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Using Bikemap GPX files in Edge 1030

Former Member
Former Member

I've only used my Edge to track metrics like heart rate, cadence, distance, etc. but am now riding further afield of my own house and want to start using other routes which folks have loaded onto the Bikemaps website (I found more good routes on Bikemaps than Strava which is why I use that service). I found a route on Bikemaps I wanted to try and downloaded the GPX file. I then connected ny Edge via USB to my desktop iMac and loaded the GPX file into the Garmin Course folder, but when I disconnected the Edge from the iMac and went to the Course Folder it didn't display the recently downloaded route. Did I do something worng?

I later used an online converter and converted the GPX file to a FIT file and put it into the Course folder and the Edge then found it. Do I have to do this every time, i.e. convert the GPX file to a FIT file for the Edge to find and use it? Or should I be putting the file into a different folder or do something else?

  • You should be placing the GPX file in the Garmin\NewFiles folder and not directly in the Courses folder. The Edge reads the files in the NewFiles folders and converts them to FIT and moves them to the correct location depending on their content. 

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to aweatherall

    I forgot to mention that I tried that first, i.e. put the GPX file into the New Files folder and when I disconnected, then shut down and restarted the Edge I couldn't find the file. If it was a course as a GPX file where should I have found it, what would have been the correct location for it. I'm away from home this moment and will try it again when I get home in a couple days, but thanks for telling me where I should look after I load a GPX file into New Files. Also, does it take turning off and on again the Edge for the GPX file to be converted and moved? Thanks so much for your help. Being a newbie to this with the Edge's paltry manual is hard for me.

  • Once the file is converted it will be placed in the Garmin\Courses folder.

    There are 3 types of GPX files. 

    • Waypoint - Includes GPS coordinates of a point. It may also include other descriptive information.
    • Route - Includes a list of track points, which are waypoints for turn or stage points, that lead to a destination.
    • Track - Includes a list of points that describe a path.

    The Edge needs the GPX file to be a track.

  • Also, does it take turning off and on again the Edge for the GPX file to be converted and moved?

    Yes, you have to turn the Edge off. It will convert any files in \Garmin\NewFiles when it is turned on again (not plugged into a computer).

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to aweatherall

    Thanks for that info. I'll try again with a Bikemaps GPX file. I don't know which of the 3 types they are, but hopefully it will work. Bikemap also has KML files. Would they be better?

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to dpawlyk

    OK thanks

  • It does not need to be turned off, but it does need to be disconnected from the PC for the Edge to process the contents of the NewFiles folder.

  • It's the turning-on (restarting) that matters. It's when the device is turned on that the NewFiles are processed.

    Unplugging it turns it on (restarts it) normally. (The devices don't generally turn on normally when plugged into a computer.)

  • It takes it out of mass storage mode.

  • (It also restarts it like turning it on does, which is the thing that gets the conversion to happen.)