The Fridays Tour de Normandie 2015

[User10571]

My mind is full of maps. Absolutely chokka with them.

 

[StuAff]

Use GPS, but I've often used paper maps as a backup. Had the entire route to Cardiff printed out when I rode there. Will be doing the same for next week....

 

[StuAff]

I have just bought a Garmin eTrex 20 but there's not much hope that I'll be able to understand how to use it before next Thursday, so no @mmmmartin you won't be the only one without the GPX technology .

Garmin manuals suck. But you'll soon get the hang of it, honest!

Edit: If you haven't worked it out by Friday, there'll be a whole load of people to help you on that score. Me included!

 

[StuAff]

But if I can't download stuff onto it, it will just be extra weight for nothing. I'm not sure I want to spend my holiday trying to understand a load of techspeak.

Allow me:
1. Plug it into your computer with your USB cable.
2. You should see the eTrex mount in the same way as a USB memory stick. If it's Windows you'll need to tell the PC to show you the files on it in Windows Explorer. Macs do this stuff automatically...
3. In the Garmin folder on the eTrex there's another folder called 'GPX'.
4. In that, you may have guessed, you place GPX files such as those Adam posted upthread, and which you can create yourself.
5. Disconnect the Garmin when you're done.
6. Start it up, and the file(s) should be available for you to select for navigating.

Edit: Been looking at the eTrex manual. It's even worse than the Edge one...!!!

 

[StuAff]

Thanks Stu, that's helpful, and I agree about the manual. It took me a while to realise that the bits I couldn't fathom actually referred to the eTrex30, so no wonder they didn't make sense.

I have Adam's GPX files on my PC but I can't do anything with them at the moment. I need some new software I think, and haven't had time to find out which one. I think I also need maps in the Garmin to work with, and the ones that are supplied aren't any good?

I was really thinking that I wouldn't be able to do any downloading while away in Normandy, so I don't think it's worthwhile lugging the thing with me.

Hmmm...you shouldn't need any additional software to transfer between Garmin and computer. Garmin basemaps are a crock (mine shows four or five roads in the whole of Portsmouth). Open Street Map downloads will probably be your best bet, yours for the price of a Micro SD card. Bring it Friday, we have the technology and the will to sort this

 

[StuAff]

I will investigate. I'm travelling on Thursday though.

Bring it on Thursday then...Tea and IT available at this sofa

 

[Flying Dodo]

The RMT has a splendid record of cancelling strikes at the last minute.

I think that the GPS links may have wobbled a tad - here's the last ten miles of the second day again...

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/4...59bf0b681:0x9650d7caf495b073!1m0!3e0?hl=en-GB

here's the first part of the second day. This is actually a combination of three different recces, a combination that I've never ridden, so there might be a bit of headscratching on the day.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/4...756ae3bfd:0xc36390b1ddb2b912!1m0!3e2?hl=en-GB

Here's the bit that we'll recce on Friday morning - sending Martin on ahead if we think that the gravel is treacherous...

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...x0000000000000000:0x2975fe37f55c8ca7?hl=en-GB

Ta - amended file to follow............

Edit:
Looking at that, it seems to send you round some roundabouts and down one way streets the wrong way......

Anyway, here's the corrected Day 2 link.

 

[mmmmartin]

TMN, for best use you need maps on the GPS unit that are better than the "Basemap" stuff you get with it. Really you ned Mapsource, but they cost real money. (£60 for the whole of europe),
But you can get some for almost nothing from OSMAnd (Open Street Map for Android) and bung them on the unit. after that (which is the tricky bit) you need to spend time playing with it. It took me two years to learn but now i know all i need to know about how to use it. i'd suggest if you want to enjoy the normandy tour, leave it at home. Then organise a "TMN GPS day out in east sussex" and get peeps to show you how at a time when you are receptive to picking it up, with no pressure. pick a nice day and i'll come along.

 

[StuAff]

TMN, for best use you need maps on the GPS unit that are better than the "Basemap" stuff you get with it. Really you ned Mapsource, but they cost real money. (£60 for the whole of europe),
But you can get some for almost nothing from OSMAnd (Open Street Map for Android) and bung them on the unit. after that (which is the tricky bit) you need to spend time playing with it. It took me two years to learn but now i know all i need to know about how to use it. i'd suggest if you want to enjoy the normandy tour, leave it at home. Then organise a "TMN GPS day out in east sussex" and get peeps to show you how at a time when you are receptive to picking it up, with no pressure. pick a nice day and i'll come along.

FTFY....
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin/Download

 

[StuartG]

I'll be bringing a netbook and USB cable if we need to do some fancy leg work. Test you Linux skils @StuAff ?

 

[StuAff]

Linux? Well, I am on a Unix-type system......
Fibre connection here, that would make life easier.

 

[dellzeqq]

Paper maps (and four recce rides) rule ok. If Olaf and Adam bring GPS thingies that's very welcome, but if a bunch of people start comparing software by the side of the road I'm confiscating the lot.

 

[srw]

and I prefer paper maps - the screen is bigger, the batteries last for ever and you can read the screen in bright sunlight. And those annoying software updates are kept to an absolute minimum.

Although they're usually less resistant to a little moisture in the air.

I shall be equipped with both local IGN top 100s. And a GPS. But I'll use it to record, not navigate.

@User13710 - @mmmmartin speaks sense. Either leave it behind, or else bring it, switch it on when you're moving and otherwise ignore it. Then use the resulting tracks to play with setting it up on your PC in the comfort of your home.

 

[dellzeqq]

.....or bring a little camera and take photographs with people in them.

I think the map my ride thing has 'corrected' the route south of Ouistreham to road rather than bike path. For Martin's benefit, we absolutely will be taking the bike path to the Pegasus bridge. A small lecturette would be appreciated.

Further north on day 1, if the roads are wet we'll take the D69 pass the Batterie rather than the D269. Again, a short talk on the subject of 18000 tonnes of high explosive would be nice.

 

[redfalo]

TMN, for best use you need maps on the GPS unit that are better than the "Basemap" stuff you get with it. Really you ned Mapsource, but they cost real money. (£60 for the whole of europe),
But you can get some for almost nothing from OSMAnd (Open Street Map for Android) and bung them on the unit. after that (which is the tricky bit) you need to spend time playing with it.

I think you're mixing up stuff, @mmmmartin. Mapsource is an old, crappy version of Garmin's desktop software used to tweak tracks/routes and maps on the computer and save stuff recorded with the Garmin to your PC. (What you meant was probably Citynavigator - Garmin's digital maps for Western Europe, at 75 quid - you don't need this, as there are free alternatives, see below.)

Fortunately, Mapsours has been replaced by Basecamp, a free and rather good piece of software for the desktop PC. However, you don't really need this software, as you can also use internet based sevices like GPSies.com, RideWithGPS, MapMyRide....

However, Martin is right that you need to get some decent maps on the Garmin. Free "Open Street Maps" (OSM) are the best choice. You can really easily get them in a device-ready format via this website http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ Choose the country you want, click "download".

The webiste then offers different formats of the map. Choose "osm_generic_gmapsupp.zip - Compressed file containing a single image that can be placed directly onto the SD-card of the GPS. Unzip first!") Download (be aware that his can take 30 or so minutes), unzip, copy the *.img file to the Garmin folder on your device.

The only remaining thing you'll have to do is to tell the Garmin that it shall use the map. Go to "Map setup" on the device and enable the map you downloaded - done.