GTrack App Mentioned on the Tablet Show Podcast

Although the actual ride is over, I'm still getting some publicity for my app. This time I got a comment on a previous show read out on the Tablet Show. To hear the show, go to Tablet Show 59. 

By the way, this is not my first mention on this show. I also got mentioned on Tablet Show 43. 

Alyn Wheels of Love 2012: Day 5

Before I report about today's ride, let me first give you a short update about last night. Shortly after we returned to the hotel, that Grad rockets had been launched and that we should enter the designated protected areas. This was the first of five warnings we received during the night.

Today's ride started from Moshav Aderet near Bet Shemesh at around 9:30. We climbed the trail to Tzur Hadassah. We then crossed over the road and continued on to Malcha. This was a total distance of 30km and included some steep climbs.

After eating in front of the Malcha train station, we rode a special circuit of Jerusalem in honor of the 13th (Bar Mitzvah) year of the ride. We rode from Malcha to the Tayelet, continued via Talbiyah to Rechov Azza, then up Golomb to the Alyn.

Alyn Wheels of Love 2012: Day 4

Today, we rode along the Spice Route. We started out from Zofar at 8.15. The weather was hot. The terrain was mixed. It started with more gravel. We continued up a really steep hill, and then rode through more gravel and wet sand to lunch.

After lunch we took a group picture and then continued along a very rocky river bed for 4km. We then rode up to route 40 on a fairly steep, but  rideable incline.

Tonight we are staying in Beersheba. We had a gala dinner in Omer, but this was cut short due at the request of the police and the army. Although Hamas has not fully responded to the IDF's attacks, they are not taking any chances. Tomorrow, we will be bussed to the Jerusalem area for the final day of the ride.

Alyn Wheels of Love 2012: Day 3

Due to heavy rains last night and flooding in the Arava, there were a lot of changes to today's route. We left from the Maktesh Hakatan (small crater) at around 9:15. We rode towards Nachal Zin, which after the rains, is now flowing

We were supposed to continue south towards Nahal Amazia, but the trail was totally waterlogged. Instead, we headed back towards Route 90 with a full police escort. This allowed me to have my single moment of glory. I managed to make my way from the back of the pack to almost the front. Of course once we hit Nachal Amatzia, I gradually fell back. We rode for another 5km, and then stopped for lunch.

After lunch, we continued until the end of Nachal Amatzia. The trail was a mixture of sand, gravel and mud; which was fine for a while, but quickly became hard and tiresome. Apart from hitting a few gravel banks, I got through it unscathed.

We continued on a back rode to Hatzah. We rode a total of 70km. The weather today was excellent. We are sleeping tonight at Ein Yahav.

Alyn Wheels of Love 2012: Day 2

We left Arad this morning around 8:15. We headed south for 8.5km and took a brief break at. Mount Yahel. The terrain was very technical. The fact that all the worst sections were made worse by wind and rain.

The trail flattened out and the weather improved. After riding for 33km, we broke for lunch at Mount Tevaim. Of course, straight after lunch it started to rain. The terrain was a mix of flat and uphill/downhill technical.

The offroad ride ended at the Tzurin observation point. The enduro ride continued for another 7km. They are sleeping in tents. We are sleeping in the Hatzseva field school. They have wind and rain. We have showers and beds.

Alyn Wheels of Love 2012: Day 1

Today is the first day of the Wheels of Love ride. Since this blog was created as part of my fundraising efforts it seems the ideal place to post updates. 

At 9.30 there was a short opening ceremony led by the mayor of Arad. We then rode downhill until we hit Nachal Tszelim. After a short break for lunch, we headed back to Arad, a total distance of approximately 40km.

In terms of riding, the actual terrain wasn't that bad. What made riding difficult was the wind. In certain places, we were very exposed. It was hard to ride and try to avoid hitting other riders.

Apart from snapping my chain, my ride passed almost without incident. Luckily, one of the ride's mechanics was riding near me. He fixed my chain, and gave me a short lecture on how I shouldn't change gears while riding uphill.

GTrack Mentioned on 5by5 Podcast

GTrack App was mentioned on episode 20 of 5by5's In Beta podcast. I would like to thank the hosts of the show, and especially Gina Tripani, for their advice and encouragement. They also gave a really nice mention to the Wheel's of Love ride. To hear the episode, click here.

GTrack Lite Released

In order to raise awareness for the ride and my fundraising activity, I have just launched a free version of GTrack, called GTrack Lite.

The app is similar to GTrack, but has the following differences:

1. I've disabled auto logging and its related settings.
2. You cannot add descriptions to recorded locations.
3. I've added some new buttons to improve navigating between screens.
4. Since it's a free app, I've added a Donate button. This button opens the About screen and contains all the relevant links.

You can download the app from the Google Play store.

Profile Picture

Finally, I put my profile picture on the site. I will soon add updated pictures of me in an ALYN shirt.

Google Merchant Account Verified

Google has finally verified my Google Checkout merchant account. This means that I will able to receive payments for the sales of GTrack, and donate the proceeds to the ALYN hospital.

Now Available for Download

After a slight delay, I have now verified that the app can be downloaded an installed from Google Play. I can also say that it runs really well on a Samsung Galaxy S2. My thanks to Ezra Olman for testing that everything works.

GTrack 1.0 Available from the Google Play Store

I am very proud to announce that GTrack 1.0 is now available for download from the Google Play store. The app is priced at $1.00 and all proceeds will be donated to the children of the ALYN hospital. Please spread the word.

Using GTrack

This article explains how to use the GTrack app.

Location Logging

GTrack records your position and adds a marker to a Google maps page. Clicking the + button records your current position. Clicking the Start button, lets you automatically record locations at set intervals. By default, GTrack records locations every ten minutes. You can change the length of the interval to meet your needs. GTrack records the time and date the location was logged, its longitude and latitdue, place name, and country.

 

Location Information

To visit each logged location, click the Next (<) and Previous (>) buttons. GTrack will display the location's marker in the center of the map.

To display location information, click a marker. This displays the location data for the marker.



To find out more about a location, click the i (information) button. This displays the locations information page. The information page also provides a Details box. This lets you add additional information regarding each location.

Changing Settings

To change GTrack settings, click the   (Menu) button.

From the toolbar, choose Settings.

You can set the following options:

Welcome to the GTrack Blog

My name is Jonathan Gold and this year I will be participating in ALYN Hospital's Wheels of Love 2012 International Bike Ride, and by doing so I have made a commitment to raise funds for the “special” physically challenged children undergoing rehabilitation there.

What is GTrack

As a cross-platform, mobile application developer, I decided to do something new. Therefore, in addition to raising funds by traditional methods, I decided to create and sell a mobile application. 

GTrack is a simple application that shows you where you are and where you were. All the proceeds from the application, will be donated to the children of the ALYN hospital.

This website was created to promote and support the GTrack application. Please join me in helping the ALYN children achieve their maximum mobility and independence by either sponsoring me or joining the Ride!

Contact Information

If you would like to sponsor my participation in the ride, you can send a donation via my profile page. You can contact me via the following links: @jonnygold on Twitter, Facebook, and Gmail.

About the ALYN Hospital 

The ALYN Hospital is Israel’s only Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation Center - is one of the world’s leading specialists in the active and intensive rehabilitation of children, regardless of religion or ethnic origin,
suffering from a broad range of physical disabilities.

Over the years ALYN has developed a wealth of expertise in the treatment of acquired conditions AND congenital and progressive muscle, nerve and bone diseases and respiratory insufficiency.

Unfortunately, there is a significant gap between the fixed hospitalization rates received from referring agencies (health funds etc.) and the actual costs of the multi-disciplinary highlevel quality rehabilitation services that are provided to all the children treated at the Hospital.

Thanks to the efforts of both riders and sponsors, money raised through the Ride goes directly towards bridging this budget deficit and thereby helps to
ensure the continuity of treatment for these children at the highest level of quality and quantity which they so richly deserve.

For more information, regarding the hospital and the ride, please click here.