Dist. to Next & Dist. to Dest.

Please explain 'Dist. to Next'. Meaning, distance to the next what? You aren't navigating so how does the unit know where to intend to go?

By using a stored location to travel to. Without navigating, the map screen will show a straight line between your current location and the location you picked to travel to but no distance is given.

EDIT: The “Dist. to Next” data field relates to a waypoint on the route, whereas “Dist. to Dest.” to the final waypoint or destination.

I guess that I don't understand what you mean by 'not navigating'

Navigating will offer turn-by-turn directions and requires a navigable map. When you just have the base map installed on the device, instead of showing a line following roads and turns, the map screen just shows a straight line connecting the point where you currently are to the point that you’re going to (disregarding any roads and turns). Now, I do not wish to acquire a navigable map, that’s besides the point; what I would like however, is the data field to show the distance as a straight line to where I’m going.

Ah, so you want to have a data field for the linear distance to your end point. AFAIK, there is no data field for that.

There is a way to get what you want but you may not want the extra step or two involved. You shouldn't dismiss the mapping options, I note you say "Given the available storage memory of the Edge 520 this would be a very useful option", but a OSM map can be very small and still cover a wide area. Have a look at a site like BBBIKE.org that permits an area to be selected for the map extract this can be either a rectangle or irregular one and formats such as the Garmin "OnRoad" have less (non essential) detail and thus smaller file. I am currently using a map which covers 400 X 400 kms and is only 16mb.

But to your question,

1. Create a token very short route at your intended destination, it only needs two points which can be close together, use a site like Ride with GPS with a free profile.
2. Download the route as a TCX version, place in the NewFiles directory on the Garmin.
3. Select this course in the usual way, you don't even have to have Turn Guidance on.
4. Use a data field called "CRS PT DIST" (course point distance), this field usually shows the distance along the TCX route to the next course point but if you are off course it reverts to a field called "DIST TO CRS" (distance to course) which is the direct straight line distance from your current location to the closest point on your loaded route which in your case will be your destination. It counts down as you get closer to the point.

So as you can see you may as well plot the full route and then have the actual distance to the next point and final destination along the route which will be visible on the Cue Sheet screen.

Good Luck.

Thanks bparker52, this is very useful information in more ways than one! I’m thinking I could also use the DIST TO CRS trick to bypass the limitations in choosing a location point. As it stands, you can only add a location – a point on the map – only by physically being at that location first and then marking that location. You cannot just pick a location on a map and save it/export it to the Edge 520. Using your workaround, I could probably do a TCX trace of two very close points (which as you implied, will function as a single point for all intents and purposes) and use that in the same way I would use a location point without having to have physically been there previously!! I’ll have to experiment with it but it sounds doable.

As far as acquiring navigable maps, I’ll look further at BBBike but it seems to offer options outside of my home area (Cleveland/NE Ohio) and it seems a little counter-intuitive, but that could be my own lack of familiarity with it. Another site to look into is garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ (you’ll have to select a combination of predefined areas/rectangles on the map and then wait for it to be compiled after which they’ll send you an email with the link when done – not very convenient either but it is what it is).

Thanks for taking the time, I appreciate it!

All the OSM extract sites operate in fairly much the same way with either pre-built region / country maps which are generally too big for the 520 or with an area selection tool which will give you an estimate of the final map file size so you can keep it less than the approx 90mb 520 space limit (assuming you remove the useless world base map and unnecessary language support files.

all the sites are mostly non-commercial and provided as a public service so we should not be too critical of interface issues, they work and we should be thankful there are people who provide these services for little more than a few donations to pay for their machines and bandwidth. I have never had to wait more than a few minutes for an extract to be available. You mostly start with a world map and zoom into the area you want and draw an boundary around the bit you want included in your map. I think BBBIKE.org is the only one that offers the Garmin OnRoad format, the ASCII versions work best. Download a few formats, ie OSM Standard or OSM Cycle and the OnRoad to determine the one you prefer.