Google Earth Tour Mode for Turbo Training Motivation

reppohkcor

Honestly guys - time flies by if you do this - all you need is a relatively good PC with net access.

You'll also need Google Earth Downloaded Here

- Go to Google Maps at http://www.google.com go to My Maps & Create Map.

- Now create your local bike ride as a route, or any route you want in the world! You do this by choosing the 'draw a line along roads' option.

- Now you have created your route you click 'View in Google Earth' which should be in the top right corner next to the print and send links. It will give you the option to save a kml file so save it to My Documents or whereever on your PC.

- Open this KML file with Google Earth and now you need to change a few settings. First disable the View Sunlight across globe option (click on the little sun at the top of the map) So now you can see where you are at night.

- Go to Tools > Options > Touring tab and set camera tilt to somewhere around 75, Speed to somewhere around 20-50 and camera range to around 220 meters.

- Now accept these changes and you should see your route in the 'Places' box on the left right click it and select Add > Tour. Now All you need to do click the play tour button which located bottom right in the 'Places' box.

Obviously its not real life quality but its better than staring at a wall! You can mess about with other settings, making the landscape higher quality etc.


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GavH

Sounds very useful but before I bother trying, do I need the bought and paid for Google Earth or is the basic, free version enough for this?

reppohkcor

Basic one is what I use. I think you might get better quality for the paid version but censored am i paying that much for it.

reppohkcor

Also if you want to cram a route which usually takes you 2-3 hours into a 1 hour turbo session just change the speed option in settings.

amaferanga

Just tried this and all that happens is it zooms in and shows the whole route from above - no tour.

EDIT: you need to check the Fly along lines option in options\touring

amaferanga

This is actually pretty cool

ketsbaia

It would be really cool if Google Maps let you correct mistakes. As it is, it's ridiculously annoying and sends you round the houses without letting you go back and click again to go another way.

reppohkcor

ketsbaia wrote:

It would be really cool if Google Maps let you correct mistakes. As it is, it's ridiculously annoying and sends you round the houses without letting you go back and click again to go another way.

You can just create a normal line and not the 'line that follows roads' option.

It may seem pretty naff when watching it without being on a bike but as your doing your turbo session it's fab!

Gav888

FYI all versions of Google Earth use the same image and layer database so you won't see anything different in terms of content.

However, the pro version offers more functionality and the licencing agreement is more flexible, allowing you to use the application for commercial purposes.

Just downloading a copy now to see what the tour mode looks like.

Gav888

Just finished downloading and creating a route, its not bad, better than a blank wall but I still prefer a DVD. Maybe I should price up a small camera for my bike and record a video, that would be cool 8)

jkbs1

Thanks for the info.
Of course you can also use your own GPS tracks by saving them as .GPX files then converting them to .KMZ files at GPSVISUALISER.com. They can then be opened in Google Earth and viewed as described above.

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