Touring with the Garmin Oregon 450

[mike.]

I recently completed a TransAm/Western Express tour (NC to CA) and would like to share how I used a Garmin Oregon 450.  Using a GPS for bicycle touring is a fairly confusing subject due to the variety of GPS units available.  Each model has its own limitations in terms of the number of waypoints it can hold, which is an important feature for a cross-country trip where many waypoints are needed.  Posts in this forum have recommended to load only a subset of the ACA waypoints at a time.  This means that during a long trip one would eventually need to access a computer in order to load a different subset of waypoints (or carry a laptop).  Since I was on a speedy lightweight tour ("hotel camping") I did not want to take the time to find a computer (nor carry one) and load new waypoints.  Therefore, I loaded the entire route before leaving by re-creating it in MapSource. 

Some background: I purchased the Oregon 450 without maps preloaded and purchased CityNavigator separately.  I then bought a miniSD card (likely unnecessary).  Of course, I bought the ACA maps!  Instead of carrying the maps they were scanned and loaded onto my iPad.  I carried (4) AA NiMH batteries and a charger that took only (2) batteries at a time. 

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Next, I will loosely describe how I loaded an entire cross country route onto the Garmin Oregon 450.  I cannot say if my approach will work with any other model.  I did not use the ACA waypoints provided online.  I am unsure if what I have written is common knowledge.  At the very least, maybe someone will benefit from having it "spelled out." 

Before leaving I spent a lot of time with the paper ACA maps and MapSource.  The latter is the mapping software (it comes with City Navigator) used to create routes that can be loaded onto the GPS.  A route is a collection of routepoints, and the roads followed between routepoints is determined automatically depending on the chosen mapping algorithm (fastest route by car, minimal miles, etc).  I turned off this feature, preferring to use straight lines to connect routepoints.  In the Oregon this option is denoted "off road" although in MapSource it's labeled differently.  (Note: when riding and approaching a routepoint the GPS emits an audible ringing bell.) 

All my routes were created using the route creation tool in MapSource.  My strategy was to place one routepoint at an intersection and another routepoint in the direction to travel about a tenth of a mile down the road.  So, every turn indicated by the ACA papermaps required two routepoints, although I added more on long stretches of road so that I would be sure I'm on the right path.  This mapping strategy obviates concerns about the GPS mapping algorithm and what roads it decides on.  The "off road" setting may not appeal to you, and in this case you'll just need to create more routepoints so that the GPS doesn't decide on the wrong roads. 

Now, here's the confusing part: the routepoints comprising a route don't seem to count towards the "maximum waypoints" limitation within the Oregon, which is about 2000 (I may be mistaken).  This is why I've referred to them as routepoints instead of waypoints.  However, a route can be too big for the Oregon to handle.  How big?  I have no idea!  For me, the GPS would simply turn off if the route was too big.  To rectify, I split the route into multiple segments.  For example, I had to split Section 11 of the TransAm into 3 parts with filenames section11_pt1, section11_pt2, section11_pt3.

For the TransAm/Western Express, I created 9 routes in MapSource corresponding to the 9 maps needed (TA sections 11, 10, 9, 8, 7; WE sections 4, 3, 2, 1).  Most of these had to be split into two or three subparts, so there are 20+ routes to choose from in my GPS.  The routes I stored on the miniSD card.  The detailed maps upon which routes are drawn are provided by the City Navigator software.  These I loaded into the internal memory of the Oregon and only chose the states through which I'd be passing.  The routes don't take up much filespace and could probably be loaded into internal memory also.  Once all routes have been created and loaded, I recommend loading each route successively to ensure the GPS doesn't crash/turn off.

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I hope this post is useful to some of you that wish to take a GPS unit along when touring.  The Oregon really shined on the eastern portion of the trip through the Appalachians with all its turns, and I never got lost.  Furthermore, it doubled as a cycling computer.  Although the GPS cannot completely replace the paper ACA maps (which were scanned and loaded onto the iPad I took), I must say it was nice not having to fiddle with maps during the ride! 

[FredHiltz]

Hi Mike. This is terrific news. At last, a GPSR that will take us across the country unaided! Many thanks for writing the how-to-do-it.

You created the route points with the same reasoning we made the waypoints for the published GPX  files. I think these are what Garmin calls map points, presumably because we can create them only by clicking on the map. They do not appear in the MapSource list of waypoints, nor in my GPSR's list. (It is a 60CS.) We cannot change their names, nor edit them in any way except to delete them. They do appear in the MapSource Route Properties dialog box on the Via Points tab.

The difference between these and full-fledged waypoints used to be irrelevant. As no extra storage was available for them, it was better to publish real waypoints with useful names and comments. Now it matters.

Does anyone have other new models from Garmin: the Colorado or 62 series? Would you care to try Mike's routes in them and report? Mike, I trust you would share them.

Now, if Garmin would use some of those increasingly inexpensive megabytes to let these be real waypoints, we would have the cyclist's dream GPSR.

Fred

[mike.]

Thanks for the response, Fred.  I have gotten so much out of the forums here I'm glad to contribute in some way!  I would be happy to share routes for testing purposes - just PM me. 

[solsrch]

I'll be using a 450 for a trip this summer and hope to load the info over the next 2-3 weeks using your info.  I'll let you know how it goes.

[Maciej]

Thank you Mike for sharing your knowledge with other cyclist. A very good springboard for further studies on my Oregon.

Hello everybody,
we are a family from Poland who is planning a one year bike trip around USA.
We will be starting in Chicago and following the Northern Tier East bound towards Bar Harbour.
Then we would like to take the Atlantic Coast down to St Augustine.
In the fall we would like to cover Southern Trier to San Diego.
In the spring we would like to start from San Diego and follow Pacific Coast to Astoria.
And in the summer we want to head towards Chicago following the Lewis and Clark and Northern Tirer.

I know it might look crazy. We spent one year cycling around Europe in 2010-2011 when our kids were 3 and 5 years old.

I just bought a second hand Oregon 450.
I know nothing about the Garmin GPS devices.
I would be very grateful if you guys could help me plan our route and answer a few questions that I have got to find the answer to.

1) to make this 20 000 km ride much easier to navigate, I am planning to use my Oregon 450 together with ACA paper maps.
However,
the total cost of the paper maps is circa 300 USD
plus the AC membership 45 USD
plus Digital Data for the GPS 120 USD
plus City Navigator North America 80 USD
which makes 550 USD.
Do you have any second hand offers for the paper maps?
If yes, where could I find them.
I know I will have to buy the membership and my own map sets digital together with City Navigator

2) Why is US cycle map not comptible with Oregon 450? What is the difference between th US Cycle map and City Navigator NT?
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/169655/pn/010-D1555-01#

3) If I buy either City Navigator or US Cycle map, will I be able to view the maps (together with the added ACA routes) on my tablet with Android system? If yes, what is a good app to do so? Can I load my Cycle US map into my tablet? Or I connect my Oregon to a tablet and then can view the larger scale map.

4) I am a very active member of Warmshowers. Is there any application that can add warmshower hosts as POIs on my GPS?

5) I will need a sim card with the Internet. In Europe, if I go to France for expamle, I just buy a local simcard and use the Internet with my Adnroid phone. Can you reccommend an affordable Internet provider that I can use during my trip with the coverage of the routes mentioned above.

I would be very grateful for any hints.
If you folks need any advice on planning your trip in Europe, I will be more than happe to help you out.
Best regards
Maciej and family

[mdxix]

Do you have any second hand offers for the paper maps?

Occasionally people post their old maps for sale on this forum. Confirm the publication date to get the latest maps for updates to route & services.

Why is US cycle map not comptible with Oregon 450?

You can still get free Open Street Maps on your Garmin. There are multiple methods. Start with this one:

http://www.adventurecycling.org/forums/index.php?topic=9892.msg53126#msg53126

You can quickly download the entire map for the United States.

Alternate methods are at:
http://forums.adventurecycling.org/index.php?topic=12612.msg64791#msg64791

And:
http://forums.adventurecycling.org/index.php?topic=14417.msg75517#msg75517

If I buy either City Navigator or US Cycle map, will I be able to view the maps (together with the added ACA routes) on my tablet with Android system? If yes, what is a good app to do so? Can I load my Cycle US map into my tablet? Or I connect my Oregon to a tablet and then can view the larger scale map.

Instructions & recommendations for mobile apps are at http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/adventure-cycling-route-network/digital-data-for-devices/tracks/mobile-devices/

I am a very active member of Warmshowers. Is there any application that can add warmshower hosts as POIs on my GPS?

Not that I know of.

I will need a sim card with the Internet. In Europe, if I go to France for expamle, I just buy a local simcard and use the Internet with my Adnroid phone. Can you reccommend an affordable Internet provider that I can use during my trip with the coverage of the routes mentioned above.

Try AT&T Go Phone.

Note that the apps recommended earlier can work offline, without the need for continuous mobile signal. You can download the maps for offline use when you have internet connection at a library or internet café.