gmap file to iphone or Garmin 310xt?

Dave Campbell

 One of the local road clubs I ride with posts its routes using gmap-pedometer.  So yesterday, I'm thinking why print out cue sheets when I ride around with an iphone in my jersey pocket and have a Garmin 310XT that I could use.  I usually do not use the Garmin on my bike as I use the Joule.  So, I try to transfer the gmap electronic file to one of these devices and a couple hours later, after much google searching, reading DC Rainmaker articles, etc found a very labor intensve method to do this.  

I eventually got it into the 310XT, but am not so sure how useful this would be if you got dropped off the back of the pack and needed to depend on this to navigate back with.  The easiest thing I found was to import the gmap file into Mapmyride, the send it to the mobile app on my iphone.

My questions are these. 1. Is there and easier way to do this?  2. I'm leaning towards the iphone since I usually carry it anyway and the font is easier on these old eyes-am I missing something very usefull about the Garmin.  3. I haven't actually tried riding the route with the iphone on mapmy ride app.  How useful is it with following a route?

 

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated.  Seems silly to be carrying around printed ques sheets these days.

[Deleted User]

I experimented with the MapMyRide iPhone app a little, but the problem is that the GPS kills the iPhonr battery very quickly. If you just turn it on every now and then for a map check it might work. Newer versions of the MapMyRide app may let it run in the background without killing the battery - I'm not sure. I abandoned the iPhone for this purpose. I ended up getting a Garmin Dakota for routing purposes on bike rides and love it. I have it mounted on the bike stem and my LYC (soon to be replaced by a Garmin 910xt) is mounted on the aerobars. Setup works great for me. I figured I was going to kill myself playing with maps and que sheets while riding. The Dakota is great - just a glance down shows me where I am, upcoming turns, etc.

Dave Campbell

Thanks Jim, I tried mapmyride once to record a ride and as you say, it ate my battery.