Messages

16

GPS Discussion / Re: Garmin 62s, can't view the Divide route after loading, help?

« on: April 11, 2013, 11:59:33 am »

When I go to routes it shows the route but it's backwards, in other words I need to scroll down to the bottom to get to the first route, not sure why this is and can't seem to change it, any ideas?

Is it possible that the 62s sorts the routes based on loading order? In other words, is it stacking them based on the date they were loaded onto the unit? Try loading the last route first and the first route last. Does that change the order of display?

It would be cool if the route was on a topo map so you could see lakes, rivers, etc.

City Navigator should have plenty of details about land features & commercial services. Nevertheless, should you still prefer to add topographic maps, the most direct way is to purchase these maps and add them to your unit. Add the maps to your City Navigator SD card or to the unit directly. You just have to be very careful in managing the memory & storage availability.

A better option is to purchase a new SD card, copy the content for City Navigator, and then add the topo maps.

Garmin just released Topo US 100K. Purchase the DVD or download a copy for more flexibility. You can select the tiles that you need from that map and copy them to the unit.

17

New England / Re: Recommendations on New England fall color ride for Seattlite

« on: April 10, 2013, 08:38:13 pm »

Do you have a preference for climbing (hint, Green Mountains) or staying in the valley (Lake Champlain or CT river)?

Is there a particular city or region you want to visit?

The state is very beautiful throughout. You do not have to go far to find its charm. My recommendation would be to setup base camp in a state park (tent or cabin), hostel, or B&B, and take daily trips from there. Excellent choices include Middlebury, Rochester, Woodstock, & Waterbury.

For a full loop, try one that combines all the cities I mentioned above + Burlington. The ACA Green Mountains Loop can give you a few ideas. The loop itself is 376 miles, longer than what you are looking for. You can use it to think about a loop around Lake Champlain or CT river.

Take a look at the Lake Champlain Bikeways map for ideas to ride in the valley with spectacular views of Lake Champlain, Green Mountains, & Adirondacks without the big climbs.

For a one way trip, try to see the entire state along route 100 from Canada to Massachusetts. There are several touring companies that offer this trip.

I can try to give you more details once you decide.

18

GPS Discussion / Re: Garmin 62s, can't view the Divide route after loading, help?

« on: April 08, 2013, 06:14:40 pm »

This is great news Bill that you were able to see all three routes. Please try to load more or all of the routes. Any problems? I believe you should be able to see all of them.

I noticed that BaseCamp is transferring the waypoints along with the routes in the GPX, regardless of selecting or not selecting that options when transferring the routes to the GPS unit. We shall cover that separately as needed to save on memory.

Right now it is in no specific order, not even alphabetical, appears to be random #'s that do coincide with the route numbers.

What order are the routes displayed for you? Can you list them? On my Garmin Edge, they are indeed alphabetical as follows: M011A1, M011A2, and then M011A3. How about when you load more routes: are they still in random order?

Also the file extension coming from ACA is gdb not gpx.

I am puzzled by your question about the GDB file from ACA. Where did you get them from? As far as I can see, all the GPS files on ACA web page are indeed GPX files. This is how I get them:

• Navigate to ACA web page
• Select Routes & Maps from the menu on the left
• Select Great Divide from the menu on the right
• Select gps from the first item on the list of sections
• Agree to the terms
• Download the route as gdgpsdata.zip
• Expand the content of this file

This should yield a set of folders each of them containing a GPX file. Do you not see the same?

19

Gear Talk / Re: Rack mounted tail lights

« on: April 07, 2013, 09:19:42 pm »

Note that both the RADBOT & Rack Blinky 5 include a reflective surface separate from the light. They continue to make you visible even when the light fails or runs out of battery.

Technically, reflective light is required by law (varies by state).

20

GPS Discussion / Re: Garmin 62s, can't view the Divide route after loading, help?

« on: April 07, 2013, 09:02:35 pm »

I will try my best to walk through loading the files step by step. Send me some feedback what is working & what is not.

The steps below are using BaseCamp v4.1.1 on Mac computer.

• Connect your Garmin GPS unit to the computer. It should now appear as an external storage drive. Two drives may appear in case you have an SD card inserted in the unit.
• Back in BaseCamp software, filter My Collection to routes:
  
  • Select My Collection
  • In the box at the bottom left corner of the screen, locate the "gear" symbol next to the title My Collection
  • Select the gear symbol
  • Select View Detailed Data List from the menu
  • Select Routes from the menu of choices at the top
• Locate the route or routes you want to load on the unit. You can also select all. For a start to keep it simple and check that it worked, choose two or three. For example, from the first Great Divide file GD01V009.gpx select the first three routes: M011A1, M011A2, and M011A3.
• Right-click on the three routes.
• Select Send to Device from the menu.
• Choose to transfer the routes only or with their waypoints. The choice depends on how you want to manage the route. I leave this as a separate discussion to review separately. For the purpose of this discussion, choose routes only without waypoints. It does not make a difference to the result.
• Once the transfer is complete, quit BaseCamp and eject your GPS unit properly. This will make sure all the data was transferred.
• Voilà. The files should now be on your GPS unit.

Turn on your GPS unit and look for the routes. Do you find all three routes? Try the same with more routes. Do you see them all?

21

GPS Discussion / Re: Garmin 62s, can't view the Divide route after loading, help?

« on: April 06, 2013, 08:44:16 pm »

Exactly how did you load the routes from MapSource to 62s?

Try any and all of the following:

• Use BaseCamp. MapSource is discontnued. The last update was from more than two years in October 2010.
• Load files manually from your computer to the 62s. From BaseCamp or MapSouce, save a GPX file of each route. Then copy the files onto a folder called "GPX" on the 62s.
• Copy routes without their waypoints.
  
  • In MapSource or BaseCamp, for each route, choose to "recalculate" that route. Then save it as GPX, and copy as in step 2 above.
  • Otherwise, when you do a transfer from within MapSource or BaseCamp, select only the "routes" option. This should not use any of waypoints memory on the GPS unit. Of course you can then use that memory to load points of interests for hotels, restaurants, and others.
  • Review the route after you "recalculate" it to make sure it is still following the intended route. Otherwise, adjust manually or revert to straight lines between route points.

Does any of this work?

22

Gear Talk / Re: Rack mounted tail lights

« on: April 06, 2013, 08:08:04 pm »

Another favorite that includes a rack bracket is PDW RADBOT 1000.

23

Gear Talk / Re: Racks

« on: April 01, 2013, 06:21:13 pm »

Try this link: http://www.ridepdw.com/goods/cargo/payload™

24

GPS Discussion / Garmin Connect offers heat maps

« on: March 11, 2013, 07:05:48 pm »

http://garmin.blogs.com/my_weblog/2013/03/garmin-connect-is-heating-up.html

This is a great step in the right direction of using all the data they have been collecting. The coverage is starting in certain areas while expanding to others.

It color codes routes by usage frequency.

How cool is that!

25

Urban Cycling / MOVED: Modolo Dumbo Bars ....

« on: January 19, 2013, 12:16:54 pm »

This topic has been moved to Gear Talk.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/forums/index.php?topic=11299.0

26

GPS Discussion / Re: best way to get use a Garmin 800 for cc trip

« on: January 02, 2013, 09:01:53 pm »

Beware if you get hold of older versions of the USA Topo maps, routing does not seem to work properly for some states.

Note earlier discussion that even current Topo 100k v4 does not support routing, while Topo 24k does.

27

GPS Discussion / Re: best way to get use a Garmin 800 for cc trip

« on: January 02, 2013, 08:54:49 pm »

1. Which maps do you recommend? Garmin's City Maps, Velo Maps, or Adventure Cycling's GPS map data?

I use Garmin City Navigator. Unless you already have purchased maps, invest a few minutes testing Open Source Maps. There are detailed instructions on how to install them. Read the rest of the post for some notes about these maps.

OSM seem to be also the source for Velo Maps.

The ACA GPS map data are just that: routes and points of interest. Use them with any of the maps above.

2. If anyone has done a long trip with the 800, how often did you need to charge it? And how did you go about it?

I have toured with the Edge 705, charging it nightly. It comfortably worked all day, close to 12 hours. I charge it from electric outlet when available, or one of the battery charging options suggested earlier.

I found these charging options serve dual purpose to charge the phone as well.

3. Did you set up a trip using Basecamp or anything like that?

Basecamp is one option to use, especially with Garmin City Navigator maps. There are plenty of web sites for charting routes, such as Ride With GPS, GPSies, and Map My Ride.

Many web sites offer using Google Maps to display & route on bicycle trails. In this case, make sure to export the route with detailed route points (bread crumbs), not just way points.

4. Overall, how accurate were the maps?

I think where the data exists, the maps I used have been accurate. I did find some misalignment when I tested OSM maps, but that was easy to recognize.

5. Would you recommend that 800? I love it as a cycling computer.

You already have the unit—give it a try. It is small, light, & familiar to you.

28

GPS Discussion / Re: New Oregon 450 & Topo 100K

« on: December 12, 2012, 07:44:06 am »

Your experience is correct with the current map releases:

• Topo 100k does not provide route calculation. See product feature that it "Contains roads, trails and highways in metropolitan and rural areas" without mention of the key word "routable". Meanwhile, I had posted earlier instructions for use of free Open Street Maps.
• Topo 24k does provide route calculation. See example Southeast route from Garmin. It "Contains routable roads, trails and highways in metropolitan and rural areas".

29

GPS Discussion / Re: Google maps vs garmin GPS

« on: December 10, 2012, 07:44:05 pm »

The iPad certainly has some advantages:

• Map browsing on a larger screen for route navigation & plan adjustment
• Multi-purpose tool for email, blogs, camera, Skype, and other communications

While a dedicated GPS unit has other advantages:

• Long battery life that, for most units, lasts at least a full day with continuous navigation at every turn
• Pre-determined routes & points of interest that you can store in advance of the trip

There are many apps out there to make the iPad better for navigation (check out EveryTrail), and battery accessories.

My choice for now is a dedicated GPS unit + iPhone.

30

GPS Discussion / Re: Topo US 100K loads slow to computer & SD card

« on: December 07, 2012, 07:31:03 pm »

I never loaded entire maps, so cannot compare with your experience. Do you really need to? I choose the regions around my intended route, and a bit more for detours. On one 4GB SD card, I have portions of Topo, CN North America, & CN Europe.

I do find it strange that Garmin support did not agree to copying the file from one SD card to another. All it is an image file—I am not aware of any hidden files behind it. I have copied it before with no problems. Give it a try.