Tips for using my 840 on the great divide mountain bike route

6468521
10 days ago

Hi,

New garmin user here, getting used to all of the features. 

I will be doing the gdmbr and have purchased the aca maps.  The 3000mi route is broken into mostly 7 gpx files.

My question is, while in route, what is the best way to find out the upcoming climbs, for the next 50 to 100miles?  Each gpx file is 500mi or so of routing info.  I'd like to be able to end each day by planning the next days goal and then getting ride stats (climbing assents/descents, miles to go, etc).  Is this possible with my large gpx files?

I've looked at splitting the route up into smaller chunks, but I don't know exactly where I'll end up each day.

I'm open to using other apps (ride with gps), but internet connection will be spotty at best,  so I need to plan offline and without a laptop. 

Thanks for any tips!

  • 0 10 days ago

    First, recording and navigation are entirely separate, so you can start or stop navigation, and even change courses, as you continue to record.  I would record each day separately rather than trying to record the entire ride as one activity.  I don't know of any way to modify courses on the device. You could do that on your phone if you have cell data coverage.  Otherwise, I would break the total 3000 miles into maybe 20 courses of ~150 miles each.  Then, as I ride, I'd load the appropriate course for where I am.  Any total climb or distance will be to the end of the loaded course, of course, not to where I will wind up at the end of the day.  There's a good chance others will chime in with some good ideas, perhaps wrt IQ apps I'm not aware of. 

  • 0 3 days ago in reply to looigi

    Thank you for the tips, particularly about recording and navigation being separate.  That was an eye opener.  I'm leaning towards using a combination of the original large gpx files (unmodified), plus the same files broken up into more manageable chunks.  Much appreciated. 

  • 0 3 days ago in reply to 6468521

    FWIW: On previous Edge units, long complicated courses with a lot of track points could take a very long time to load, might have problems, and were more likely to crash.  If the long courses were simple, meaning long segments on few relatively straight roads, then it was less of a problem.  I haven't yet tried long courses on the 840 and they may have improved that aspect of navigation. 

  • 0 1 day ago in reply to looigi
    looigi said:
    On previous Edge units, long complicated courses with a lot of track points could take a very long time to load, might have problems, and were more likely to crash

    Unfortunately "navigation" (ie with Turn Guidance enabled) is expensive in processor load & memory usage and issue creation. It can be better to just follow the course line with the map zoomed in enough to show details of the turns without the overhead of navigation. Add a few "course points" to the course so you are alerted to controls, food stops, major towns and to just break up the course into physiologically satisfying stages.  These can be monitored via the Course Point list screen and fields like Course Point Distance and Next Waypoint and can also appear on the map.

    Ultras are a mind game and the last thing you need is the constant fear of looking down to find your device has crashed, you have better things to worry about. While I am not now good enough for it members of my club regularly can do 1200kms events up to 90 hours while running a single activity / course, yours is a little more ambitious so might be better split into multiple courses and activities.

    Good Luck, let us know how it went and any lessons we can learn from your success.

  • 0 21 hours ago in reply to L.Rouge

    L.Rouge makes a good point.  I often simply have the course showing on the map without "navigating" it.  Select a course on the 840 and choose "Always Display". You can select a color for the course.  From that point on, it doesn't take any time to load, and it'll always show on the map. I can simply follow it without getting any navigation prompts.

  • 0 15 hours ago in reply to looigi

    And if you use this method, you can disable the black box with the upcoming road names for a little more screen real estate on the map. When all is said and done you can even take your myriad .fit files and combine them into one for Strava or the like.

  • 0 13 hours ago in reply to looigi

    Although the “always show” course lines are not as wide, more difficult to see, don’t have the line chevrons and you don’t get the course point fields / screen. Just load the course, minimal delay, and follow the line with the location icon, this seems to me to be the best option for usability with minimal device load.  The " black box" (Guide Text) can also be disabled on the map with this course following (but no Turn Guidance) option

  • 0 3 hours ago in reply to L.Rouge

    PS: I am currently experimenting with this hack that I saw on the 1050 forum, it might be a lighter weight half-way house although a potentially long calculation still occurs, not too bad for "reasonable" length courses

    https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/cycling/f/edge-1050/415233/feature-request-option-to-disable-navigation-prompt-on-screens-with-a-map-displayed/1947451#1947451