Evaluating cumulative ascent: Mountain biking meets Mandelbrot

TL;DR

This paper compares GPS and barometric altitude data to accurately measure total ascent in mountain biking, highlighting the reliability of barometric measurements and the influence of data averaging.

Contribution

It introduces a method for estimating cumulative ascent using altitude data, analyzing the effects of averaging and comparing measurement techniques.

Findings

Barometric altitude data is more reliable than GPS-based data.

Data averaging significantly affects ascent estimation accuracy.

The problem relates to the classic coastline length measurement challenge.

Abstract

The problem of determining total distance ascended during a mountain bike trip is addressed. Altitude measurements are obtained from GPS receivers utilizing both GPS-based and barometric altitude data, with data averaging used to reduce fluctuations. The estimation process is sensitive to the degree of averaging, and is related to the well-known question of determining coastline length. Barometric-based measurements prove more reliable, due to their insensitivity to GPS altitude fluctuations.