Is gpx info working on my Bolt?

[Twigrf]

My wife and will be starting the Northern Tier route in a few days. I have the ACA paper maps and am planning to purchase the gpx files for the route. I’ve read on a forum page questions from a poster who was en route and the info on the bike computer wasn’t working as expected. Once I purchase the gpx files and sync them to my Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt as per Wahoo’s instructions (https://wahoofitness.yonyx.com/y/conversation/?id=0879d4c0-53dd-11e8-8f6c-bc764e10d166), is there a way to be sure everything will work right before starting in Washington?

[John Nettles]

I actually had this happen to me early on when I started using a GPS.  I didn't load it right (thought I did), drove 2 days to the start, and then fired up and nothing.  Ever since, I always verify it is loaded and working. 

While I am unfamiliar with Wahoo, I would think it is very similar to the other brands.  For service waypoints, i.e. a campground, once the data is supposedly loaded onto the device, go outside and connect to the satellites.  Then do a "route" from where you are to the service waypoint, i.e. a hotel. If the GPS tries to direct you there, it is probably loaded fine otherwise the GPS would not be able to see it. 

To see if the track has loaded, just zoom the map out then over to Washington then down to where the route is.  The track should show on the device.  At least this is how I verify on my Garmin. 
Also, be sure to verify the limits on your particular device, i.e. 2000 waypoints, 100k track points, 200 routes of up to 50 waypoints each, etc.  If you exceed whatever your limit is, your device may give you an error message or something. 

Tailwinds, John

[RonK]

It's my understanding that the ACA files are route files, not track files.
Unless you have the very latest Bolt that was released just a couple of weeks ago your Bolt does not have navigation capabilities so can only follow a track file.
If you have the latest Bolt, it does have navigation capabilities and can follow a route file.

[HobbesOnTour]

The link you provided is for general gpx/tcx files.
My understanding is that you need to import the ACA file into a third party app/site such as RideWithGPS and then sync RWGPS with your unit. I believe Komoot will work as well, possibly Strava.

(I have no idea why it is done this way)

I would not expect your unit to show campgrounds etc. just the route.

There is no need to worry about trackpoints or route length. I had a 12000km route on my Elemnt (bigger Bolt).
(No disrespect to John)

Since the Bolt has no route creation options I can suggest Osmand (an app) as an offline planner that allows you to
Create a route
Save the Route
Open in your Wahoo App
Operate on your unit.
Clunky to learn and needing maps downloaded in advance it is a good companion to your Bolt, especially on tour for navigating to a store/campground.

Unfortunately, if you are far away from the route it is next nigh to impossible to zoom in on a Wahoo unit.

If you're not familiar with RWGPS or the other options post back or have a look on Youtube. I believe that you won't need a RWGPS sub to do what you need, just to set up an account and link it to your Wahoo account/app.

Good luck!

[John Nettles]

When I have purchased the route GPS data files, i.e. the route GPS data for the PPP route, it has always included the main track in each direction, any alternative tracks in each direction, and all of the service waypoints.  These are individual files and can be very easily edited on Garmin's BaseCamp.  They used to include route files but no longer.

As far as the limits, maybe that is user inputted data.  Of course there has to be some limit (12 trillion miles???) based on memory but my older Garmin 64s says it there are limits to its memory:  https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/140022/pn/010-01199-10#specs .  After re-reading it, it does say it allows 200 tracks but doesn't say how long each can be.  It does say track logs have a 10k point limit after which point I "think" it auto-archives some older points or auto-adjusts some somehow.  However, since I am not the most technological guy around and I don't use tracks that much, I am not overly familiar with them, especially on non-Garmin non-handheld units.

That is why I still carry maps 

Tailwinds, John

[Twigrf]

Thanks, all, for your quick responses!

It's my understanding that the ACA files are route files, not track files.

I just looked again and the ACA files are track files.

The link you provided is for general gpx/tcx files.

I checked this, too, and the ACA files are gpx, so it should work without going through RWGPS.

I guess I’ll give it a shot and hope that it works . . . . . paper maps being my backup, of course. I’ll plan to post an update here in a couple weeks, since our first few days are off route.

Many thanks!

[HobbesOnTour]

Thanks, all, for your quick responses!

It's my understanding that the ACA files are route files, not track files.

I just looked again and the ACA files are track files.

The link you provided is for general gpx/tcx files.

I checked this, too, and the ACA files are gpx, so it should work without going through RWGPS.

I guess I’ll give it a shot and hope that it works . . . . . paper maps being my backup, of course. I’ll plan to post an update here in a couple weeks, since our first few days are off route.

Many thanks!

Make sure you read this thread
https://forums.adventurecycling.org/index.php?topic=15797.0
Especially reply #10