Today I want to introduce you to Routes & Mapping volunteer extraordinaire, Fred Hiltz.Fred is a retired software developer now living in his version of cyclists' heaven, the Green Mountains of Vermont. He is also an avid cross country skier and volunteers on trail maintenance projects in his community.
We connected nine years ago this month as Adventure Cycling embarked on our journey into providing GPS waypoints for our routes. Fred was instrumental in getting this initiative launched with logical processes and excellent documentation; both were arrived at with good humor in working with this GPS neophyte. I am forever indebted to him and his many hours of service on this project.
Without further ado, let's hear from Fred!
When did you start biking? Where was your first tour?
My wife Ann and I started cycling as adults in 1973, after years of backpacking began to hurt my knees. We began van-supported tours with the International Bicycle Touring Society and continued touring throughout the U.S. and Canada with this and other clubs until 2010.
How did you learn about Adventure Cycling?
We were generally aware of Hemistour and Bikecentennial. In 1999, I purchased Adventure Cycling maps for my retirement present to myself, a summer of riding the Pacific Coast and Northern Tier routes. The value of all your scouting, mapping, and documentation quickly became evident. Sending in those route-correction postcards, I wondered, "Am I the first person to report this, or the fortieth?"
What bikes do you own?I bought a Miyata GT for commuting in 1992, rode it across the country in 1999, and ride it to this day on tour and around town. From triple-butted, state-of-the-art to retro-style in one career! A Specialized Stumpjumper sees occasional duty on the rougher Vermont dirt roads and off road, but I much prefer the pavement.
When touring, what one thing won't you leave home without?
One item rarely mentioned in other packing lists that I find essential is a keychain compass to go with the maps. Twice it has kept me from going far down the right road in the wrong direction. And two items commonly mentioned, cell phone and camera, are entirely optional for me. That 1999 XC ride was purely joyful without either.
Why do you volunteer with Adventure Cycling? What made you want to get involved?
You [Jenn] issued a call in 2002, "Adventure Cycling Association ... would like to bring routes to our members and their GPS units, preferably files that can be downloaded from our website." This geek, an early adopter of GPS and a map-making hobbyist, thought that might be fun and a chance to give a little back to a good cause.
What have you been doing for our Routes & Mapping department?
We worked together to design a data format and a database structure that would document all 30,000-miles-plus of our routes while allowing a cyclist to use any combination of those routes with several popular GPS data programs, still remaining within the rather tight constraints of a basic GPS receiver. Within a month we had documented the data, drafted a user guide and an administrator guide, and begun creating the first GPS files.
The design proved to be robust, still unchanged in its ninth year and easily expanded to include the new event rides. The only operational change: the GPX file format has largely supplanted most proprietary formats, allowing us to deliver new GPS data in that one format only.
Are you a map reader or a narrative follower?While on the route, definitely a narrative follower, using the map for planning ahead and the gestalt of the ride. Off route, of course, the map is the way to navigate.
What would be your ideal map solution on tour?
As a confirmed GPS nut, I would love to have all the information of the paper maps right in that electronic screen. You have fine-tuned those maps to become the best in the bicycle-traveling world. We do rather well now in the GPS with the route itself, a few points of interest, and the vendors' road maps. Adding the rest of our specialized bike-travel data would take a lot more storage and program flexibility than we get today. But we can dream. That said, I would never tour without paper map and compass. Batteries run down, the small screen will always be a limitation, and electronics does not like to fall on the road.
All pictures courtesy of Fred Hiltz
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GEOPOINTS BULLETIN is written by Jennifer 'Jenn' Milyko, an Adventure Cycling cartographer, and appears weekly, highlighting curious facts, figures, and persons from Adventure Cycling's Route Network with tips and hints for personal route creation thrown in for good measure. She also wants to remind you that map corrections and comments are always welcome via the online Map Correction Form.
Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2011/11/meet-fred-hiltz-routes-mapping.html
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