2012 TOTM Garmin Routes Test

[jcirner]

Michigan riders:

This is my first attempt to post the routes for the upcoming TOTM ride in September. Thought I would start with one route and hope someone out there would attempt to download and load on their Garmin to verify this will work.

Let me know if all is good and I will download the rest of the routes.

Bellaire Day 2 Bridge Route DONE.gdb

JC

[H-man]

Will you also post or provide paper route maps/guides for those of us not GPS enabled?

[Buckeye56]

Hi John,

I am at the Fly By but I will give it a shot after today's ride and let you know how it goes. The wife and I have a room at the Bellaire Inn and are really looking forward to visiting that part of Michigan. We rode up the east side a couple of years ago and it was very beautiful. Can't wait to see more

[Buckeye56]

John,

Sorry for the tardy reply. I was able to download the file to my laptop and then transfer it to my Garmin Zumo 550. It seems to be OK. I did try to recalculate the route to my map set and it did not like that one bit!

HTH.

[jtpedersen]

Hi John,

Worked beautifully for me--as expected--with zero problems from clicking on the link you gave, to viewing it, to downloading into my Garmin.

Cheers!

[jtpedersen]

Me again,

I'd like to mention, I had the data transit via BaseCamp, not MapSource. Since MapSource's been effectively retired, I bit the bullet, made the transition, and solely use BaseCamp for my Garmin activities.

Cheers!

[HawkGTRider]

Me again,

I'd like to mention, I had the data transit via BaseCamp, not MapSource. Since MapSource's been effectively retired, I bit the bullet, made the transition, and solely use BaseCamp for my Garmin activities.

Cheers!

MapSource may have been retired by Garmin, but until it stops working, I'm sticking with it. I suppose at some point in time I'll find BaseCamp to be just as easy, but not now.

[DirtFlier]

John,

I downloaded it into my computer via Mapsource and it seems to be OK. I'll download it into my unit to see how it looks but I'm fairly certain it's OK.

Tosh

[jtpedersen]

Hi Geoffrey,

I really resisted at first. And, using an earlier version of BaseCamp, I was -very- unhappy initially; mild understatement.

However, BaseCamp has continued to improve with periodic updates. I would encourage everyone to begin working with it. I've become a champion of the product. One of it's greatest strengths is the ability to easily find Points of Interest in a given area. For instance, laying out a group ride, it very easily shows you all the gas stations around a target area, then lists them in a panel on the right side. This, is really a stellar function.

The other core features have continued to get ever better. Of particular note, Garmin appears to be very receptive to incorporating user feedback. For instance, a very popular request was for 'layover' times for specific waypoints. Previously, this was a big reason folks also used MS Streets & Trips, so they could specify fueling, lunch, and other stops in order to get an idea of actual trip time (not just ride time). This, along with dozens of other additions/tweaks/fixes came out in 4.0.1.0.

It has finally matured enough to be worth paying serious attention to.

[HawkGTRider]

Hi Geoffrey,

I really resisted at first. And, using an earlier version of BaseCamp, I was -very- unhappy initially; mild understatement.
<snip>
It has finally matured enough to be worth paying serious attention to.

I know I'll have to migrate myself over to BaseCamp at some point in time, and it would make sense to start before MapSource becomes non-functional. It's been long enough now that I don't remember if MapSource was intuitive or not. At this point, BaseCamp does not seem so, but maybe MapSource didn't either. I don't remember. At the time, it didn't matter if MapSource was intuitive or not as that was what Garmin provided. If BaseCamp was available then, it wasn't apparent.
Roger White, local MSTA member, fine fellow, and GPS guru, has also started migrating himself over to BaseCamp. We've talked about making this change, but so far, I've resisted. I guess I need to bite the bullet and quit dragging my feet (like some of the riders I see out on the road). Recommendations such as yours are good encouragement to do so.