A question for cycling tourers

dewindygap

Hello all. We are heading off shortly on our annual 4 week cycling trip to France/Switzerland and as usual we are trying to keep weight to a minimum. So this years cutback is hopefullly maps. I'm wondering if any of you know of any on-line site that will allow us print off portions of maps for a fee. In other years we have taken 4/5 maps with us and only needed to use a portion of each map depending on what region of France we travelled through. I have googled this with no success so any help would be great. Thanks in anticipation.

Darkglasses

Why not use electronic maps? If GPS isn't cool, why not store images of maps on something?

Qualitymark

Offmaps is an app that will allow you to do this. I don't like it, myself, though.

+1 to Darkglasses' suggestion of a GPS - though I prefer paper maps, which I laminate. You can always post each one home when you're finished with it, to cut down on weight.

thebouldwhacker

What I have done in the past was to use www.ridewithgps.com and plot each section of the cycle then print off each one separately. It can be a bit messy and let's no room to see what else is in the area or allow for route changes.
I reckon gps if you want to get away from maps

hardCopy

I'd get a decent 1:200,000 atlas and photocopy the relevant pages ahead of time.

I found Google maps was difficult to tell the difference between a main road and an unpaved laneway.

GPS is still handy for getting your bearings though.

dewindygap

Hello all and thanks for the helpful replies. Forgive the delay in responding.
@Darkglasses and Qualitymark... I never knew about offline maps before but have been testing a few free ones this past week and they are very useful. My wife actually has a smartphone with maps on it but is freaked about the roaming charges etc when using it so the offline maps seem great.
@the bouldwhacker..... thanks for that link. I will play with it over the weekend and see what I can devise.
@hardCopy......I had read that tip before, not sure if it was from you, and did try that over the past few years but got lazy looking for envelopes and stamps etc so only ever posted back 2 maps. I do like to have an hard copy (scuse the pun) and I had a friend that had access to a large scanner/copier who would run off A4 size portions of the maps required which were very handy to dispose of when no longer needed, but alas he no longer works there. I tried to scan some myself on my home scanner but result was poor.
Thanks again for all your inputs.

Qualitymark

dewindygap wrote: »

Hello all and thanks for the helpful replies. Forgive the delay in responding.
@Darkglasses and Qualitymark... I never knew about offline maps before but have been testing a few free ones this past week and they are very useful. My wife actually has a smartphone with maps on it but is freaked about the roaming charges etc when using it so the offline maps seem great.

When I go to any country in Europe I usually buy a SIM for around €20 and ask the shop selling it how to turn on data (usually around 500mb and usually you have to text a number and it'll turn on. Then you're using local data at local charges. But not worth it if you're passing through a bunch of countries, of course.

If you want to keep your own SIM, turn off data, but every now and then call in to a hotel for a cup of coffee, making sure it's one with free wifi for guests, and ask for a password, and check your email, turn on your maps and download any you unexpectedly need.

By the way, across swathes of Europe there are hours of siesta from 2pm to 5pm when shops aren't open in small towns; however if you're desperate for water knock on the local presbytery and they'll usually fill your water bottles with potable water for you.

Ole Rodrigo

Having just done a short tour at home, I found a garmin gps and google maps ( smartphone ) very useful. Initially I made a broad plan on ridewithgps.com. I would then revise the daily route the previous evening with google maps, save it to my maps, then use the gps to navigate back on track if required during the day. Between the two I didn't have any problems. Not sure of thats of much use on the continent with roaming charges, you might be able to work around it with free wifi as previously suggested.

Captain Havoc

Google maps requires data, so that would be a non runner, I'd imagine. I can't see the problem with Michelen maps, they're light and pretty disposible. I tour very light and couldn't imagine touring without a proper map. The first time I toured I used ridewithgps print-outs and it was a disaster, so I bought a map. In France, I'm sure it must be possible to cross it by following cue sheets.

Mycroft H

Captain Havoc wrote: »

Google maps requires data, so that would be a non runner, I'd imagine. I can't see the problem with Michelen maps, they're light and pretty disposible. I tour very light and couldn't imagine touring without a proper map. The first time I toured I used ridewithgps print-outs and it was a disaster, so I bought a map. In France, I'm sure it must be possible to cross it by following cue sheets.

Local Michelin maps are the way to go in france. Get a map bag if you're afraid of getting them wet.

dewindygap

Call me old-fashioned but I do prefer hardcopy to mull over on pitstops etc. The problem is, because of the route planned, I will need to take 5/6 AA or Michelin maps plus 2 different books for the Loire and Burgandy and whilst in total they do not weigh too much, as each year passes and the older and unfitter we get, the less I like to carry. Especially as it will be later this year than usual travelling, it's a toss-up between a fleece and maps. I know we are only talking grams here but as I said before, each year I try to pare it down to the bare minimum.
@07Lapierre, on the off-chance that you might read this, as I have mentioned ad naseum (?) on this board, presentinting the bike at the airport is my biggest stress. As we are flying home from Lyon, could you give me any indication of how strict they might be with 2 unboxed bikes. The reason I always fly into Rennes is because Aer Lingus in Dublin are always very (touch wood) accommodating but not so (not necessarily Aer Lingus) to my cost when returning from France.

Ole Rodrigo

Something else that works surprisingly well is making notes for each day. Instead of printing off from a route planning site, just make a note of the road names, towns turn offs etc..doesn't take long, works ok on a route thats not too complex and can save a lot of faffin about.

cdaly_

dewindygap wrote: »

Hello all. We are heading off shortly on our annual 4 week cycling trip to France/Switzerland and as usual we are trying to keep weight to a minimum. So this years cutback is hopefullly maps. I'm wondering if any of you know of any on-line site that will allow us print off portions of maps for a fee. In other years we have taken 4/5 maps with us and only needed to use a portion of each map depending on what region of France we travelled through. I have googled this with no success so any help would be great. Thanks in anticipation.

dewindygap wrote: »

Call me old-fashioned but I do prefer hardcopy to mull over on pitstops etc. The problem is, because of the route planned, I will need to take 5/6 AA or Michelin maps plus 2 different books for the Loire and Burgandy and whilst in total they do not weigh too much, as each year passes and the older and unfitter we get, the less I like to carry. Especially as it will be later this year than usual travelling, it's a toss-up between a fleece and maps. I know we are only talking grams here but as I said before, each year I try to pare it down to the bare minimum.

What I've done in recent years is to scan a relevant page or two of a very detailed france atlas and printed them on two sides of A3 paper (though that was only for spins around a fixed location rather than a tour). Given your planned route, this might end up covering many pages so you may not save on weight.

How about posting each relevant map to a poste restante address near the start of its area of coverage? Post the used one home after picking up the next one...

lennymc

Qualitymark wrote: »

If you want to keep your own SIM, turn off data, but every now and then call in to a hotel for a cup of coffee, making sure it's one with free wifi for guests, and ask for a password, and check your email, turn on your maps and download any you unexpectedly need.

mcdonalds has allways had free wifi anywhere Ive been in europe including France and Switzerland. They also have big macs, but thats another story.

dewindygap

@lennymc. Thnx for that Lenny. I find them great for pitstops/snacks/coffee and most importantly...........the clean toilets. Anyone whoever travelled in France (especially off the main routes) would be aware of the dire condition of toilets in bars, especially for women. Invariably they are shared toilets not to mention the dreaded 'squats' which we still come across.

serendip

1. I can't recommend a GPS with OpenCycleMap data highly enough. I have a cycling map built containing Ireland, UK most of France and most of central Europe, if anybody's interested.

2. Local tourist offices will often have free maps of the area. I'm just back from a three week tour; I used a GPS and a string of local freebee maps. 2000km, and didn't buy a single map.

connie_c

Google maps recently updated the app for smartphones, iphones etc and now it allows you to store 6 large maps offline. Its designed to store a city so you can use your phone to navigate while not using any roaming data while abroad. Its excellent. I told a friend about it and they used it in Barcelona last week for walking around the city.

feck sake lads

serendip wrote: »

1. I can't recommend a GPS with OpenCycleMap data highly enough. I have a cycling map built containing Ireland, UK most of France and most of central Europe, if anybody's interested.

2. Local tourist offices will often have free maps of the area. I'm just back from a three week tour; I used a GPS and a string of local freebee maps. 2000km, and didn't buy a single map.

what exactly do you mean by you have a map built with ireland uk france.
i'm totally useless with these things i have a garmin legend hcx gps great unit but no idea how to put maps on it:o
so is your set up on a simcard .

ROK ON

I did a 5 day trip in France recently relying mostly on my iPhone.

Every evening I used wifi to plot a map on google maps.
I had data roaming turned off.

Anytime I needed direction I simply looked at my phone.
The money I occasionally spent on roaming was a lot less than what five maps would have cost me. The advantage of google maps is that the gPS even with data roaming is turned off will pinpoint where you are on the road, as opposed to trying to guess using a traditional map.

lennymc

I did a 5 day trip in France recently relying mostly on ROK ON's iPhone.

cdaly_

serendip wrote: »

1. I can't recommend a GPS with OpenCycleMap data highly enough. I have a cycling map built containing Ireland, UK most of France and most of central Europe, if anybody's interested.

feck sake lads wrote: »

what exactly do you mean by you have a map built with ireland uk france.
i'm totally useless with these things i have a garmin legend hcx gps great unit but no idea how to put maps on it:o
so is your set up on a simcard .

I used Mobile Atlas Creator to download OpenCycleMap data and convert it to the correct format for my GPS program (using SportsTracker).
Once downloaded, I needed to zoom it up a bit so I could read the maps ('cos I can't see them on my phone even with glasses) so I wrote a little script to zoom them up to double size.

Copy that lot to the correct folder on the phone and SportsTracker automatically uses it.

Mobac should be able to generate maps to suit the garmin (assuming the unit can do maps).

ROK ON wrote: »

The advantage of google maps is that the gPS even with data roaming is turned off will pinpoint where you are on the road, as opposed to trying to guess using a traditional map.

Though it's pretty easy to acquire the map-reading skills to use a paper one and it doesn't run out of battery...

feck sake lads wrote: »

what exactly do you mean by you have a map built with ireland uk france.
i'm totally useless with these things i have a garmin legend hcx gps great unit but no idea how to put maps on it:o
so is your set up on a simcard .

serendip

feck sake lads wrote: »

what exactly do you mean by you have a map built with ireland uk france.
i'm totally useless with these things i have a garmin legend hcx gps great unit but no idea how to put maps on it:o
so is your set up on a simcard .

I mean I have the cyclemap built for (most) Garmin devices for these regions, all in one map.