My way or the highway? Garmin 810 routing

[LondonBikeCommuter]

Was in Oxford and wanted to get to Devizes to pick up the Avon & Kennet canal. Having done the northern route via Farringdon, Swindon a million times was pleased to see my Garmin 810 routed me on a southernly route.

To be honest it turned into a complete nightmare (I'll post more fully why later as I'm still in shock!) but was routed via Hungerford and not far short of Stonehege and over Salisbury Plain.....astonishing!!! Ended up having to switch navigation off and used Google maps cycle routing which was perfect apart from having to take it out of my pocket etc to route check every few miles/junctions

Yes, I know that you can plan routes in Garmin Connect and send them to the 810 but when your routing day to day only having access to a phone (Galaxy S4) that option isn't an option.

So, could I ask the collected wisdom here what the best way to navigate is? Paper maps NOT an option!

As an aside the 810 seems to be fine for routes of around 10/15 miles but after that I have ZERO confidance in it.

Thanks

[Richard Fairhurst]

If I might be allowed a bit of a plug...

For the past year or so I've been working on a new 'everyday cycling' website that does route-planning, among other things, and quietly made it public earlier this week.

It's http://cycle.travel/ and if you click on 'Map' you'll get to the route-planner. You can download a saved route as a GPX, which you should be able to load into your Garmin. Alternatively it should work on a phone.

I've just tried Oxford to Devizes on it and the route looks enjoyable. But if you'd like a different one, the routes are draggable (like Google) until you find one you like.

(plug over)

[skicat]

Car routing still has its weaknesses (see various stories about cars driving into lakes, lorries stuck in lanes and villages etc.), and that technology has had a good 15 years to mature. Cycle routing is still in its infancy. Really its about the quality of the map data, and the interpretation of that data. A track that would make sense for a mountain biker would probably be entirely inappropriate for a road tourer. I don't know if you were using Ordnance Survey maps or OpenStreetMaps. If the former, I would be very surprised if the data has been augmented enough to make it useful for the different types of cycling requirements. If the latter, I'm not sure it is consistent enough yet. Either way I would never rely on a GPS to plan a route for me. I'm afraid the 'create a route on a PC and download it' technique is still the only reliable method, and even then only if you prevent the GPS from recalculating it for you. For me, the GPS is only there to keep me on a route I have previously devised.

[gloomyandy]

Hi I don't have an 810 but I know a few people that do. They tend to split a route into 10-15 mile sections and allow it to route those parts rather than letting it plan the entire journey. Even then they tend to avoid using the on device route planning as much as possible...

[andymiller]

I'm afraid the 'create a route on a PC and download it' technique is still the only reliable method, and even then only if you prevent the GPS from recalculating it for you. For me, the GPS is only there to keep me on a route I have previously devised.

I'd go further - I always use tracks - trying to prevent the gps recalculating the route always seemed too much trouble to me.

[Barrenfluffit]

Set up the route but check it and enter waypoints to make sure it goes where you expect.
Making sure the avoidances are correctly set up ( and maybe adding some special ones)
Using a large scale map for general directions and the gps for specifc's (and particularly address finding) seems to be a workable balance.

(On Google map spoken directions it helps to have a compass and trip meter. They can say things like take the road heading north or turn in 400m. Also its weak at describing the shape of junctions or where there are no road nameplates) Either way route finding requires concentration but spoken directions means the screen can be off.)

[ScotchEgg]

I tend to use GPS and printed maps for tricky sections.