How to combine two activities that did not start and end at the same location

[fulmar2]

The time won't be exactly the same as the individual parts. That is because of how Strava calculates time. I have a FAQ on that in this forum where I go into detail on how to solve this:

viewtopic.php?p=250&hilit=stopped+time#p250

The distance won't be exactly the same either (but it should be close). This is because you're using GOTOES to re-calculate the distance. You can get it closer by reducing the distance / time to ignore. 3 minutes is a safe time to ignore, and for distance, try something smaller. Also, you might want to check the "Try and insert stopped time" checkbox.

Finally, even if you do all of the above correctly, Strava does not always "respect" distances in TCX files and decides to recalculate it's own distances. Sometimes, you can trick it with the "ignore big gaps" selection - so it looks like you were stopped... but the best way is to use "ignore big gaps" AND export as FIT from GOTOES. This is because the FIT File format allows us to insert "hard stops" where it looks like you were not moving. Thus, Strava ignores any distance during a hard stop.

I mention all this in the FAQ link above, but here is how Strava looks at stops:

https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/art ... Auto-Pause

[Hameed]

The time won't be exactly the same as the individual parts. That is because of how Strava calculates time. I have a FAQ on that in this forum where I go into detail on how to solve this:

viewtopic.php?p=250&hilit=stopped+time#p250

The distance won't be exactly the same either (but it should be close). This is because you're using GOTOES to re-calculate the distance. You can get it closer by reducing the distance / time to ignore. 3 minutes is a safe time to ignore, and for distance, try something smaller. Also, you might want to check the "Try and insert stopped time" checkbox.

Finally, even if you do all of the above correctly, Strava does not always "respect" distances in TCX files and decides to recalculate it's own distances. Sometimes, you can trick it with the "ignore big gaps" selection - so it looks like you were stopped... but the best way is to use "ignore big gaps" AND export as FIT from GOTOES. This is because the FIT File format allows us to insert "hard stops" where it looks like you were not moving. Thus, Strava ignores any distance during a hard stop.

I mention all this in the FAQ link above, but here is how Strava looks at stops:

https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/art ... Auto-Pause

Thanks very much again for your help!

The .FIT export option is grayed out for me. I'll donate and then I'll try it again when that option is available

I don't have the checkbox for "Try and insert stopped time"..... see attached screenshot

[fulmar2]

I don't have the checkbox for "Try and insert stopped time"..... see attached screenshot

Yes, you do have that checkbox (it's in the Calculating Speed Box). It is grayed out because you haven't selected FIT.

FIT is the best way to "Get what you want." I think I already mentioned this, but Strava has started to override more and more of the information submitted in TCX and GPX files. GPX files couldn't contain much information to begin with, but Strava comes up with their own version of moving time, stopped time, speed, etc. when looking at TCX. Luckily, they do respect FIT files. I have worked thousands of hours to fine tune the FIT exports... which is why I ask for a donation to enable their use. The service is free - and the basic service works well for 90% of users. But when people want to "get everything exact," that is when they need FIT.

[Hameed]

I just sent you $.

There is no checkbox to "Try and insert stopped time"

[Hameed]

nvm! seen it now. thanks!

[Hameed]

Time and distance are still off. Elevation and calories are a lot closer to the sum of the two activities now.

[fulmar2]

Hameed -

I received your files and removed the email link (for my own privacy). Here are the settings that I used to produce a corrected file for you:

Please look carefully at all of the settings that I selected. Notice that I used the "override distance" and "override calories" and "override elevation" at the bottom to get the stats that you desired. Also, please note that the distances/calories/elevations that you quoted don't match the contents of the actual files you sent me:

Activity 1:
Moving Time: 1:03:59
Distance: 6.22 km
Elevation: 25 m
Calories: 206

Activity 2:
Moving Time: 1:32:17
Distance: 8.38 km
Elevation: 17 m
Calories: 528

The fact that there isn't a match is OK, but that might explain why you weren't seeing what you expected. I went ahead and used the values you sent (quoted above) and used a calculator to add up the totals for what you described as "Activity 1" and "Activity 2".

The final result looks like this on Strava:

Please notice that calories, distance, and elevation should match the sum of the stats you sent above. Also, note that the Moving time does NOT exactly match what you sent above. The reason for this is because my tool needs to re-factor the moving time when it does the distance calculations. Moving time isn't a clear-cut thing. The reason it is not clear-cut is because of a fact known as "GPS drift." This means that if you're not moving, it is still possible to accumulate "movement" in GPS points. As a result, your GPS has an accelerometer built in that tries to guess if you're really moving or not. Based on that, it will accumulate (or not accumulate) moving time. That works fine for a single activity on the GPS...but my tool needs to re-calculate everything from scratch when it builds one single file from two separate GPS files. As a result, the calculation is not privy to the accelerometer data (that data is not saved)... so my tool has to conduct a "best guess" based on the GPS position (latitude/longitude) instead.

If you really need a perfect moving time, you can repeat my settings above, and play around with the "Smooth Speed" slider... and you can also play around with the "Ignore Big Gap" time (i.e. setting it to something really low - maybe somewhere between 2 and 10 seconds). If you do this, keep the big gap distance around 1,000 meters. This would be a test-and-repeat method where you would keep changing the options until you got what you wanted.... and it is unlikely that you will get EXACTLY what you posted above - but you can probably get it sufficiently close.

[Hameed]

Thanks very much Brian! I just looked at the files again that I sent you and one of them was not the same one I had quoted above.

Your explanations and your fantastic tool will now allow me to merge multiple activities that don't necessarily start and end at the same place, which is the main reason I started this thread. So, problem solved!! Thanks a million again!