route finding in France- maps or new tech

[beeb]

We have always used traditional maps when touring in France- but, is it now time to join the 21st century and find some sort of route finding device.
What works well and what doesn't- don't want to spend a fortune - what about charging -we don't have a charging hub on our Dawes Karakums. Thanks for any advice in advance.

beeb

[stewartpratt]

As far as planning routes is concerned, I use Google Maps if I'm at home and paper maps if I'm already there. A device on your bars is great for following a planned route, but fairly hopeless for actually planning one.

If you just want to see your position on a map then your existing smartphone (assuming you have one) plus a £20 external USB battery plus some sort of bar mount (a Finn is cheap and effective, or if you can get a spare rear cover for your phone you can Sugru a Garmin Edge mount on) is the cheapest option.

[jamesgilbert]

is it now time to join the 21st century and find some sort of route finding device.

What are you expecting to gain from getting a route finding device compared to having paper maps? Do you want to meticulously plan a route before leaving home and then have a device that tells you when to turn left and right, or do you want to just know what your position is and do most of the navigation yourself?

I like to limit the amount of electronic stuff I take on tour, my plans tend to change frequently and I'm quite happy being lost some of the time, so I stick to paper maps. I think people might need to know what you want to get out of a route finding device to be able to give you advice.

[simonineaston]

Speaking as someone who was in the same position as you, until I went down the Satmap Active route, my advice is as follows:
Try using one of the web-based mapping sites for planning, and keep to your paper maps for navigating.
My reasons are simply that you will already have invested heavily in acquiring the necessary skills, you'll be used to using paper maps - and indeed will probably have most of the ones you need - why change a winning formula?
Of course it's possible to switch to GPS-based navigation, but in my view it's a fair old commitment and it took me several years to reluctantly conclude that I needed a fair amount of quite expensive kit (GPS unit, battery / hub dynamo etc.) to pull it off satisfactorily.
The tempting alternative of simply using a smart phone to tell me my location just didn't work for me (summarised simply in one word: rain, but there were loads of other issues, which may not deter you. For example, I camp a lot and found that charging was an issue too..)
Planning sites I like are:
cycle.travel
Xpedition
RidewithGPS
I also use the French equivalent of OS's web site geoportail.gouv.fr, which is good for viewing terrain using IGN map views, which you may be familiar with, depending on your preferences.
Having said all that, I am now all set up to use my chosen GPS navigation system and find it invaluable - I now know exactly where I am, all of the time (not something that has been universally true in the past... ). It has been particularly useful when trying to navigate through towns and cities, not that I like to send too much time doing that when I'm on holiday in France but it does happen. In summary I'm now very happy with a GPS-based navigation system, but still use paper maps, as well as web-based maps, to plan, but that may be something to do with the fact that I was never very good at navigating using paper maps!
Hope that helps!

[dandru]

I just been updating a trip through the US in RideWithGps and went to OSM cycle in France and it's got routes all over the place, not sure what they are but an example is the red routes, V40 & V3 & V42 & LV & EV1 and then you've got dark and light blue routes.

[letelemarker]

Hi,

I have just fitted a usb charging device to my bike cost me £120 all in. I got the Shimano DH 3N72B Dynamo Front Hub and this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/800mA-BICYCLE ... 0935357198

usb charger of ebay. I did build the wheel myself so I saved a few quid there.

Once you have got that little lot and a smart phone of some sort, you can download co pilot or some sort of mapping app which has the maps stored on the device its self (google maps is internet based so you use data loading them up)

depending on the app you can select bike or walking when putting in destinations (like google) it will then in theory keep you on the smaller roads.

I have only just done this..the charging setup works great, i haven't toured with it yet so i don't know how good it will be, but i will be able to tell you in a few weeks when i cycle to spain.

As with all tech in my opinion should be just used as an aid..still need to plan a good route with maps, and you can always buy a paper map on route

[letelemarker]

Just to add, depending on what type of usb charging device you buy, you don't need to have a battery involved.

When you hub is spinning it creates electricity, the usb device just converts, regulates and smooths it out so that it's useable and won't blow your phone up when you are going down a steep hill!

obviously, you need to be moving for it to work. GPS on a phone is pretty power hungry so i doubt you would be able to charge up a battery at the same time.

You can always just buy a usb rechargeable power pack like

http://www.amazon.co.uk/RAVPower-16000m ... r+bank#Ask

and plug it in to the usb charger when you go not need the GPS or a phone charging, then you can save any electricity that you make pedalling.

[simonineaston]

Beware, though, of the well-documented issues concerning usb charging from dynamos, for certain smart phones, notably iPhones...

[letelemarker]

Beware, though, of the well-documented issues concerning usb charging from dynamos, for certain smart phones, notably iPhones...

Really? how come? do you have a link?

Electricity is electricity doesn't really matter how its produced just how its converted in to a useable supply, so if you have a good usb device i can't really see a problem…I'm no expert however!

The only thing I can think of is that on a usb port the iPhone needs to detect power at the communication pins via the charging lead on the usb or it won't charge..thats why cheap car chargers don't always work with iPhones, so I would imagine the same with usb dynamo chargers.

[bigjim]

You can pickup a garmin legend for less than £50 S/H these days. Runs on 2 AA batteries and lasts a long time on a charge. Spare batts no problem. It will track you and tell you where you are and you can follow a preplanned route if you wish. I use mine with paper maps and would not be without it. Its old tech now, but works fine even in the rain.

[Audax67]

I use an Etrex 20 with Garmin City Navigator Europe maps. Works beautifully. For route planning I use Open Runner, but it gets a bit phunny over 1000 km.

[simonineaston]

I am so not sure about the idea of pre-planning a detailed route, to follow on a screen. My experience is that I'd rather potter about, going wherever I please, even if that means getting into some navigational pickles, now and then. Part of the pleasure of cycle touring is the unexpected discovery and the unplanned detour - I know these are both possible regardless of whether you use a Garmin or a compass, it's just that that clever piece of plastic on the handlebars has a magnetic pull and a mesmeric tendency to get the rider to follow the line... I'm not 100% convinced yet!

[Sweep]

I used to be very sniffy about gps simon and mercilessly mocked folks with them.
But i became a convert.
For a long trip across france if you are set on a particular destination i think i would use one.
I use an etrex 20 with free osm. Brilliant.
Just used it on a plane. My android tablet wouldn't get a fix.
The garmin told me that in our odd approach to gatwick we came very close to one of my favourite waymarked free camping spots in sussex.

[teamonster]

Beware, though, of the well-documented issues concerning usb charging from dynamos, for certain smart phones, notably iPhones...

Really? how come? do you have a link?

Electricity is electricity doesn't really matter how its produced just how its converted in to a useable supply, so if you have a good usb device i can't really see a problem…I'm no expert however!

From what I understand the I phone requires the current to be a fairly steady 1A, less than this and the phone won't necessarily charge

[Audax67]

I use GPS for following Audax routes etc. and I use one to record where I've been, or even to plots a quick route from A to B, but for casting about a neighbourhood a paper map gives you a better overview.

Something I've done in the past is to photograph the map, or sections of it. The screen quality and zoom/scroll speed of the camera are better than on the GPS.