This article was first posted April 1, 2024

ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival

If you have your riding route uploaded into your bike computer, it will always be able to tell you your estimated time of arrival (ETA). This feature is not automatic, so you have to dive into your computer’s menu tree, find the “Time to Destination” option and add it to one of your screen displays.

More and more, BCI riders are choosing to use their phone for navigation, as it has spoken audio output that can warn you of upcoming turns, a Cue Sheet and display a map with metrics such as ETA and hands-free navigation! Here’s how to do that:

1. Open bikeirvine.org on your phone’s browser

2. Click the “Next Rides and Events” button

3. Click on the “Map/Profile/.tcx“ of the desired route

4. A screen will open, showing the route on a map. At the bottom-left of that screen will be a button named “Navigate.” Click on it.

5. You will automatically be brought to a navigation page with today’s route, and it will tell you where your next turn is, as well as how far away it is. This page will stay open until you close it by holding the Pause button down for 3+ seconds and selecting either SAVE or DELETE.

6. Your ETA will be in the lower right section of the display, along with the total distance left.

7. Also at the bottom of the page is a "CueSheet" button, which when pressed will show you every turn, with mileage, for the entire route. No more printed route sheets!

A HUGE shoutout to Bill Sellin for getting this system set up. It's a real game changer!

But alas, there are those who prefer route sheets to computers, and who must therefore do without all the easy info they offer. Still, those folks may want to know their ETA, and here's how to compute it:

You need two pieces of information:

1. Distance to the end of the ride

2. Your average speed

Utilizing these two metrics, here's the formula to figure out your ETA;

ETA (in hours) = Distance to the end of the ride / Your average speed

If you want the answer in minutes:

ETA (in minutes) = (Distance to the end of the ride / Your average speed) * 60

Below is a graph showing the ETA (minutes option) using a variety of "numbers of miles left" in the ride and "average speeds."

To use the graph:

1. Select the bar color of your "miles left" number, found at the top of the chart. For instance, if you have 15 miles left, you'd select the yellow bar.

2. Select the column that equates to your average speed (let's say, 14 MPH).

3. On the graph, "64.3" at the top of the yellow bar in the "14 MPH" column is your ETA in minutes.

4. For values that fall in between your average speed and/or miles left, just interpolate.

Let's hope for warm tail winds in April,

Dick, stats@bikeirvine.org