Frustrating last hour of ride with XT

[Peobody]

The alerting WP is after the coffee stop. It's name will contain the name of the coffee stop facility but at what point is that facility name visible?

Also, if I detour into a town that has a four block long main downtown street on which the coffee shop sits, it is important to me that I know which block it is in and on what side of the street it is on. I lose that with it set as a shaping point right?

if you are on a multi day trip, I always have my end of day via point at the place where I am staying and then when I get up the next day, after many beers, I can then start the new route from where I am and chose my first via point a mile away and I let the XT take me to that point any which way it wants.

I definitely agree on this point. First WP of the day is always somewhere down-route from where I spent the previous night. I think we also agree that a priority upon arrival at end of day is locating beer walkable from the hotel, preferably local draft. The craft beer explosion here makes that fairly easy in any moderately sized town. I hope your experience is the same.

[fatfeet]

The craft beer explosion here makes that fairly easy in any moderately sized town. I hope your experience is the same.

indeed it is sir, craft beers a plenty

[fatfeet]

The alerting WP is after the coffee stop. It's name will contain the name of the coffee stop facility but at what point is that facility name visible?

this will show on the trip data screen as your next stop, and whatever you have named it or whatever XT changed it to.

Also, if I detour into a town that has a four block long main downtown street on which the coffee shop sits, it is important to me that I know which block it is in and on what side of the street it is on. I lose that with it set as a shaping point right?

yes in my experience unfortunately you would, but you could have the actual coffee shop as a via point and have an after coffee shop via point down the road. then if you decide to miss the coffee shop you can choose the after coffee shop via point as your next point to access.

I am not saying this is the best way ever but at least the route is not full of via points that the XT wants you to pass over. sometimes it is very easy to become navigationally challenged, and not know where the next via point is in relation to your actual location (handy for diversion/detour).
if you only have 3 or 4 on your route it is easy to remember which ones you have been over. if that makes sense

[Peobody]

yes in my experience unfortunately you would, but you could have the actual coffee shop as a via point and have an after coffee shop via point down the road. then if you decide to miss the coffee shop you can choose the after coffee shop via point as your next point to access.

This is where my thinking is, along with showing the route track on the map. That way if I decide to skip the coffee stop, and the resulting recalc is unacceptable, I can stop, reload the route and select the entry point.

I am not saying this is the best way ever but at least the route is not full of via points that the XT wants you to pass over. sometimes it is very easy to become navigationally challenged, and not know where the next via point is in relation to your actual location (handy for diversion/detour).
if you only have 3 or 4 on your route it is easy to remember which ones you have been over. if that makes sense

It makes a lot of sense. I had a pretty good experience with the XT on my recent 15 day trip (excluding recalc hassles). I used all via points insuring they were all on the road in BC. At the time I was convinced that shaping points were contributing to the recalc issues (I am less convinced now). Spoken navigation is off so I wasn't aggravated by alerts. I agree about the navigational challenge in determining the next WP. @jfheath codes his with distance, I numerically number mine in the hopes that it will help identify the next one if ever needed. I figure that I can view the map to determine my location and then load the route, look at its map, and count the waypoints to identify the next one, and then select it as the entry point.

[jfheath]

The alerting WP is after the coffee stop. It's name will contain the name of the coffee stop facility but at what point is that facility name visible?

The name doesn't show up on the top bar as in 'Approaching ....' or 'Arrived at .....' like a Via Point would. But the blue disc on the screen is plenty visible enough, and the sat nav will continue to navigate you towards it until you ride onto the magenta line after the blue disc.

You can display the name of the route point that is ahead - ie the current target, by tapping 'Skip'. Assuming that you have set the XT to confirm before skipping in the settings this will display the name, and you can then cancel.

Just answering the question - usually the exit Via point up ahead is also visible on the map, the trip data display on the right shows the distance to the coffee exit. (if you dont have the trip data display always on screen, then you can configure the bottom right button (landscape mode) to show distance to via. That is always visible.

Also, if I detour into a town that has a four block long main downtown street on which the coffee shop sits, it is important to me that I know which block it is in and on what side of the street it is on. I lose that with it set as a shaping point right?

No. The satnav will navigate to the precise location of the shaping point, just as it does with a via. I have noticed with Via Points that as soon as the XT makes its first announcement (like 'Approaching Xxxxxxx on the left' - then it considers the point as visited, and just like shaping points if you rejoin the route after the point, it will not then take you back to it. I don't know how close you need to be to a Shaping point before it decides that you have visited it.

For any unknown stopping place, I always navigate the route using street view so that I know the precise location. Google, Basecamp, and other location databases seem to be bad at plotting the precise location, or at ignoring the fact that you need to be able to park.
It also gives the opportunity to translate important road signs - like one we encountered in Titisee in the Black Forest. The hotel was on a road which was clearly marked with a no entry sign and indicated that vehicles were prohibited. There was no other way. The caption underneath translated to a permit for vehicles attempting to reach their hotel car parks. The satnav refused to take the road.

There are some situations where I place a Via as an instruction to me.
Eg Approaching 'Continue ahead for no coffee' on the right.
Eg Approaching 'Take A567 for moorland route' on the left.

The last one is something I would do quite often with the 590. The next shaping point would be 20 miles ahead and there were two obvious ways if reaching it. The one the XT will take, and the moorland route. If I take the moorland route I knew that after a mile or so, the 590 would recalculate the route along the A567. It was a way of giving alternatives without having to skip any points while riding.

Ive not tried this on the Xt, but I suspect that it would not behave in the same way, and would keep insisting that I went back to the point where I deviated.

[Peobody]

I always navigate the route using street view so that I know the precise location.

Please elaborate on "street view". I run my XT north up 2-D without either the Birdseye or Topographic layers enabled.

[jfheath]

I always navigate the route using street view so that I know the precise location.

Please elaborate on "street view". I run my XT north up 2-D without either the Birdseye or Topographic layers enabled.

Sorry - Google Street View. Preparation before even putting the route onto the XT. I find the places in Google. Click on Maps. Sometimes use the satellite view to find car parks. But place the yellow figure on the road and 'drive' along the road to see the junctions.

In unkown places in unknown countries you don't know what you are going to be presented with, so I always check.

A good example of this - in Northern Spain (about 70 miles south of the ferris on the northern coast) finding one of our favourite hotels - at Santo Dominigo de la Calzada. The hotel is in an old city. Cars / motorcycles are not allowed - except to to get to the hotel. You have to ride very slowly along sometimes very narrow streets and you are allowed to park for 10 minutes while you go to the reception to ask them for access to their underground car park. The entrance to the city is not obvious, and I see that it is now controlled by radar detection. It used to be a push button and intercom system.

Parador.jpg (163.7 KiB) Viewed 848 times

So it was really helpful if you have already translated the road sign, that you know to press the button, and that you have your best Google translate phrase ready to say. "Hola, ¿hablas inglés, por favor? Estamos al hotel parador. Estamos en una moto." Which hopefully gets you through without having to understand any reply - even if you could hear it without removing your helmet and stooping down to car window height.

In addition - spotting the road signs directing you to the hotel is a bit like playing 'Where's Wally' (Where's Waldo in america, I believe). There is one way in and the chances are you have to go round the circular road surrounding the city. Usually twice before you get your eye in and spot the very insignificant side road. The road signs are very helpful - except for the fact that there are 2 Parador hotels, and the signs don't indicate which one you are heading for !

Parador 2.jpg (89.33 KiB) Viewed 848 times

The entrance is on the left just after the crossing. Very easy to miss.

So in this situation I would put in the location of the hotel, and add shaping point to take me to the only entrance to the town, and to keep me on the side of the road where I can turn without crossing traffic. Anything to make life easier on a sweltering sunny day, on the first day of a long ride riding on the - wrong for us - right hand side of the road and getting used to Spanish driving habits.

Another thing that I like to do - because its fun - is to export my route as a kml file and import it into Google earth. You can then 'fly' the entire route and see the landscape, the nature of the roads etc. Get a brief overview of what the route will look like to ride.

[Peobody]

Got it. I thought your "street view" reference was a function on the XT. I use Google street view and satellite view a lot during trip planning, mostly to check accessibility, paved or unpaved, and appropriateness (some fuel/service stations are not where you want your wife to have to pee). Your use of instructions in WP names is a good idea for the tricky navigation spots.