Garmin Connect Route

bails1310

Might be a silly question, am planning a charity ride from B'ham - Vitry in France and have been trying the route planner on the above.

Can I assume that this is using rides OK to cycle on? I want to try and book hotels etc in the next few weeks but want to make sure the proposed route wasn't going to be to far off.

andymiller

I assuming that you've set it to follow bike-friendly routes so it's probably OK, or mainly OK, but there's still no substitute for checking the route yourself. Does the route avoid main roads? - does it send you on long detours? etc. You could also try doing the French part of the route using the routeplanner on viamichelin.com. The Michelin maps are useful for showing scenic roads.

Bear in mind that if you download your route to your gps as a *route* (as opposed to a *track*)) the device will recalculate the route and the results can be unpredictable. See the thread about using a gps on LeJog.

bails1310

Can you point me in the direction of bike friendly within Connect?

I've already seen an issue, out of Dover it directs me me to the A2 - there are various reports of accidents and avoiding the A2 on a bike like the plague.

I've have a look at the NCR's [NCR17] but can't see the road names. Also, are non traffic roads on the NCR mean tow path or something that you wouldn't want to cycle on a road bike on?

Finding the whole process rather tough and am being pushed to confirm a route so we can start to book hotels. If it helps plan to do Dover/Ashford to Bomirngham over 2 days.

Any help would be awsome.

Thanks.

andymiller

Hi

No that's not bike-friendly at all! I assumed that if Garmin offered a route planner aimed at cyclists then it would have algorithms adapted to the needs of cyclists - but maybe not.

I would start by:

- doing a search on this forum - there are a couple of threads that discuss how to get to Dover; (including this one.

- have a look at this pdf:

http://veloandblue.files.wordpress.com/ ... master.pdf

The suggested route through Kent seems very sensible to me. There's also a route to Paris via Beauvais.

The sustrans.org.uk website will give you an idea of the route - on road routes are shown in blue. You can certainly get from Canterbury to Dover on road. I'm not sure I would advise following the NCN if only because if time is limited you would be better off swinging south of London.

If you are under pressure to book accommodation then I would suggest doing a rough route and book accommodation and then fine-tune the route between the stops.

Make use of viamichelin.com and there's http://routes.bikehub.co.uk/ for the UK.

As far as France is concerned, if you stick to the minor roads (ie D roads -except those that are dual carriageways) and avoid N roads you should be reasonably OK). I suspect that pretty much the same applies in the UK with the major exceptions of the approach roads to Dover and getting round London.

You'd probably stand a better chance of getting tips and advice if you gave more information about your plans - eg via London or can you avoid it? via Dover? which Vitry? (there are loads) how many days? etc etc

It might also be worth posting your rough route: in terms of say (choosing place names almost at random) Birmingham-Stratford-Banbury-Oxford [etc] ... Canterbury-Dover ... Calais [etc].

It might also be a good idea to either amend the title of this thread or start a new one with a title like Route for sponsored ride from Birmingham to Vitry-sur-Seine [or whichever Vitry it is]. that way you have the best chance of attracting the interest of people who may have done this ride - 'Garmin Connect Route' sounds like a thread for GPS nerds.

Mikey2

Garmin connect has a habit of sending me down farm tracks, private roads, bridleways etc. Not really a problem when im pootling around, but would make life difficult on your ride. Also have had it mistake bridges over other roads as junctions.
I would check the whole route once you are done using the satellite view if you can - usually you can see the problem areas and modify the route..