I went for a long and brutal ride with my friend Doug this weekend (more about that later, but it involved crashing on ice, freezing mist, massive climbs, and fervent prayers to St Milhaus the Retainer), and we both had Garmin 800s. Despite the fact that we both had the same course loaded, my Garmin was giving the correct directions, while his kept telling us to make U-turns and was generally just a pain in the ass.

I realized this morning that I had made some changes to my Garmin setup long ago that facilitate its use as a tool for guiding bicycle routes. These changes are important:

• When you first turn on your GPS, click on menu. Then click on the wrench icon on the lower right. Then click on system, and then routing
• Make sure the first line says “Calculate Routes for Bicycle”
• The second line (guidance method) should say “off road”
• The third line (lock on road) should say “no”
• Click through the fourth line (avoidance setup), avoid U turns, toll roads, highways, carpool lanes. Do not avoid unpaved roads.
• Click the back arrow, and the fifth line (recalculate) should be set to “off.”

If you don’t do this, your GPS will recalculate your route every time you stray off course. Also see my previous post on using Ride With GPS routes for full directions on loading courses into your Garmin.

John

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