Improvised Bicycle GPS Mount

I lucked out today and found a local seller of a used Garmin eTrex Vista through craigslist.org at price that was too good to pass up. I've been wanting either a bike computer or a bike-mounted GPS receiver so that I could track rides, speed, distance, etc. I also used to enjoy Geocaching in the past, but had to stop when I lost my GPS receiver. (Ironic, huh? To lose one's GPS receiver)

So when I found a used GPS receiver at the same price as a bike computer, I jumped on the opportunity. I've ordered a custom Garmin bike mount, but in the meantime, I wanted to try out the eTrex on a trail ride with Roxanne.

I'm one of those people who believe that most problems can be solved through the proper application of bungee cords, duct tape, or zip ties. After eyeballing the fit by holding the eTrex up to my handlebars, I saw the obvious choice. One thick rubber band would hold the mostly flat eTrex on my mostly flat headlight. As a failsafe in case the rubber band came loose, I tied the eTrex to the handlebars with a simple lark's head knot using the lanyard.

As a bike computer, the eTrex worked very well. I was able to monitor our speed, as well as track fun data like max speed, total distance, moving time, stopped time, etc. The only anomaly happened once when the max speed jumped to 35 miles per hour for some strange reason.

I use my bike mostly for commuting and errands, and I almost never get lost, but being a technology freak, it will be fun to track ride data using the GPS receiver.