Can't see friends rides, they are public, could under MB

Maybe the problem is that the ride name is "Untitled". See if changing it to some other name solves the problem. Also, I found that if I don't fill in a "Starting Near" location that's within a few miles of the start of the ride then it won't find the ride.

Thanks, tried that, as most of events are named, very disappointing.

Finding Activities

You would have thought that this was an important part of the whole Connect experience...that and not making San Francisco the default...
Anyway, to find others activities, find a location near where you think the activities are. Then drag the map, or zoom out so that the starting point for the activity would be displayed. Then do a search with 'Current Map View' as the Near field. YOu have to know where to look as if the activity doesn't show up on the map it won't find it using the 'Current Map View'. The Near field doesn't seem to know about many location names, especially with the trails around where I am...

This won't help using the search feature but you can always see all the public activities of a friend in a couple ways. One is by using the url associated with each account on GC:
http://connect.garmin.com/explore?owner=[username], or in the case of your friend specifically:http://connect.garmin.com/explore?owner=timalderman

You can also click on the username link whenever it shows up (dashboard view, search results, etc.) and you should be directed to the same results as using the method above.

The search feature still needs work though.

Thanks Anthony, i tried using the link w username like you posted initially, but still no dice. if you try it, it doesn't show any new rides. very perplexing.

I think I see what you are saying, as July 5th is the last activity that displays for me. Do you know if all the criteria in the following post are met:
https://forums.garmin.com/showpost.php?p=2335&postcount=3

I have been having similar problems...

Case One:
My friend gives me a specific URL for an activity, e.g. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/[activity number] I can see the details as expected, but if I go to his page e.g. http://connect.garmin.com/explore?owner=[username] I do not see that particular activity listed, although I do see others. He says that the activities are public, and that they are set to public by default.

Case Two:
In another friend's case I can see the activity URL but when I go to the [username] page (link from the activity) or typing the URL explicitly (http://connect.garmin.com/explore?owner=[username]), I get a page saying "Username [username] cannot be found, please try again.".