Building GPS Routes
What started as long but safe (not including all the people on bikes) rides along the Han River here in Korea soon turned into a desire to adventure out into the country, but there was a problem. How do you find places to ride that limit the amount of traffic on the road while not getting lost and also being able plan routes that would land the team in towns with places to stay.
The first obvious answer is use a map right? But this is the technology age and quite frankly roads change so quickly here, not to mention detailed maps are all in Korean - no so good if you can’t read them.
Enter Option 2 - Create GPS routes., which is exactly what I did with great success. Whether it be for a quick day trip or recently 3 day cycle trips over huge mountains, creating a GPS route of the planned trip has definitely made cycling here in Korea a much more exciting adventure.
Initially creating GPS routes for my Garmin eTrex Legend® Cx took some planning, but after some practice I believe I have it down to an art. Heres how I do it.
Step One - Paper maps still have there use
Use a map. I know, you’re thinking I just said before that sing maps is archaic. Nothing will replace the ability to be able to visualize a route by looking at a complete map.
Here is the map I use when I start planning routes.
(pic here)
Step Two - Draw a path using google earth
Enter technology. The next step is to use the awesome power of google earth to create a path for the potential cycle route. This can be done using the path tool found on the top toolbar. By holding down the mouse button you are able to draw a path along the roads that you want to ride. Right clicking on the path will delete parts of the path a section at a time.
Next, using the placemark tool I mark out important features that will help ensure that I stay on course. I usually mark things like bridges, tunnels, important intersections, and highway numbers.
During this part of the planing I also find it handy to use some sort of internet mapping site, for example google maps allows you to view all sorts of information such as highway numbers and street names. Unfortunately google maps is limited as to what countries have detailed maps, so for Korea I use naver maps, a similar website application. By using these road maps and google earth a very detailed path can be drawn.
Now save the path and placemarks as a KML file.
(example file)
Step Three - Load the information onto the handheld GPS
Before the path can be loaded onto a gps unit it must first be converted into a readable file. In my case the Garmin eTrex Legend® Cx uses GPX files so I convert the KML to a GPX file using the free site http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/convert.
The GPX file is then imported using Map Source Software and subsequently download it onto the GPS handheld device. And that’s all there is to it.
Check out some of the routes I have created in the past for cycling around Korea
{examples here}
Good luck and I hope you have as much fun as I do making enjoyable cycle routes.