Page created Monday, Sept 5
GPS files last updated Sept 5

It’s that time again. BikeMS 2011 New Bern is rapidly approaching! Here are the GPS files for the event! Download and test these files TODAY and make sure there are no problems using them in your GPS! Don’t wait until a few days before the event! For more information on the event, including maps and cue sheets, go to this website:

http://staging.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/NCT/fundraising-events/bike-ms/event-details/routes/index.aspx

GPS FILES

Check back for updates, especially the last few days before the event! The route could still get changed!

Ver. 1 — Sept 5

When you download, remember the following:

1. Right-click and use the “Save Target As…” feature,
2. verify the file extension of the file you are saving. Windows especially likes to rename *.gpx files to *.xml.

The *.gdb files are Garmin DataBase Ver 3 files for Garmin GPS units and the *.gpx format can be imported by most other brands.  If you have a TomTom try playing with GPSBABEL. For more explanation, see my About GPS Files… web page.

The Saturday file contains 12 routes and 69 waypoints.
The Sunday file contains 12 routes and 94 waypoints.

Routes

Each file contains 12 routes, so pick the ones you need to import. Most Garmin GPS units will only load a maximum of 10 routes.

Generally speaking, the routes are as follows:

1. One route for each of the routes, 30 mile, 50 mile, 75 mile and 100 mile.
2. Partial routes for various loops on the course. These routes are circular – they start at a split point and follow the century (or other) loop until it merges back with the other course. At this point, it doubles back on another part of the course to return to the split. You can use these to circulate on a “loop” part of a course. Names should explain where they are on the course.
3. REVERSE versions of the above courses. These make it possible to traverse the course backwards.

Loops:

I have added routes for various loops:

• Sat AM Loop,
• Sat PM Loop,
• Sun 100 AM Loop,
• Sun 100 PM Loop.

The names describe the routes, but I’ll add a little explanation. Each day, there are two loops that are exclusive to the 100 mile routes. On Saturday, there’s an additional part of the course that forms a smaller loop. All the routes traverse this loop.

Waypoints:

There are 69 to 94 named waypoints in these files. These waypoints fall into two categories – special locations and cue mile markers.

Special Locations:   These are rest stops, railroad crossings, START FINISH, and such. Waypoint Names are standardized. Rest stops start with “Sat” or “SUN”, then the rest stop name. Split and merge points follow a similar naming standard as rest stops. Railroad crossings are “Railroad Crossing #x” and are for Saturday only.

Cue Mile Markers:  These correspond to the cue sheet mileage and have the following naming convention:  R xx.x D where 
     R          =  route:   A=100 Sat   B=75 Sat   C=50 Sat   D=30 Sat   
                                       E=100 Sun   F=75 Sun  G=50 Sun  H=30 Sun
     xx.x   = the mileage of the cue or turn at that location
     D         = direction, or which way to go from that location.

The routes were created using unnamed waypoints. The software will create these as I am building the routes. They d0n’t show up as Favorites (for most brands), but still load into the GPS to support the route. Your GPS may not be able to handle the number or unnamed waypoints that this file generates.

Master Cue Sheet spreadsheets

The two spreadsheet files have each individual cue sheet on a seperate worksheet, plus one master sheet.  In the master cue sheet, all the routes for the day are listed vertically, with the corresponding cue locations listed horizontally.  The first column is a list of the waypoints in the gps files corresponding to the cues.

This Year’s Routes

The routes are almost identical to last year.

HEADS UP!!! At the end of the day on Sunday, all three longer routes cross back over the Hwy 17 bridge and merge back with the 30 mile route. Finally all four routes finish by crossing the newly opened bridge back to the park. In past years, the return on the Hwy 17 bridge has seen a lot of flat tires and tired riders, and traffic can be a hazard at freeway speeds. Because this is the end of the routes, riders are going to be spread out here all day.

Review the routes, cue sheets, etc. to understand how they all differ.

Railroads

While not all crossings are marked, several railroad crossings are noted in the cue sheets and have uniquely named and numbered waypoints in the GPS files. These are marked because they appear to be hazardous crossings for riders. With unique names on the cue sheets, we should be able to go directly to them with little or no confusion.  Note that the cue sheets have RR 2, while the master has 2a and 2b.   RR2 on the cue sheets corresponds to 2b on the master list and the waypoints.

Beware the Garmin Firmware bug!

If you have a Garmin GPS, particularly the nuvi 7xx series and similar vintage units, there appears to be a bug in the firmware.  After the routes are downloaded and imported, they get altered in the GPS unit during the recalculation phase of the process.  The results can be alarming.  For instance, the Sunday 100 mile route can become a 211 mile beast!  Also, it may want you to make a left turn in the middle of the bridge over the Neuse River!  Not a good idea.

The good news is that I have found a technique that, at least with my nuvi 760, will correct this flaw.  Download the files to your GPS and import the routes as usual. If you want to see the problems, preview the routes, especially from the start to Rest Stop 1, and around all the rest stops and railroad crossings.

Next, you need to do the following:
1. In the SETTINGS area of your GPS, turn off all of the avoidances (there’s two pages of them, don’t forget to scroll down).  Your GPS should then say that avoidances are disabled.

2. You need to do this step for each route individually.  Select the route, click the EDIT button, scroll down and select RECALCULATE, select SHORTER DISTANCE, and click OK. This should restore the routes to the proper design. 

Be sure to test and verify these routes before the weekend!  The best test is to check that the routes stay on the roads going south from the start.  If it tries to go offroad there, then it isn’t quite right.

Please Leave a Comment!

If you download any of these files, please leave a comment below. I’d like to see how much use these files are getting. Also, if you are having problems with them, or find you can’t use these files, please leave a comment with a description of the problem. Maybe we can work out a solution that others will find useful.

Added: Master cue sheet spreadsheet: This file contains one spreadsheet for each day. Each spreadsheet contains all four courses for that day, but they are arranged so that each row goes across all four courses and shows the cues in each course that correspond to each other. Vertical gaps in each column indicate where courses split off and go different directions. An empty cell in a row indicates that there is no cue in that course that corresponds to the other courses with entries in that row.

I suggest you print these two spreadsheets in duplex mode. Each day’s sheet takes two pages, so print them front and back on one sheet of paper.

Change History

Ver.1 — Initial Release, Sept 5,

W4FT