# GPS data to Strava - Heart Rate data missing (please help)



## Monkeybutt711 (Dec 30, 2011)

Let me start by saying that I have searched the forums and the internet without much luck. I have found a few people that mentioned something, but no real solution, so I am reaching out to the MTBR forums for assistance.

I am relatively new to Mtn Biking, and have really been bitten by the bug (my wallet doesn’t like it too much). This said, I had a GPA already, and purchased a Heart Rate monitor to link with my GPS to better help my training since I ride solo most of the time. I have very much enjoyed uploading my data to Strava to keep track of my training and compare my stats to other riders, but with my new HR monitor, the data will not upload into Strava. (It’s not the Edge series, so I have to upload the file from my PC rather than direct upload from my GPS).

I read somewhere to try converting the GPX file to a TCX, but Strava will not read that file. I have tried uploading to the Garmin Connect site with no lock (it just sits there and says uploading for hours with no success). 

So to my question: Has anyone found a way of uploading a ride, to Strava, from their non Edge series GPS, to include their heart rate data? Any assistance here would be a great help to me.

Thanks in advance!!


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## ghettocruiser (Jun 21, 2008)

I don't have a solution yet, but I'm also trying to come up a way to export HRM to strava from a Timex device.

Which GPS are you working with?


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## Monkeybutt711 (Dec 30, 2011)

Garmin - Dakota 20

I may have a solution, but I need to test this with a ride this week before I post it.

I don't want to give wrong info


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Monkeybutt711 said:


> Garmin - Dakota 20
> 
> I may have a solution, but I need to test this with a ride this week before I post it.
> 
> I don't want to give wrong info


There is an older discussion in here about getting HR data from an Oregon 450. I bet yours is similar


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## Monkeybutt711 (Dec 30, 2011)

NateHawk said:


> There is an older discussion in here about getting HR data from an Oregon 450. I bet yours is similar


Well, Nate, You are correct. It turns out that using the Garmin site is the easiest way to convert the GPX file to a TCX. Unfortunately the Garmin site wasn't working with my Internet Explorer, so I had to download Google Chrome in order to have access to the manual upload functionality of the Garmin Connect site. after the manual upload to Garmin Connect (Takes about 30 seconds), "Export" the TCX file to a folder on your PC, and Manually upload it to the Strava site (another 30 seconds). This conversion will include all the Cadence and Heart Rate data from your Dakota or Oregon series GPS, and you will then be able to compare your HR stats in Strava.

Thanks for the help and happy trails


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

glad you found a working solution. kindof a roundabout PITA way of doing it, unfortunately.


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## forgiven_nick (Nov 7, 2006)

Thanks for this solution!
Works with my etrex 30


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## pwu_1 (Nov 19, 2007)

So basically Strava is only compatible with the Edge series? To upload HRM data from say a etrex one needs to go to the extra step of uploading to Garmin Connect and then exporting as TCX file?


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

pwu_1 said:


> So basically Strava is only compatible with the Edge series?


No. It has to do with the way it handles .gpx files. .gpx is just an XML format, but it's one with a "standard" set of tags describing spatial data. HR data is NOT a standard .gpx tag. Garmin Connect is okay with this nonstandard tag and allows you to convert to .tcx, which is another XML format, but it is one that was specifically developed to handle HR and other fitness data. This is what Strava needs to display the HR data.



> To upload HRM data from say a etrex one needs to go to the extra step of uploading to Garmin Connect and then exporting as TCX file?


There are probably other ways to convert the .gpx file into a .tcx that Strava will be okay with. This is just the method that the OP found to work fine for him.


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## forgiven_nick (Nov 7, 2006)

pwu_1 said:


> So basically Strava is only compatible with the Edge series? To upload HRM data from say a etrex one needs to go to the extra step of uploading to Garmin Connect and then exporting as TCX file?


yep, thats what i found. Strava has no intention of supporting anything besides the EDGE series for direct upload based on a response I got from them when I requested that they support the etrex. Here is my blog post about it.

Garmin Etrex 30 GPS Receiver | FORGIVENICK - Living Out Endurance Adventures, Journeying Through Soundscapes, Gaining Humility, and Repeatedly Left in Awe


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## iKenndac (May 20, 2012)

FWIW, I keep all of my track files as part of my normal workflow in Garmin BaseCamp for offline viewing and planning. BaseCamp can export .tcx files that Strava understands just fine - it saves that extra step of uploading it to Connect before uploading it to Strava!


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## Diesel~ (Feb 17, 2008)

forgiven_nick said:


> yep, thats what i found. Strava has no intention of supporting anything besides the EDGE series for direct upload based on a response I got from them when I requested that they support the etrex. Here is my blog post about it.
> 
> Garmin Etrex 30 GPS Receiver | FORGIVENICK - Living Out Endurance Adventures, Journeying Through Soundscapes, Gaining Humility, and Repeatedly Left in Awe


Great site, Nick. Thanks too for the links to the aukadia.net eTrex30 resources. Much more helpful than the info supplied by Garmin.

-D


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## forgiven_nick (Nov 7, 2006)

Thanks Diesel. Glad it helped!


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