A Beginners guide to using the Apple watch ultra for mountain biking

Can you sue the Apple Watch Ultra for mountain biking? Like all its predecessors there is plenty in the locker to keep your fitness goals on track with the Apple Watch Ultra, but we are going to find out specifically how you can use it when out mountain biking and how you can use it to improve your fitness for on the bike. 

In order to keep on topic, I won’t go into all the features of the Apple Watch Ultra; instead, I’ll focus on how you can use it to log your rides using the integrated Apple Workout app and how to use the compass on the Apple Watch Ultra to locate waypoints and your starting position.

Additionally, how you can upload GPX files utilizing third-party applications in order to follow a planned route , which is not possible with the Apple native app.

Table of Contents

The best features for mountain biking with the Apple Watch Ultra without additional apps

The Apple Watch Ultra has some features that are useful for mountain bikers.

The following features are already on the Apple Watch Ultra and ready to go straight out of the box: They do not require any additional apps or subscriptions.

(HIIT) High Intensity Interval training

Interval training is ideal for mountain bikers, and you can do so using the Apple Watch’s native workout app.

As an example, we will set up an interval session consisting of a 3-minute warmup followed by 6 x 1-minute high-intensity bursts with a 2 minute rest in between and finishing with a cooldown period.

To achieve this, open the workout app on the Apple Watch;

• Scroll down and click on the three dots next to outdoor cycle

• Scroll down and select the custom field.

• Add the warm-up period

  Select warmup field > Goal type > Time > Scroll down and enter 3 minutes.

• Add the work period

  Choose+Add > Work > Time > 1 Minute

• Add recovery period

  > Choose +Add > Recovery > Time > 2 Minutes

Add repeats 

> Select +Add > Repeats > Select 6

Add cooldown 

>Select Cooldown field > Goal type > scroll down to time >  3 minutes

Scroll down and give your workout a title, I named mine intervals. Then scroll and click create workout

Naming your workout

Scroll down and give your workout a title, I named mine intervals. Then scroll and click create workout

• Once you are ready to start your workout, click the 3 dots next to outdoor cycle again. 

• Then select custom intervals (Or whatever you titled your workout)

Aim to do this two or three times per week, and you will begin to see results. Find a climb to do this on, and you will be a machine in no time!

Race your route

For this feature to be available, you will have had to repeat a MTB route on the Apple Watch Ultra a couple of times. As an example, if you have a quick fitness loop in your local area that you ride regularly, you can race your last recorded time or your personal best.

Once you have completed a route a couple of times, it will become a suggested route prompt on the Apple Watch whenever you ride your bike near the start point. to start the feature manually;

1. Tap the 3 dots next to outdoor cycle
2. Tap Race route
3. Select whether you want to race your last time or personal best.
   

You will now have a pacer on your watch face, which will show how far ahead or behind on pace you are and how much distance there is left to the end point.

Track back using the compass app

Mountain bikers love to hit one last trail before we end a ride.

Usually, as it gets dusky, we get drawn down a trail nirvana that twists and turns all over the place and spits us out in the middle of nowhere.

We panic a little (okay, just me, but I do ride solo!)

A great feature is trackback. Simply put, the compass on the Apple Watch Ultra will make a breadcrumb trail of your movements from a start point to an end point. This is done within the Compass app, which is very easy to use.

To begin, ensure that the Compass app on your iPhone has precise location settings enabled.

Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > ON Scroll down to compass >Precise Location ON

Once you have checked these settings On the Apple Watch Select the compass app ;

• In the bottom-right corner of the screen, tap the footprint icon, then tap Start to begin recording your route.

• If it is successfully recording, the footprints will change to a pause symbol in the bottom right corner. 

• To backtrack on yourself, tap the pause icon, and then when prompted to do so, tap Retrace Steps.

Fall detection

I think this is invaluable when riding solo.

With fall detection enabled, the Apple Watch Ultra can detect a hard fall. If you take a tumble and do not move for a minute, it will tap your wrist, sound an alarm, and then try to call emergency services.

If you have an iPhone 14 or newer and are near your Apple Watch Ultra when a fall is detected, it can try to contact emergency services via satellite when there is no cellular or wifi signal available.

To add emergency contacts:

Open Settings on your iPhone, then tap Health > Medical ID.

You can enable fall detection at any time or only during workouts.Go to the Apple Watch settings to get started.

SOS > Fall Detection, then turn on Fall Detection.

SOS Siren

Hopefully, you will never need to use this feature. If you find yourself in a situation where you need to draw attention to yourself, such as if you have fallen, this is another fantastic feature of the Apple Watch Ultra when mountain biking.

It is also very effective at waking the whole household up when you are just trying to switch the torch on in the early hours of the morning!

In the outside world, the sound it emits is 86 decibels and can be heard up to around 600 feet away using two very distinct high-pitched squeals.

On the siren screen, you will also see the option to make an emergency call. to activate the siren;

1. Hold down the side button below the digital crown until the Siren slider appears.
2. To start a countdown, drag the slider to the right.
3. The siren starts once the countdown is complete.

Cover the watch face with your palm for 3 seconds to cancel the siren countdown, or press stop within the siren app once it has started.

You can also start a siren directly from the siren app. Touch the side button, scroll down to the siren app, and press the play button. You can also make an emergency call.

How to navigate and follow an MTB route on the Apple Watch Ultra using third-party apps

If you want to follow an MTB route using a gpx file on your Apple Watch Ultra, you are going to need a third-party app to do this for you.

The Apple Watch does not have the functionality to do this straight out of the box.

We will be looking at two different third-party apps to enable you to follow an MTB route on the Apple Watch Ultra:

• Komoot
• Workoutdoors

The main differences between the two are that Komoot allows you to plan routes and gives you road sign-style navigation prompts.

When you use the workoutdoors app, an on-screen map serves as your guide.

The Komoot app also requires you to have your phone with you, whereas the WorkoutDoors app does not.

Komoot

You can download GPX route files from a variety of sources so that you can ride your mountain bike on pre-planned routes.

The Komoot app has become one of the best places to either plan a route or use one that has already been published by a user.

It is worth noting that you have also have  the option to record an  unplanned route and store it to your Komoot profile.

Route planning is available on PC and mobile devices. You can learn how to do this here. In future tutorials, I’ll give a much more thorough explanation on how to plan routes.

Once you’ve saved your route as a “tour” in Komoot, go to your profile and scroll down to the planned tours section. choose the one you recently saved, and

and click the button that says “store for offline use.”

Once you are near the start point of your ride, to follow your route, open up the Komot app on the Apple Watch Ultra and follow these instructions:

• To record a ride, just press Record a tour (without following a route) To follow a route, press Planned Tours.

• Scroll through the tours and select your saved tour, then press “Start Tour.” Your navigation will then begin.

• Pressing the “distance” field will enable the digital crown to scroll and see metrics such as heart rate, distance, etc.

Then follow the on screen prompts for directions; you can also change in the settings whether to have voice navigation switched on or off.

While komoot is a great application, I do not think it is the best for following a route on your Apple Watch, as you cannot see an actual map. It has a road sign style navigation experience.

This can have its frustrations when you are at a trailhead with lots of trails branching off in similar directions. 

The next app solves this problem, which I think is a much more user friendly experience.

Workoutdoors App

The workoutdoors app covers a wide range of sports and has a plethora of settings and screens to choose from, all of which can take some time to get your head around.

For simplicity, without going into the seemingly endless settings, I am just going to explain how to follow an MTB route using the Workoutdoors app on the Apple Watch Ultra.

The easiest and quickest way is to import a gpx file from the komoot app into the Workoutdoors app, as you cannot currently plan routes within Workoutdoors.

To do this, follow these simple instructions:

Open the Komoot app on your iPhone and navigate to “Profile > Planned Tours.” 

• Choose the route you want from your planned routes and click the three dots in the top right corner. 

• Scroll down and select Export GPX File.

• Click on the WorkoutDoors app icon.

• You will now see the route within the WorkoutDoors app. Click “send” to watch

• You can see from the picture below when you have been successful.

On the workoutoutdoors app on the iPhone, in the bottom right corner, scroll down to other settings and turn on hollow routes, then send to watch (top right).

Now, if you head to where your planned route starts, then select the Workoutdoors app on your Apple Watch Ultra

• Click Cycling to start a workout, once on the map screen, press and hold the screen 

• Then select settings, which will appear after holding

• Then select Routes

• Select your route. If this is the first time using it, there should only be one option.

• You will then see your route overlayed on top of the map

You will receive a notification as soon as you begin travelling along the route you are following, letting you know that you are “on route.” Additionally, you will receive a message that you are “off route” if you veer from the path.

Using the digital crown You can zoom in and out on the map for when you need it to be more detailed, and you can scroll around by simply sliding your finger across the watch face.

Conclusion

There are some good features on the Apple Watch Ultra for mountain biking, I would like to see in future mapping on the watch face on the komoot app, only so that it is one or two less steps to get a GPX file onto the watch, and also that is where I do all my planning and recording of rides. 

Most of the features you will find on a garmin watch I will never need or use. For the casual user that just wants to get outdoors. keep a loose eye on their fitness and follow some tried and tested MTB routes the Apple Watch Ultra fits the bill.

What do you think? Have you used any of the features in this post or is there anything you would like to see in future updates? 

Let me know in the comments below.