For organisersGuide
How to get live tracking for your cycling race
The short answer
Your riders go live from the free Windline app on their phone, or straight from their Garmin Edge or watch with the free livedot app, and everyone follows the race on its page at livedot.me, in any browser, with the wind on every stretch of the course. It's free for organisers too, thanks to ProLend: create your race in Windline, or tell livedot about it at livedot.me/organisers and a person sets it up with you. Want your own branded page? Bespoke pages are $200 per event.
Your riders carry the tracker already: their phone, with the free Windline app, or their Garmin, with the free livedot app. Each one who chooses to be seen is a live dot on your course, with their speed, their finish time and the wind where they are, and their family and fans follow from anywhere at livedot.me. This guide is for organisers of road races, gran fondos, gravel races and stage races, anywhere in the world.
How do I get live tracking for my cycling event?
Tell livedot about it, your riders join in Windline, and on the day they go live. There are three steps.
- Set up your race, free. Create it in the free Windline app and claim your livedot name, or fill in the form on livedot.me/organisers and a person at livedot sets it up with you: its page at livedot.me, your course and the dates.
- Your riders join the race. They join it in the free Windline app, choose who can see them and can set a goal time. Riders with a Garmin also add the free livedot app from the Connect IQ Store and link it once.
- On the day, they go live. They tap Go live on their phone, or just press Start on their Garmin near the course at the start time. Everyone following sees them on your race's page, and tracking stops by itself at the finish.
What does the wind add?
Every stretch of your course coloured by the wind at the hour the riders get there: behind them, in their faces or across. From Apple Weather, rated by Windline's engine, worldwide.
- For your riders: the day rated Good, Fair or Tough, and where the headwind hits, for their own pace. They plan their effort and their group around it.
- For followers: the wind where each rider is, and on the road ahead.
- On your race's page: the forecast at race pace for every stage.
For a real example, see the Gravel Burn's stage-by-stage weather, with each stage's flyover and the forecast at race pace.
Free, or a bespoke page?
Live tracking is free for every organiser. A bespoke page is an optional extra, in your own styling.
| Free | Bespoke, $200 per event | |
|---|---|---|
| Your event's live page at livedot.me | Yes | Yes, in your styling: logo, colours, hero picture |
| Riders live on the map, from Windline or a Garmin | Yes | Yes |
| The course on the map | Yes | Yes, loaded and checked with you |
| The forecast at race pace | Yes | Yes |
| Your sponsors and your wording | No | Yes |
| A live map on your own website | No | Yes |
| Set up by | You, or a person at livedot with you | A person at livedot, with you |
| For followers | Free | Free |
How does it compare with other live tracking?
Each kind of tracking does a different job. This is what each one is, so you can choose.
| What it is | Best for | |
|---|---|---|
| Windline + livedot | Riders' own phones or Garmins, on your race's page at livedot.me, with the wind on every stretch | Road races, gran fondos, gravel and stage races where riders carry a phone or a Garmin |
| Rented GPS trackers | A tracker unit for each rider, handed out and collected | Remote races where riders carry no phone |
| Timing-mat splits | Official times as riders cross mats at fixed points | Official results, with positions only at the mats |
| RACEMAP | Live tracking bought by the organiser for the whole field, with an embeddable map | Organisers who buy tracking for every entrant |
| Strava Beacon, Garmin LiveTrack | One rider shares their location with the people they choose | A single rider, with no race map or field |
How do I keep it private and fair?
Riders go live only when they choose, and they choose who sees them. Nobody shows on the map unless they go live, and no email address or phone number is ever shown. Who can see a live rider.
Add one line to your entry terms:
Entrants may choose to share their live position during the event through livedot (the RunFast or Windline app, or the livedot Garmin app). It's off unless they switch it on, and they choose who sees it.
Questions
How do I get live tracking for my cycling event?
Create your race in the free Windline app, or tell livedot about it at livedot.me/organisers and a person sets it up with you, free: its page at livedot.me, your course and the dates. Riders join the race in the free Windline app, or add the free livedot app to their Garmin, and go live on the day. Everyone follows in any browser.
What does it cost?
Nothing. livedot, RunFast and Windline are free for organisers, entrants and everyone following, thanks to ProLend: your event's live page, live tracking, the course and the forecast. The only paid option is a bespoke branded page in your own styling, with the live map on your own website: $200 per event, if you want one.
What's a bespoke page?
Your race's live page in your own styling: your logo, colours, hero picture, sponsors and wording, plus the live map on your own website. It's an optional extra, $200 per event; everything else is free.
Can riders use their Garmin Edge?
Yes. With the free livedot app from the Connect IQ Store, linked once to their Windline account, a rider who has joined your race presses Start near the course at the start time and is live on it, with no taps. The phone stays in a jersey pocket with Garmin Connect running.
Does it work for a multi-day stage race?
Yes. Each stage is its own day on the race, with its own course, start time and forecast, and followers see the stage that's on. The Gravel Burn's seven stages across the Karoo are live on livedot.me this way.
Is this official timing?
No. It shows where each rider is, their speed and the wind where they are. Keep your timing provider for official results; live tracking is for the people following.
