm inspecting a route that I created and first part of it looks like the image below:

This point is:

Distance: 5.39km

Elevation: 802m

Starting elevation: 474m

It's not the steepest route but it's pretty much uphill all the time. However the Average Gradient reported is negative:

Considering above numbers I tried to calculate the gradient in percentage.

At the aforementioned point, my Rise is 802 - 474 = 328m with the Run of 5390m. The gradient in decimal is 328 / 5390 = 0.0608, taking the arctangent (tan-1) of the ratio: α = arctan(0.0608) = 3.48°

I thought that maybe my starting elevation isn't taken into consideration but if that were true, the gradient would have been even higher and postive. Unless I'm calculating it incorrectly, in this case I would appreciate some explanation how to read the avg gradient metric.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Could you make the Course public, and post the link, so that we can have a closer look at it? I checked a course of mine, and the data shown on it looks credibly.

  • +1 over 4 years ago in reply to Moseleyi

    OK, I see - it is what I suspected - you did not post the whole elevation profile, above. The Avg Gardient value on the right pane shows the average gradient of the remaining part of the course. So if you are with the mouse cursor at 802m and the end is at 577m, then the average gradient necessarily has to be negative.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to trux

    Oh I see.. not what I expected though. I would rather see what is the gradient from the start to the point I'm highilghting. I'm presuming this is not configurable? 

    Do you think thhis would be a useful feature. Basically to see the gradient so far not until the end. Since my courses are usually that shape, I would have to use thee selection tool many times to be able to see what the gradient was so far until the point I'm hovering over..

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to Moseleyi
    Moseleyi said:
    I would rather see what is the gradient from the start to the point I'm highilghting. I'm presuming this is not configurable? 

    If you place the cursor over the starting point, the right pane will show the avg. gradient till the end. If you want the gradient from the start to the urrent position, create the same course in reverse sense.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to trux

    It shows 0.4% gradient, which doesn't tell my anything. What I mean is that if I hover over, let's say, 5km mark, I want to see the gradient up to that point

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to Moseleyi

    I edited my previous reply - in fact you want the reverse funcionality than what it offers now. So just create the same course in opposite sense, and you'll have it.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to trux

    I don't think creating each course in reverse is even a feasible workaround.. With many courses that can not only get messy but defeats the purpose of having a course in specific direction.. but thank you for your suggestion

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to Moseleyi
    Moseleyi said:
    I don't think creating each course in reverse is even a feasible workaround..

    That's all what I can offer as an instant soultion. Or create your course in an external tool, such as plotaroute.com, or similar - the specialized apps offer much more features than Garmin Connect.

    If you want more in GC, you have to request it from Garmin (use the form at Submitting an Idea to Garmin), but even if the request is accepted, it may take years to get implemented.