Google Maps and Garmins...

TinyExplosions

Right, I know there are some mapping geniuses out there, so maybe you can help... thanks to niceonetom, I have in Google Maps the rout of the Virginia 300 (here it is). I want to get this into my 705 so I have the route on the day, but try as I might, I can't get the damn thing in there!

Anyone have any tips? The kml file Google spits out for Google Earth isn't a valid one in other apps like mapmyride etc, nor does the Garmin Communicator Plugin work properly...

Fredo

you can use: http://www.gpsvisualizer.com
- save the kml file (view in google earth link top hand of the map you send )
- upload the kml file in http://www.gpsvisualizer.com
- convert it in a GPX file, then on the result page you should get the following output:
Your data has been converted to GPX.
Right-click on the following link to save the file to your hard drive; you may want to give it a more sensible name.

- import it on your garmin device.
it works ok on my garmin etrex
Hope this helps

TinyExplosions

you hero!

It's not perfect as it's in a a load of small routes, but it's nearly there... thanks

Morgan

http://www.gpsies.com does something similar - allows you to edit the route too.

Raam

TinyExplosions wrote: »

Right, I know there are some mapping geniuses out there, so maybe you can help... thanks to niceonetom, I have in Google Maps the rout of the Virginia 300 (here it is). I want to get this into my 705 so I have the route on the day, but try as I might, I can't get the damn thing in there!

Anyone have any tips? The kml file Google spits out for Google Earth isn't a valid one in other apps like mapmyride etc, nor does the Garmin Communicator Plugin work properly...

I see no route in zee link?

TinyExplosions

Raam wrote: »

I see no route in zee link?

I have deleted that one... sorry!

Route is here now, in one long route, instead of two.

You doing the 300 Raam? If so, I have the GPX here and can send it your way

Raam

TinyExplosions wrote: »

I have deleted that one... sorry!

Route is here now, in one long route, instead of two.

You doing the 300 Raam? If so, I have the GPX here and can send it your way

Cheers. I dunno if I'll do it. It's an awful long way. I did 180km on my own on Saturday and I was very happy when it was over. Near the end I was thinking that 300km seems a bridge too far.

TinyExplosions

Raam wrote: »

Cheers. I dunno if I'll do it. It's an awful long way. I did 180km on my own on Saturday and I was very happy when it was over. Near the end I was thinking that 300km seems a bridge too far.

Don't make Caroline get the wimp list out... it's pretty flat, and there'll be a bunch of us...

Diarmuid

I'll weight in with my favourite. BikeRouteToaster.

It's the best of the mapping solutions IMHO. It's very fast, works very well and has a nice clean interface. Every now and then I try MMR but it's not a patch in Toaster.

You can upload a gpx to it and it will add the elevation data (if it's not already there).

Getting it on the Garmin is then just a matter of doing a "Download to Garmin" and it will write it as a course directly to your garmin (assuming you have the Garmin Plugin installed)

You can easily share the gpx with others by sending the saved link.

Great site!

EDIT Bob's your uncle

Gavin

I used bikeroutetoaster to plot a route from Naas to Blanch and then DCU this morning.

Google maps is a bit of a bollix. There are several places where it thinks there are roads, but there are not. This is frustrating

niceonetom

TinyExplosions wrote: »

...thanks to niceonetom, I have in Google Maps the rout of the Virginia 300...

whoa whoa whoa there. That route is approximate at best. It's the right towns, in the right order, but I wouldn't say much more than that. Pinch of salt, ymmv (literally in this case), not my fault when you're lost in the dark in cavan, etc etc...

Anyway, isn't navigation in an audax supposed to be done with a combination of the map affixed to your moustache bars, dead reckoning, sextant use and pigeon like instinct?

GPS = cheating, surely. Or, at the very least, missing the point.

Diarmuid wrote: »

I'll weight in with my favourite. BikeRouteToaster.

I gave up on bike route toaster when is consistently told me that at some point on my laragh-and-back spins I had been 300m below sea level, which I'm confident I would have noticed. It's a pity because it's the most generous with the total accent calculation, and therefore the best for the ego.

TinyExplosions

niceonetom wrote: »

whoa whoa whoa there. That route is approximate at best. It's the right towns, in the right order, but I wouldn't say much more than that. Pinch of salt, ymmv (literally in this case), not my fault when you're lost in the dark in cavan, etc etc...

Anyway, isn't navigation in an audax supposed to be done with a combination of the map affixed to your moustache bars, dead reckoning, sextant use and pigeon like instinct?

GPS = cheating, surely. Or, at the very least, missing the point.

It's to have a rough idea of the route, I don't expect it to be perfect.

My pigeon died, and most navigation will be done by judicious use of the trusty Emty

Diarmuid

niceonetom wrote: »

I gave up on bike route toaster when is consistently told me that at some point on my laragh-and-back spins I had been 300m below sea level, which I'm confident I would have noticed. It's a pity because it's the most generous with the total accent calculation, and therefore the best for the ego.

Yea the elevation data is optimistic but if you are mapping out a route it's not really an issue, it's hard to get lost in the vertical plane :-)

BTW I have a script for smoothing the elevation data out if you want (what's the smilie for nerd? ) for more realistic profiles