Riding gravel routes can be intimidating and difficult … not due to the actual riding, but due to the complexities of finding a quality route to ride and navigating it. Many routes are in remote areas that lack continuous cell phone coverage, have limited road signage, and have multiple transitions from gravel / dirt roads, to paved roads, to bike paths and mountain bike tracks. At Dirty Freehub we have worked hard to make this process of finding a route and loading it into your navigation device easy and simple. To learn more, take a look at our Quick Start guide.

Overview

Dirty Freehub

Is an online guide to great gravel and mixed gravel bike rides. Embedded within the route description pages on Dirty Freehub are route / course maps that reside on Ride With GPS. (Example: My Girl Paulina)

Ride With GPS

Is a route and ride database and mapping tool. Ride With GPS is like a library in the cloud, it houses many, many routes. Ride With GPS is also a mapping tool (paid feature) where you can make courses for download to your electronic navigation device.

Wahoo

Are electronic navigation devices that attach to the handlebar of your bike. The device will display a map of the route, an elevation profile, turn by turn directions and the usual and customary things like speed, distance, elapsed time, etc.

Getting Started

This is the one time and done stuff! This sections covers the initial setup that must be done to make Dirty Freehub, Ride With GPS, and your Wahoo device talk to each other. This only needs to be done once … during the initial set up process.

A. Create a Ride With GPS Account

B. Link to Dirty Freehub Club Account (DF Club)

  • Link your personal Ride With GPS account to the Dirty Freehub Club Ride With GPS account (DF Club). Click this link to make that happen.
  • The DF Club provides you with free download access to all Dirty Freehub gravel routes. Learn more about this unique feature within Ride With GPS. Note that Ride With GPS calls this feature Club accounts.

C. Wahoo Device (Bolt & Roam) Initial Set Up

The Wahoo Bolt / Roam devices are our go to navigation devices. We like the simplicity of the devices, the easy to use interface, readable screen, and long battery life. Also, with the Wahoo devices you can download all the Dirty Freehub routes (over 75+ routes) onto your device in a matter of ~ 3 minutes.

The entire help library for Wahoo devices can be found here.

This is a one time setup. To configure the actual device that sits on the handlebars of your bike (Bolt / Roam), you must use a companion app that resides on your phone. This app does not need to be running when you are riding a route. It is the configuration app that allows you to change how your Wahoo device behaves.

  • Follow these directions to …
    • Download Wahoo app to your phone (iPhone or Android). Get the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
    • Link Wahoo app to Wahoo device.
    • Connect Wahoo device to Wifi network.
  • Connect Wahoo device to personal Ride With GPS account. Do not execute the “Sync Routes” step or beyond.

Downloading Routes to Wahoo Device

This is the process that you will follow and use most frequently. It is what you will do in your house, before stepping out the door for your ride.

Single Route Download to Wahoo Device

Use this method to download a single route to your Wahoo device. This method is the simplest to execute.

  1. Using the index pages from Dirty Freehub (example: Oregon, Arizona, Tasmania, …) find a route that you want to ride.
  2. Scroll down to the map.
  3. In the upper left hand corner, click on “Send to Device”.
  4. Follow the on-screen directions.

Multiple Route Download to Wahoo Device

This method is a bit more complex, but it will allow you to download multiple Dirty Freehub routes to your Wahoo device (Bolt / Roam) in a matter of minutes.

  1. Navigate to the Dirty Freehub Club page from within your personal Ride With GPS account.
  2. Click on the Routes or tool link.
  3. Filter for the routes that you want.
  4. Pin the routes.
  5. Press sync on your Wahoo device.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How do the Wahoo app and Wahoo device (Bolt /Roam) talk to each other.
    The Wahoo set-up app resides on your phone (iPhone or Android). The Wahoo Device (Bolt / Roam) is the physical device that is mounted on your bike. They talk to each other via a Bluetooth connection.
  2. Does the Wahoo app need to be running (on) when I am riding and navigating a course?
    No. The app is only needed when you need to give your device (Bolt / Roam) new instructions.
  3. What is the cloud.