ridewithgps.com - a great mapping tool (no GPS required)

[jobob]

Surprise, the very first item in the FAQ just happens to address that.

I'll post it here for everyone's edification ...

Help! Cuesheet entries are wrong!

You may notice a right turn should actually be a left, east should be west or other such inconsistencies. This is unfortunately a common problem, however the issue is not with our software. What is most likely happening is this: you are happily mapping along some road, and you are coming up on a turn and click on the intersection of the turn before clicking along the new street. What happens is Google misinterprets the click in the intersection and continues on, then thinks you need to turn around in order to make that turn. This also can happen when you are just traveling straight along a street: clicking near an intersection can cause Google to think you want to turn there, which will cause an extra unnecessary entry in the cuesheet as well as a little blip on the map. To keep this problem from happening, map with a higher zoom level. This will allow you to easily see when these 'blips' occur, letting you know to undo the last click and try again. Also, when mapping some turn, instead of clicking the intersection of the turn, click past the intersection in the direction you wish to turn.

Remember, always double check your cuesheet before saving a route -- we don't want you or someone who finds your route making erroneous turns! It only takes a minute or so to double check a cuesheet and remove any unnecessary entries. This problem is not unique to us, even Map My Ride announced it in a recent newsletter. Here is what they said:
When using "follow roads" and trying to map your route around or through an intersection, make sure that you click on points after the intersection rather than directly in the intersection. Setting points in this way guards against slight, unintentional detours around intersections and ensures accuracy in your maps.

And they address cue sheet printing in the FAQ too:

Cue sheet printing

We are aware our current cuesheet printing is sub-par, and are actively creating a high quality map and cuesheet PDF generator. You will be able to either save the PDF or print at your leisure. Keep checking back for this feature!

One of the many things I like about this site is that the developers are open to suggestions, are not hesitant to point out things that the site still lacks, and it looks like they're working on addressing those issues. It's still a work in progress but they're certainly getting there, IMHO.

[crazycanuck]

I think i'll have to wait a while before some more Western Australians find the site as so far there's only one route for Perth

[OakLeaf]

The elevation gain seems pretty darn close.

Haven't tried to export a route yet, though. Will see how that works.

Thanks!!

[pinkbikes]

This is great! Much better than Bikely or Map My Ride! Many thanks!

I have just created the Noosa triathlon leg that I have to ride in a few weeks (I was having a little worry about the climb and wanted to know how steep it was because I'd heard it was a bit ugly) and in no time I'd whipped through and exported it as a GPX. Now I just have to try to load it onto my Garmin and work out what I'd actually do with it once I got it there? I tend to use the Garmin to get information out rather than to put stuff into it!

[OakLeaf]

Pink, which Garmin?

I totally rely on my 705 for mapping. I'm the kind of person who could get lost in a football field, and I have a phobia of being lost, so I get panicky and more lost. My Garmin has been such a comfort to me, never mind the accumulated hours it's saved me from having to stop at intersections, pull out map and magnifier, try to figure out where I am on the map.... I'm to the point now where I actually get annoyed if an organized ride hasn't posted a downloadable public route. It's the 21st century, people, has been for almost 10 years.

Haven't tried it with my 310 yet. I kind of wanted to do that yesterday, but like an idiot I'd forgotten my ANT+ stick at home and had no way to get a route into the watch. I understand that wireless-only syncing probably lets them make the 310's that much more waterproof, but my first impression of it is that it's a PITA. A sealed locking USB port cover, like waterproof cameras have (and unlike the floppy useless port covers that prior Garmin units have), would be so much simpler...

[pinkbikes]

I have the 705. I have donwloaded plenty of maps to it - all the local trail maps for the forests I MTB in for example - and have the local street maps too (although I accidentally forgot to reload them last time so I only have high level street maps atm).

But then I'm probably the opposite to you - head like a compass - and I hardly ever look a the maps when I'm out riding. I did a little bit when we went on our 9 day cycle tour the other week just to see how close I was to the next town. But otherwise I tend more to use it as a handy dandy cycle computer with lots of geeky info to look at and I like the download to see what that grade was on the stinky hill and how my heart rate was doing and how many calories I have burned etc. Like I said - I'm more used to dragging info out of it than putting it in!! Must get more into that.

I must read the instructions and see how to do the virtual training partner thing because that would probably be really useful for when I repeat the same ride in training by myself.

[OakLeaf]

I never use the Virtual Partner, so can't help you there. I think you need to create a course from history in Training Center. But navigating a route is easy.

To navigate a route you've saved as a .gpx, all you have to do is connect the unit to the computer so it appears as a USB drive, then drag the .gpx into the Garmin>GPX folder on the unit. Then when you want to navigate it, go to Menu>Where To?>Saved Rides and all the routes you've uploaded to the 705 will appear in a list. Then choose Navigate (it can take a while to load). It'll beep at you and give turn-by-turn directions, and appear as a pink line on the map screen.

Just be sure, under Menu>Navigation, either disable Auto Recalculate or set it to Prompted. Otherwise, whenever the unit thinks you're off the route (which sometimes happens when you're actually on the route), it will go wacky. I prefer setting it to Prompted, which does two things: (1) a prompt lets me know if I actually am off the route, and (2) it will continue navigating. If auto recalculation is disabled, then once you get off the route, it'll stop giving turn-by-turn directions even when you get back on it. The route will still appear on your map screen, you just won't get directions.

[wildeny]

This is great! Much better than Bikely or Map My Ride! Many thanks!

Have you tried Bikemap.net? This is my main site for route collections and training log.