"Average Speed" Definition Request

Wayfarer

15 April 2018 15:25

Hi,

My wife and I are wondering how Average Speed is calculated.

At first we thought it would be from when you start recording a track to the current time ... but now we see it can't be changing that quickly over a long hike, so maybe it's an average over the last x period of minutes?

In other words, on an out-and-back (up and down) summit hike, the average up may be showing about 1.5 mph ... but when we start the descent it quickly jumps to 2.0 mph or greater.

True, we're going faster ... but not fast enough, to that quickly (15 minutes say), to completely "average up" a 5-hour slower-speed ascent.

So, what is Average Speed actually showing (how calculated)?

Thanks!

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  Nathan

  20 April 2018 04:10

  Average speed is calculated using the total distance hiked divided by the total time, including stopped time.

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  Wayfarer

  29 April 2018 16:17

  Thanks Nathan. That's what I figured but as I said, that's not what "seemed" to happen in the rolling calcs. I'll keep an eye on it and let you know if I see any other anomalies.

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  djoant

  28 June 2019 13:03

  I have the same question.  When I do the simple calculation of using total distance and total time including stopped time, I do not get the same Average Speed calculated by GAIA.  

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  Robyn

  05 July 2019 17:43

  @djoant
  Can you send a link to a track recording that is showing this to Support so we can take a closer look? 
  
  

  • Here is how to create a link to your track in the app.
  • Click 'Contact Support' above to send the link

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