GPS in Ubuntu

When I started running more often, I decided to keep a log of my runs. I've found it to be helpful and mostly encouraging. To map the runs I do and get some idea of distance and such, I use mapmyrun (but only until I roll my own...). However, when running on trails, you're pretty much just guessing where points are. So I consider myself lucky enough to have a friend with a little portable GPS unit that I was able to borrow (thanks Sean). I took this on my favorite parts of the Rivanna Trail, here in Charlottesville. I had been worried that it'd be difficult to get the information off the unit, but it was really easy.

The unit is a Garmin etrex Venture Cx, and I am using Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. So here goes

1. Install the gpsbabel package, with "sudo apt-get install gpsbabel".
2. Plug the unit in via usb cable, and turn it on. I'm inside so it couldn't get a strong satellite reading, and complained about that after a few minutes, but I told it to just work without gps, so that it'd remain on.
3. I first tried "gpsbabel -i garmin -f usb: -o gpx -F file.gpx", but it complained at me. Somewhere online I saw some indication that you had to be root, so 'sudo' that command, and you get the waypoints off of the unit. That was easy.
4. What I was most interested in was the 'Tracks' it had stored. While probably overkill, the command "sudo gpsbabel -t -r -w -i garmin -f usb: -o gpx -F file.gpx" pulled the tracks (and waypoints, and probably more, I haven't looked too closely yet) off the unit.

So there you have it. I now have a nice looking xml file with some geodata in it. Now I just gotta get my mapping software to a point where I can use this information...