Bikely onto Garmin 305

[nashd]

Just a few dumb questions which have probably been asked umpteen times before...

I'm planning on riding a couple of routes which are on Bikely, but they have around 1300 waypoints each.  Is it possible to download them into a 305, and if so, how do you navigate the route?  Will it indicate which way I should go at each junction? 

If not, what GPS units will allow me to use Bikely routes?

Thanks

David

[Sergeant Pluck]

1. In Bikely, download the gpx file to your PC.
2. Go here: http://www.gpsies.com/upload.do?uploadMode=convert
3. On that page browse to the file you have got in 1. Upload it.
4. Go down to convert. Press the options button beside it and peruse same. Choose as per other threads in this subforum. 
5. Convert.
6. Put in 305.

Obviously you will need a small number of carefully labelled waypoints as your device has no maps.

[nashd]

Thanks for that, but I’m afraid I’m none the wiser.  On the couple of occasions I experimented with getting a ride into the 305 I created waypoints using Marengo (I think that was it) and then used gpsbabel to transfer it to the 305.  I created the waypoints with ‘descriptive’ names at road junctions such as ‘TL’ for Turn Left.  When I download the route from Bikely it comes as a GPX file with loads of trackpoints listed.  Do I need to clear those out, leaving only the ones pertinent to road junctions, renaming them with a meaningful description?  Or is the 305 not really able to guide me around a Bikely route?

[Greenbank]

Some useful hints in this thread:-

GPS babel/eTrex

Notably:-

Thanks - it's working as a track

How can I convert a track to a route? Or do I even need to?

Wouldn't bother, stick with a track for something you've downloaded.

If you did want a track I'd create a new route in bikely sticking one routepoint per routesheet instruction (i.e. where you need to be told to do something other than go straight on) with each point labeled with the instruction (in just 6 characters).

Download the subsequent gpx file from bikely (it'll download as a track), then:-

Edit it in Notepad (or any other text editor).
1) Delete everything from the first <trk> tag to the end of the file.
2) Add a newline and "<rte><name>FOO</name>" before the first <wpt> tag (just after the opening <gpx> tag)
3) Search/replace every occurrence of "wpt" to "rtept" (without the quotes).
4) Add "</rte></gpx>" to the end of the file.
5) Save and upload via gpsbabel as a route.

Change "FOO" to be whatever you want the track to be called. 10 character limit applies I think.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Here you go:

http://frank.kinlan.co.uk/?page_id=410

Essentially you are going to need to ride from waypoint to waypoint as per the compass arrow. I had thought that you could use the utility above to reduce the number of points drastically [edit: and convert from a .gpx] to allow editing but the above link describes a better approach.

[delthebike]

205 and 305 don't speak GPX. You need to convert it to a tcx and upload it as a course.

I'm planning on riding a couple of routes which are on Bikely, but they have around 1300 waypoints each.  Is it possible to download them into a 305, and if so, how do you navigate the route?  Will it indicate which way I should go at each junction? 

Probably not waypoints, they'll be route/track points.
Not before making the file a garmin course file with the tcx extention. Once you've done the conversion and upload you'll have a course to follow, a dotted line.
No indications of turnings.

[nashd]

Thanks for that.  I think I'll need to experiment... 

Nowadays I tend to just use the 305 as a device for logging short rides.  When I got it I made a couple of half hearted attempts to plot an audax route into it, but gave up.  For me it was too tricky to transfer route sheet instructions onto an online map (especially in an unfamiliar area).  The short battery life was also another hassle on the longer rides. 

The two audaxes I'm planning on riding within two or three weeks are on Bikely, and I thought it might be worth trying the 305.  However, I think I might be better off trying to bodge a route sheet holder onto my bike!

If you were buying a new GPS for audaxes, and for following available Bikely routes, which one would you go for?  I'm not sure if the 705 would be a good upgrade, or if one of the Vista models I see mentioned would be better for me.

[delthebike]

If you were buying a new GPS for audaxes, and for following available Bikely routes, which one would you go for?  I'm not sure if the 705 would be a good upgrade, or if one of the Vista models I see mentioned would be better for me.

I went for the 605, I don't need all the bells and whistles of the 705, and have an external battery pack if I think I will go 12+ hours of riding. I'm happy with it and think it a good upgrade from a 205.
There are lots of pages here with info on GPS devices and I daresay you know a few people, in real life, who have one or other.

[Greenbank]

If you were buying a new GPS for audaxes, and for following available Bikely routes, which one would you go for?  I'm not sure if the 705 would be a good upgrade, or if one of the Vista models I see mentioned would be better for me.

I'd buy an eTrex Legend HCx. I'd use free software and OSM maps, plus routes or tracks downloaded from bikely. All in, with bike mount, for £150.

Uses 2 AA batteries, and you can usually do a 400km Audax on a single pair of 2700mAh rechargables.

Right now I use a bog standard yellow eTrex with no mapping and get by fine. Got me round the Bryan Chapman with no problems and I'll be using it on LEL.

[Seineseeker]

Let us know how you get on, I have a 305 but never bothered as it look so cumbersome to convert stuff.

[nashd]

I've worked it out!  Seineseeker, I'll send you an email or PM with some instructions...

[Jon P]

The problem I've found with Bikely is it creates far more trackpoints than you actually need, then when I try to upload it it tells me it has exceeded the number of trackpoints per track.  Either I have to manually edit the .gpx file to split it up into multiple tracks, or I've just found that in Tracklogs there is a  Point Filter which allows you to specify the exact number of trackpoints in your track - though you run the risk of required ones at junctions being deleted doing this.  Would be good if there were something online to do this, though?

[frankly frankie]

GPS Visualizer
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/convert_input
is an online service that can downsample a track.  I think its just a web front-end for GPSBabel.

All the utilities I've tried for downsampling do a very good job of retaining the important 'shape' points at turns and discarding the less important ones along straight roads.  It's quite safe to go down from say 2000 points to 500 without really compromising your track very much.

[Jon P]

Thanks - looks good.