Help needed to find missing cyclist

[Alouette3]

Another option is simply sharing your live location on Google Maps with a chosen few.

Can be a little problematic with iPhone as it's tends to kill off everything running in the background after a couple hours 

[Martin PJ]

Strava android app has live sharing, I use this all the time. It shows your entire route up to that point as a weblink. Also Whatsapp can share live location.

[MORNE]

You don't even need a garmin if you are on iphones. “Find my” built into iOS can track via cell signal or phone gps on the newer phones (your family etc listed on your accounts). I use it all the time to make sure my wife got to her destinations…and more often than not to help her find her misplaced phone haha

Edited December 5, 2022 by MORNE

[madmarc]

2 minutes ago, MORNE said:

You don't even need a garmin if you are on iphones. “Find my” can track via cell signal or phone gps on the newer phones (your family etc listed on your accounts). I use ut all the time to make sure my wife got to her destinations…and more often than not to help her find her misplaced phone haha

Also works with finding where your wife's boyfriend lives 🧐

[MORNE]

2 minutes ago, madmarc said:

Also works with finding where your wife's boyfriend lives 🧐

Added bonus is you can trigger an alarm signal remotely to let her know you are watching her

PS: not to derail the thread. Glad this person was found and safe. I wont lie, my first reaction wasn't s positive one

Edited December 5, 2022 by MORNE

[ChrisF]

VERY glad the gent was found.  Hoping he is fine, and back on his bike soon.

 

 

 

As I do many solo rides this hits home .....

 

I use a pre.paid Android phone when cycling.

 

The air time last years.

 

Unfortunately the data expires long before it is used ....😬

 

 

Obviously data is needed for which ever of these tracking options one goes for.

 

 

What is the most cost effective solution to have data readily available on a pre.paid phone ?  Or is it just better to get a small contract ?

 

 

More importantly .... how much data is needed ??

 

 

Any tips or advise will be welcomed.

Edited December 5, 2022 by ChrisF

[John Volsteedt]

32 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

More importantly .... how much data is needed ??

More importantly, is there effective cell phone signal?

[ChrisF]

2 minutes ago, John Volsteedt said:

More importantly, is there effective cell phone signal?

 

At least most of these leave a trail until you run out of cell range .... very good indication where to start the search

 

Thankfully most of my routes have coverage for 99% of it.

 

 

Remote, off grid, I ride fixed routes, so easier for a search

[Shebeen]

2 hours ago, Trail-Blazer said:

People, if you ride alone, please use the Garmin "Live track" facility so your family can follow your progress when you are out there. If you haven't got a Garmin or other computer, install Life 360 on your phone, each family member can follow the other wherever, whenever (great for keeping tabs on the kids too). *It is cellphone signal dependent. Or get an iphone 14, with a direct link to satellite in case of emergency. These days, there's no excuse for getting out of touch and causing so much concern amongst friends and family.

 "It'll never happen to me" doesn't wash anymore. 

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=f518218dec7f14b9JmltdHM9MTY3MDE5ODQwMCZpZ3VpZD0xZjllOWQyNi0zZDgyLTZjNGYtMjNhNC04ZjNlM2NmMDZkNDEmaW5zaWQ9NTE4MQ&ptn=3&hsh=3&fclid=1f9e9d26-3d82-6c4f-23a4-8f3e3cf06d41&psq=life+360+tracking+app&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGlmZTM2MC5jb20v&ntb=1

I dunno. Of course it makes sense now in this case but how many people are totally fine with a bog standard cellphone in case of emergency.

 

My hot tip if you want to go exploring by yourself in the bundus is to take a whistle. Shouting for help is tiring, a whistle is worth its weight in gold, doesn't need charging or data

[Matchstix]

Via WhatsApp groups

[Wyatt Earp]

Fantastic news 

[mazambaan]

Good news and very well spotted from the air.  Garmin InReach is calling me.

[Dexter-morgan]

This AA thing is also looking like a great option, I think its like R65/month though.

[dave303e]

14 hours ago, Trail-Blazer said:

People, if you ride alone, please use the Garmin "Live track" facility so your family can follow your progress when you are out there. If you haven't got a Garmin or other computer, install Life 360 on your phone, each family member can follow the other wherever, whenever (great for keeping tabs on the kids too). *It is cellphone signal dependent. Or get an iphone 14, with a direct link to satellite in case of emergency. These days, there's no excuse for getting out of touch and causing so much concern amongst friends and family.

 "It'll never happen to me" doesn't wash anymore. 

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=f518218dec7f14b9JmltdHM9MTY3MDE5ODQwMCZpZ3VpZD0xZjllOWQyNi0zZDgyLTZjNGYtMjNhNC04ZjNlM2NmMDZkNDEmaW5zaWQ9NTE4MQ&ptn=3&hsh=3&fclid=1f9e9d26-3d82-6c4f-23a4-8f3e3cf06d41&psq=life+360+tracking+app&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGlmZTM2MC5jb20v&ntb=1

Glad he was found and glad it ended relatively well.

 

We use whatsapp share live location. Data usage is minimal. It is literally X, Y coords, cellphone numbers and timestamp that is sent. What is nice is that you can tell it to share location for 8 hours and then after  that it stop automatically. We also use it for longer drives. If you driving a long way to visit people then you can share with them and they know when you will be there etc. When my folks drive to the cape they share it with us. Takes 2 mins and gives a lot of peace of mind.

 

 

[jacokoe]

3 minutes ago, dave303e said:

Glad he was found and glad it ended relatively well.

 

We use whatsapp share live location. Data usage is minimal. It is literally X, Y coords, cellphone numbers and timestamp that is sent. What is nice is that you can tell it to share location for 8 hours and then after  that it stop automatically. We also use it for longer drives. If you driving a long way to visit people then you can share with them and they know when you will be there etc. When my folks drive to the cape they share it with us. Takes 2 mins and gives a lot of peace of mind.

 

 

So after some work what I use is MySOS where you set the time you expected to finish, if he time runs out without deactivating it it sends an SMS to chosen recipients with your last recoreded GPS location from their servers. This will allow for a good starting point.

My Garmin watch also has a "shock detector" which picks up if you come to an abrupt stop/fall and has a countdown timer which will notify your chosen recipients again. Helps with injuries.

Those are my safety hacks along with pepper spray.

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, dave303e said:

Glad he was found and glad it ended relatively well.

 

We use whatsapp share live location. Data usage is minimal. It is literally X, Y coords, cellphone numbers and timestamp that is sent. What is nice is that you can tell it to share location for 8 hours and then after  that it stop automatically. We also use it for longer drives. If you driving a long way to visit people then you can share with them and they know when you will be there etc. When my folks drive to the cape they share it with us. Takes 2 mins and gives a lot of peace of mind.

 

 

 

Does this leave a bread crumb trail, i.e. can searchers use this after the fact ?

 

Can one share this with 2 or 3 parties ?

 

EDIT - Reason for my questions:

- IF you get unstuck just outside of cell range the breadcumb will guide the searchers towards

you, while you are unable to send out any emergency signal/message

- I have friends that works shifts, so it would be handy if 2 or 3 people could follow the bread crumbs ... probably the same that will see my Strava upload after the ride, so they will know if I just go "off air" for a few hours.

Edited December 6, 2022 by ChrisF