Sena SMH10R

Let's begin by way of explanation... I live in Utah. Almost everything is built on a grid square - it's one of the great things the pioneers did. Every major city settled by Mormons has a church building of some sort as its center--Salt Lake City's building is an LDS temple whereas many other cities were "centered" around a tabernacle - a large building (much larger than a standard congregational building). From there, streets were numbered in 100's for every block north, south, east or west. So someone who lived on, say, 52 South 400 East lived on the street 400 East, about a half a block south of the central building's cross-road. And 400 East runs north-to-south.

Confused? No matter - it's not the subject of this blog.

Not all of Utah is a snap to follow. For instance, who knew there was a Naples, UT--or a Bluff? Who knows how to get to Hovenweep National Monument (without a map)? I'm often fumbling for directions and I like to drive (and ride) as distraction free as possible, so I usually have Google Maps running (my car is 12 years old - fantastic sound system and a good navigation system, but the maps are old and missing a lot of more recent roads - my house, for instance, is not on a 'digitized road' as the navigation system likes to remind me). It's all the more important to me on the bike that I have good directions readily available. This is one reason I bought a Sena SMH10R Bluetooth headset.
 
 And I kid you not, I swear this thing is more complicated than the Space Shuttle... It has more options for pairing with other headsets, Bluetooth-enabled devices, etc. (there is even a Sena device that will connect to and control a two-way radio).

When I purchased my Sena, it connected with my Nexus 5x phone without any issue. Music was playing right off the bat, but I couldn't get turn-by-turn directions to play through the Sena device. Nor could I get it to work when I also connected my Nexus 7 tablet (which I intend to mount in the windscreen, just about the instruments, so maps are readily visible).

Some experimenting led me to the solution:

1. Connected the Nexus 5x
2. Went into settings for the Sena SMH10R bluetooth connection
3. Enabled everything
4. Went into settings for Google Maps
5. Selected "Play Voice over Bluetooth"
6. Shut down the device
7. Powered back up
8. Connected to the Sena SMH10R
9. Bingo - turn-by-turn through the Sena

Next, I connected my Nexus 7 tablet (which is also running the latest Android OS). The first time I did it, I connected it as a multi-point device as per page 15 of the Sena owner's manual. I could never get turn-by-turn directions to come through the headset, though. Finally, I deleted the Sena device in the tablet's Bluetooth connection panel, then put the Sena into phone connect mode (not multi-point mode), and then connected. Once I enabled "Play Voice over Bluetooth" in Google maps, I was happily hearing maps through the Sena device again.

So, recapping

1. Connect to the Nexus 5x phone as above
2. Put the Sena into phone connect mode (first option in the Configuration menu)
3. Connect the Nexus 7 tablet
4. Go into Bluetooth connections and enable the Sena Bluetooth connection for everything
5. In Google Maps' settings, enable "Play Voice over Bluetooth" 

Away you go...

Having trouble following that? No worries. This is the current Bluetooth connection settings dialog on Android OS:

And this is the options dialog for Google Maps:

 
Some people worry about the distraction of having a GPS connected to your helmet, but it's honestly not distracting. Having Google tell me well in advance where to turn, and in which direction, is actually quite settling. The voice is not intrusive, I can still hear traffic (if I'm not wearing ear plugs), and I'm not panicking trying to make a quick right across a lane of traffic. I call that safe.

Now - an electronic tablet will NEVER replace a good map--and I will always have a map with me. When I'm deep in the backroads, I'll also have an independent, battery-operated GPS unit to use with my map. The tablet's nice, but it's no guarantee. Nothing can replace good route-finding skills, especially the further you get from civilization.

The Sena offers 7 DAYS of 'standby' time (time where you're not talking), and 10 HOURS of talk time (which is great if you're paired with another rider in intercom mode). 

This is big... Crusher in the Tushar

So apparently the mind is a terribly weak thing, quick to forget the negative and prone to amplifying the positive. After a mediocre 2012 ride in the "Crusher in the Tushar," and a miserable 2013 ride during which I vowed never to return, for some reason I eagerly signed up again for the 2016 race.

This ride is, well, a little bit nuts. 70 miles. About 35 of those are on gravel (the rest is pavement--of which a lot is slurry seal). By mile 23, we will have gained 5000 vertical feet and passed 10,000 feet in elevation. From there it's a quick descent where we will lose all 5000 feet. But don't worry. After slogging through what seems like miles of sandy trail, we climb that 5000 feet again, averaging 8% and at some point hitting a 16% grade. And the suffering isn't over yet--a quick drop, some rolling hills and another long slog up are the reward. If we haven't given up yet, there's a roller coaster ride down and then a super-steep ascent to the finish line.

Here is the web site http://www.tusharcrusher.com and here is a map of the course:

The first year, it took 8:18 minutes to finish. I smiled the entire way, in spite of my almost dead-last performance. I had signed up to prove to myself that I can do really difficult things. I was just starting the training process, competing in a few triathlons but never rally riding enough to prep me for 70 brutal miles. Still I enjoyed the experience.

The next year found me very distracted, having fixed up a house, moved, and gotten married. I was miserable on the ride that year. Very little training, overweight, and simply dog-tired. It was hot and the hill was steeper. In 2012, I had at least done a few major hill climbs. In '13, I think I did 3.

So far, it has been different this year. I'm on the trainer at least 3x a week. My schedule is lighter so I can get in more training rides. I'm building a 26'er with a triple crank, which won't make me go faster but at least I can spin my way up even the 16% grade. I'm dropping weight (already at least 10 pounds lighter than in '13) and building !muscle and endurance. Above all, I am learning a lot about my fitness, peak output levels, etc. My goal is a 7:30. I'll blog on occasion about my rides, training progress, etc.

Meet Rever

I have been getting into adventure motorcycling. I bought myself a used Suzuki VStrom 650 right as the '15 season came to an end, and now I am planning for some trips next year. A coworker tipped me off to the Rever app--if Google Maps met Facebook and they had a child, it would be Rever. A very cool thing about Rever is that it is owned by the great folks at Butler Maps, makers of fine road and off-road back country Maps for motorcyclists--you'll see why that matters shortly.

When you think of Rever, think this way: you and some buddies want to ride somewhere fantastic together this summer. You're geographically dispersed, so you can't sit down face to face to discuss the route. Half the group want GPX tracks for the route, and the other half want to use a mobile device with offline capabilities. You want to build the trip easily, and you want some fantastic rides along the way. Rever does all that!

• Rever is a social hub--invite your friends and make a group.
• It features Google-quality street maps, with click-by-click route generation.
• It exports GPX format, but can be used directly on a mobile device.
• The mobile app tracks you on your route, with an offline map feature for remote rides.
• Finally, it overlays Butler route info, so as you are planning you can see the best rides.

I'll blog some more on this later--for now, check out the screen grab from my Nexus 7 to get an idea of what a ride looks like. As you can see, its mobile app interface looks like a pretty standard Google Maps experience, with a few control bars above and below. What's awesome is, as a premium subscriber, you get access to Butler Maps route overlays. You can not only see standard map data, but any Butler rides are super-imposed (with the familiar Butler color codes). Very handy!

Currently route creation is a PC browser activity--the mobile app is used during travel. That may change, who knows. Building routes on any mobile device other than a 12" or larger tablet is a bit tedious, so it may not matter. Still, I am really looking forward to using Rever for my planning and traveling this season.

One nice feature in Rever is the ability to track your ride. This is a ride I planned, but it also tracked it and recorded it for me. This is good for going back and finding rides again later, for determining distance and such, and also participating in challenges (you have to check out the site to learn more about challenges - I gotta give you SOME reason to go there!).

Scoot on over to Rever.co (yes - that is http://rever.co and not .com), check out the features (and trust me - the Rever team is hard at work adding new features all the time) and sign up!