Question about RWGPS quirk

[Trippler]

Can anybody tell me why I get straight lines added on to a ride recorded with Ride with GPS. These lines cross water, go through buildings etc. Can't figure out what's causing it. I've tried to copy a screenshot of a ride but can't figure out how to do that so I've copied the ride. If you zoom in to the end location there several lines going in different directions. Can anybody explain this to me?
Thanks
View: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/98127008

 

[matticus]

I think this is an easy one: when you're indoors, the GPS struggles with accuracy. So you get GPS "wander" in your track. I've seen it many many times.

Generally best to trim the ends of such tracklogs if you want an accurate representation of your ride.

 

[MontyVeda]

get it occasionally myself, but on Strava and my Garmin app. I believe when the satellite connection drops out, is goes to the nearest mobile phone mast instead... which is the only explanation for me bunny hopping over a river and landing on top of several 12 story towers

 

[neil_merseyside]

Poor signal, can be from being indoors, or undercover of even heavy tree cover in narrow valleys, but mostly a bike parked up next to a tall building restricting satellite view so signal comes and goes creating spurious position info, the finished track just joins the dots.
You can edit to remove the starburst but it's a faff.

 

[cougie uk]

Built up areas ? I get it in the London marathon when my satellite view is blocked by tall buildings so my distance jumps all over the place.

Never had it on a bike ride cos I'm out in the country.

 

[freiston]

I recently got a Garmin (Edge 530) and had to turn off auto-record because of this - if the unit was switched on, it would start recording a ride when the unit was stationary on the bars or on my desk. Even switching it on a few minutes before leaving the house would result in a false journey record. I've noticed that when stopping at a pub or cafe etc., it can add a mile onto my ride. It's not just the Garmin - using Osmand on the phone gets similar results. I've had some really big "jumps" on the phone in the past and iirc, there was one place on holiday where it consistently put me the other side of an estuary (though that might have been also employing mast data and/or ISP/IP data).

 

[andrew_s]

I find that random lines are mostly at the start of the ride, before the GPS has got a proper lock on all of the satellites.
I have had lines going a couple of miles away, then back again.

They go away if I let the GPS lock on properly (i.e. accuracy down to 3-5 m), clear the trip log, then start riding.