England : Cheshire A long(ish), slow(ish), flat(tish) Cheshire ride - Sat, 4th June 2016

[ColinJ]

We might get the odd shower but it should be mainly dry, with some sunny spells. A bit of a tailwind to help us early on, and to slow us down a bit on the way back.

I have added GPX files for the longer and shorter routes to the first post of the thread.

@Littgull - I will convert those files to a format that your Edge 200 can use and PM you instructions for how to upload them to the device. It would be interesting to see if you could actually navigate using it! Also, it would be good to have a backup for my own GPS. My phone could be used but the battery wouldn't last long enough for even half the ride, the screen is hard to read in sunlight, and I don't have a bar mount for it. These routes are so complex that I wouldn't have a chance of navigating them from memory. I suppose could write a detailed route sheet, but I can't be bothered to!

My Etrex has been a very reliable device but it would be annoying if it decided to pack up on a ride like this.

 

[mythste]

We might get the odd shower but it should be mainly dry, with some sunny spells. A bit of a tailwind to help us early on, and to slow us down a bit on the way back.

I have added GPX files for the longer and shorter routes to the first post of the thread.

@Littgull - I will convert those files to a format that your Edge 200 can use and PM you instructions for how to upload them to the device. It would be interesting to see if you could actually navigate using it! Also, it would be good to have a backup for my own GPS. My phone could be used but the battery wouldn't last long enough for even half the ride, the screen is hard to read in sunlight, and I don't have a bar mount for it. These routes are so complex that I wouldn't have a chance of navigating them from memory. I suppose could write a detailed route sheet, but I can't be bothered to!

My Etrex has been a very reliable device but it would be annoying if it decided to pack up on a ride like this.

I'll upload the GPX file to my phone and have a portable charger for us if needed, I do have a bar mount etc. It's not a perfect solution and by no means as useful as a garmin but it'll get us round as a backup if required.

 

[Littgull]

Hi Colin,

Just read your post after I Pm'd you. The problem I have about uploading routes on to my Garmin 200 is that the software CD (or even the online downloadable) 'Garmin Connect doesnt seem to work with my Garmin. But it is probably something I'm not doing right.

 

[Littgull]

Hi Colin,

Just read your post after I Pm'd you. The problem I have about uploading routes on to my Garmin 200 is that the software CD (or even the online downloadable) 'Garmin Connect doesnt seem to work with my Garmin. But it is probably something I'm not doing right.

But I think I will be able to use the route and ride we did last year to navigate from my Garmin as it's still on there and I learned how to do that from Doughnut's and your tuition on our last ride.

 

[doughnut]

I can load those gpx files onto my garmin as well

 

[potsy]

Me too but that may not help much

 

[ColinJ]

Hi Colin,

Just read your post after I Pm'd you. The problem I have about uploading routes on to my Garmin 200 is that the software CD (or even the online downloadable) 'Garmin Connect doesnt seem to work with my Garmin. But it is probably something I'm not doing right.

I would bypass Garmin Connect and just use Windows Explorer to copy the files over (or whatever it is that Apple provide, if you are an iFan).

If you plug the GPS in to the USB port on your computer, does the computer notice that it is there? (It would probably beep and Windows Explorer would show something like a D:/ drive labelled 'Garmin Edge 200'). My laptop did not detect my Edge 500 so I could not do anything with it other than charge it. It turned out to be an unsuitable USB cable but a replacement cable works fine. (If you have an iffy cable, you can get the replacement HERE for 99p!)

But I think I will be able to use the route and ride we did last year to navigate from my Garmin as it's still on there and I learned how to do that from Doughnut's and your tuition on our last ride.

Most of the route is the same but the bit around Beeston Castle/Malpas/Bunbury has changed from last year.

Your GPS memory must be filling up with old ride files if you are not deleting/moving them!

I can load those gpx files onto my garmin as well

I'll upload the GPX file to my phone and have a portable charger for us if needed, I do have a bar mount etc. It's not a perfect solution and by no means as useful as a garmin but it'll get us round as a backup if required.

Cheers.

Me too but that may not help much

We will just have to bully you into doing the full route!

 

[ColinJ]

Oh, and the reason that I can't rely on my Edge 500 as backup for my Etrex is that the upgraded firmware on it broke the course-following function! I am going to try 'downgrading' the 500 back to an earlier version of firmware before the bugs were introduced. I may not get the chance to test that before Saturday though, and it may reintroduce other bugs that the newer firmware fixed ...

I can load those gpx files onto my garmin as well

The 500 doesn't seem to understand GPX files so I have to convert them to TCX format to use them. I have been reading about the 200 though, and see that it DOES understand GPX. It baffles me why Garmin would remove that feature from the 500!

Are there any limitations on the GPX files used by the 200? I normally store them as 'tracks' rather than 'routes' and they may have to 500 points. (I keep the number of points below 500 because the Etrex has limited track memory.) Would those files be ok or do you have to reformat them to get them to work?

 

[ColinJ]

The 500 doesn't seem to understand GPX files so I have to convert them to TCX format to use them. I have been reading about the 200 though, and see that it DOES understand GPX. It baffles me why Garmin would remove that feature from the 500!

Ah - I had assumed that the 200 was introduced before the 500 but it appears that it was released later as a simpler and cheaper alternative so it was more a case of adding GPX to the 200 rather than removing it from the 500!

 

[potsy]

We will just have to bully you into doing the full route!

I doubt I will be able to keep up on the 9 or so miles to Tatton, I may have to peel off early

Oh and if littgulls Garmin is anything like mine he should be able to just 'drag and drop' the file from his computer to 'New Files' on the Garmin.
Just tried it on mine and it worked fine, though it has no maps yet as I haven't gotten around to loading them in.

 

[ColinJ]

I doubt I will be able to keep up on the 9 or so miles to Tatton, I may have to peel off early

Oh and if littgulls Garmin is anything like mine he should be able to just 'drag and drop' the file from his computer to 'New Files' on the Garmin.
Just tried it on mine and it worked fine, though it has no maps yet as I haven't gotten around to loading them in.

You must have something more snazzy then - an 800/810 perhaps? The 200 doesn't do maps. It just offers a breadcrumb trail to follow, like my old Etrex.

 

[potsy]

You must have something more snazzy then - an 800/810 perhaps? The 200 doesn't do maps. It just offers a breadcrumb trail to follow, like my old Etrex.

No, a 520 but it doesn't come with maps, there is a way to put them on but it looks complicated to me.
There is a step by step on DC Rainmaker site, just need to get around to trying it, but seeing as I hardly ride any more there doesn't seem much rush.

 

[ColinJ]

He does some brilliant reviews. I am on his site in another window, reading reviews on the 200 and 500!

 

[potsy]

He does some brilliant reviews. I am on his site in another window, reading reviews on the 200 and 500!

My problem is I have not got a pc/laptop only a tablet so it may not be possible.
The Garmin itself is great, love the bluetooth uploading via smartphone, no messing with cables

 

[doughnut]

I doubt I will be able to keep up on the 9 or so miles to Tatton, I may have to peel off early

Oh and if littgulls Garmin is anything like mine he should be able to just 'drag and drop' the file from his computer to 'New Files' on the Garmin.
Just tried it on mine and it worked fine, though it has no maps yet as I haven't gotten around to loading them in.

Yes, Littgulls garmin is exactly the same as mine and that's what I do. I take the gpx or tcx file and drag'n'drop it into the 'New Files' directory. Then I disconnect the usb cable (after the copy is complete), turn off the garmin, turn it back on again then select the course. The garmin says its 'processing' for a few seconds and then its ready to go.

The only difficulty I have is when the gps/tcx file is large and I have a lot of courses on there already - then it might not convert the file properly because I think it uses a lot of extra memory temporarily during processing. Every so often I remove old courses/rides to free up memory for loading new ones.