Planning big trips

Former Member over 8 years ago

Hi all,

I am currently planning a big tour. On basecamp I can create lists and arrange routes/plans by area or days etc..

Once I upload it to the Garmin device however, it is all in the one place, unsorted.

How do you guys organise your long trips to make sense when you upload them to the device?

I assume, I would have to name the routes in a particular way to group them?

Thanks in advance!

0 SUSSAMB over 8 years ago

Having done all the planning in BC I then export all my trips and waypoints to my GPS. I name my trips so I can recall them easily, so depending on the time I'm away it could be Day 1, Day 2 etc or more descriptive, eg Paris to Orleans.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

It's annoying, very annoying. It would be so much easier and convenient if we had the ability to use folders on the devices like my 64ST

What I ended up doing is creating a nine character naming sequence like this: SLD01-001
SL=Destination
D=Day
01=Day Number
-= Separator
001=waypoint sequence number.

Then in BaseCamp I'll make notes about what to expect at each or a description of the waypoint. I've only had one trip where this doesn't work and I have to go to four characters for the destination. Do I need the "D"? Probably not, but it made sense at the time. Now, not so much. Your mileage may vary.

0 danham_ over 8 years ago

Folder workaround

Folders would be very nice, but there is a workaround that lets you simulate folders.

The trick is to use your SD card and create a structure like the following. On my SD card, in the Garmin/GPX folder, the first item is a folder named AAA Nova Scotia for my upcoming September ride. Inside it are routes named in ways similar to your example, ie: 01Yarmouth to Sheet Harbour.

The next item after the AA Nova Scotia folder is an empty route named AAA=======.GPX. Below that are various unorganized routes, and at the bottom of the list are previous trip folders, all with a Z before their name, such as ZDragon.

While the folders do not show in My Data on the GPS, the naming tricks create a file order that comes out on the zumo screen like this:

01 Yarmouth to Sheet Harbour
02 Sheet Harbour to .... etc.
=================
unorganized routes in alpha order
old trip folders in alpha order

The ==== divider is key to letting me scroll through just Nova Scotia routes and stopping at the bottom of that folder, even though the folder itself is not otherwise visible. Most important is that creating the folder at the top of the list makes sure that the Nova Scotia routes, regardless of how each is named, will always appear at the top of the import list, even prior to the unorganized routes beginning with A, as shown below. Similarly, the Z folder routes are sent to the bottom, regardless of their alpha order versus the rest of the list.

It's useful to keep the GPS internal route storage empty except for the routes you use on any given day. That way you are always using the file structure on the SD card to find the next routes to import.

Hope this helps,

-dan

Here's a sample file list from my card:

AAA Nova Scotia
AAA===========.GPX
Archibald bike.GPX
Cotuit Loop test.GPX
Craig Sussman to Ganroc Motel.GPX
Dighton Rock State Park.GPX
Dunbar ice cream part 1.GPX
Dunbar ice cream part 2.GPX
Dunbar plus Standish.GPX
(etc.)...
Wachusett ride.GPX
Waypoints.gpx
Wendell to Standish.GPX
zAdirondacks
ZDragon
ZNC 2014
ZNY XMAS
ZPisgah
zzWV 2015