Is basecamp still a thing?

[lkraus]

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Route from Basecamp will ALWAYS be recalculated before they can be run. That is becasue the default transportation mode for the XT2 is zūmo Motorcycle - a name which Basecamp cannot reproduce. Traditionally, if the Zumos receive a transportation mode that it doesn't recognise - like Motorcycle - it recalculates. As you might imagine - I've tested this by editing the GPX file. Change Motorcycle to zūmo Motorcycle in the gpx file using a text editor and put that in the gpx folder - the route doesn't recalculate. But that might be a bad thing, I don't know.

Does the XT2 have or recognize Basecamp's "Driving" mode?

Driving has always been my standard in Basecamp for both car and bike routing. I set it for Faster time, then make my own curvy road modifications to that initial route. Having different modes has always struck me as an unnecessary complication.

[jfheath]

Does the XT2 have or recognize Basecamp's "Driving" mode?

Driving has always been my standard in Basecamp for both car and bike routing. I set it for Faster time, then make my own curvy road modifications to that initial route. Having different modes has always struck me as an unnecessary complication.

I don't know - but I suspect not.

The XT2 does not have a setting for a car. Or for an off road bike.
There is no 'Map & Vehicle' menu - just a 'Map Display' which contains much of the same options, but there is no 'Vehicle' setting.
It does not ask if you want to switch to car mode when you plug in the USB power lead !



Any route in the Zumo shows "zūmo Motorcycle" - and when you tap it - nothing happens. All other zumos have allowed you to change the vehicle so that the route could be calculated with a completely different set of preferences.

People seems to find it confusing that although you could set different preferences in Basecamp, none of these were ever transferred to the Zumo. All it got was Motorcycle and Faster time. And the exact plot of the route of course.

If the Zumo had to recalculate - it would use the settings that were in the Zumo for the vehicle defined in the route's gpx file.
So send a car route from BAsecamp, on recalculation the Zumo would use the Zumos car settings, not the motorcycle settings.

I can imagine that a lot of the tech support people would not have known much about this and would be stumped as to why a particular route was suddenly taking ferries. Some people don't use the Basecamp profiles- preferring the custom setting. The Zumo didn't recognise that so it would calculate it as a motorcyle using the Zumos motorcycle settings. Even if the Zumo was set in car mode.

The XT2 and tread circumvent all of this by allowing route segements (A segement is a term that Garmin have started to use to describe the part of a route bounded by two via points - including any shaping points in between). Each segment can have its own settings. Faster/Straight Line/ Shorter/ Adv 1, 2, 3, 4. Since these can be applied to parts of individual routes I guess there is no need for different profile settings for cars/ motorcycle.

There are overriding settings which allow the route to have a leaning towards Popular (Moto) roads, Michelin Scenic Roads, Hills and Curves. These seem to apply to all routes whenever they are calculated/re-calculated - although I haven't probed this except If I change them when editing one route, the settings remian the same for the next route. SO I guess that they are settings within the XT2 itself rather than for a particular route.

I do like the Tread app as a solution for people that live their life with a mobile in their hand. I often go out without my mobile. Its there for my safety and for my partner to contact me if she needs when I am on the bike. The Tread app is easier to use on the larger ipad screen, and it is very forgiving when making errors - you cannot easily lose the entire route and you can accept or reject the recent changes and later commit them to storage (save). So it doesn't immediately over-write the route you have transferred. Anything that you can do on the ipad screen, you can also do on the XT2 screen. IT is pretty well thought out.

But once saved it synchs with the database, there is no going back from there. So the copy facility is useful - especially since it will copy an imported Basecamp route into a RUT free XT2 route. Saving as a GPX file is no good - it only exports the route points in the correct order. No other details. Crucially for me. It cannot create a track of the route, and for that reason alone I will continue with Basecamp. I've got used to the fact that the XT will recalculate my route on a whim - so I plan accordingly. The track displayed in black behind my route is my safety net. I know from that where my route went when I planned it.

But Basecamp routes work perfectly well with the XT2. I doubt that I will bother with the adventurous etc. I do my planning at home poring over paper maps, checking on street view, checking online for road closures. I have been in situations where we have been cold and wet, overstretched ourselves not knowing precisiely where we are. Having a satnav that is prepared to take me 28 miles to reach a point that is just 2 miles away, simply because someone on put a road closure sign on the route that gave us a 2 minute detour - is not something that I want to have to rely on in such circumstances. So meticulously thought out Basecamp routes, thoroughly checked, and a track are what I need. And Basecamp will continue to provide that as long as Garmin keep the computer based maps available.

Give it a few years though !?

So - I don't think so, but No, I don't really know the answer to your question. I suspect that you would be interested in my disorganised thoughts around the topic.

[Peobody]

I do my planning at home poring over paper maps, checking on street view, checking online for road closures. I have been in situations where we have been cold and wet, overstretched ourselves not knowing precisiely where we are. Having a satnav that is prepared to take me 28 miles to reach a point that is just 2 miles away, simply because someone on put a road closure sign on the route that gave us a 2 minute detour - is not something that I want to have to rely on in such circumstances. So meticulously thought out Basecamp routes, thoroughly checked, and a track are what I need. And Basecamp will continue to provide that as long as Garmin keep the computer based maps available.

OMG! That is me! I want to know where the hour-in coffee stop is, where the 3 hour pee stops are, where lunchtime food is, where the fuel is every 175 miles, and where the destination lodging is. I want to confirm that every road Basecamp routed me on is paved, and that Google maps does not show any closures along the route. I look at food and pee stops with Street View to get a sense whether they are appropriate for my wife who is usually on the pillion. I don't ever want to run out of fuel. I don't ever want to ride for miles beyond exhaustion to find lodging. Planning is paramount. Basecamp and Google Maps are my tools of choice.

[jfheath]

He he. Do you take an emergency shelter with you as well ? I do. Comes from years of long distance walking. Stuck at the roadside waiting for a recovery can get pretty serious very quickly.

Here is one such shelter on our first every long distance tour on a solo motorcycle in a very wet and windy Scotland April 2001 - a long ride from Portree on Skye to near Tongue on the North Coast of Scotland (well before the NC500 ruined it for everyone).
It doesn't matter where the next stop is - Primus stove and shelter covers all bases.

2001 Pan Shelter.jpg (115.11 KiB) Viewed 1132 times

Here's another tool for viewing the roads/terrain. Flying a track in Google Earth. Download the pdf file in post #1 for a how - to.
If you want to see it on video - I can create one quickly - its about time I did one of these

viewtopic.php?p=9959&hilit=google+earth#p9959

[Peobody]

Do you take an emergency shelter with you as well ?

Good idea. I have never thought of doing that. Is that just a rectangular tarp?

As for the Primus stove, I can see me wife then trying to pack pots, tableware, and utensils. I'll pass on that and just carry water, crackers, smoked sausage, packaged tuna, and the like.

[jfheath]

It's an 8 person emergency shelter that I used to use when taking students out on Duke of Edinburgh Expedition training. Basically a flysheet with no entrance. You stand in a circle put it over the top like a massive jumper, each grab a piece of the bottom edge to sit on, and all sit down together. There are two big vents at the top like short sleeves - designed to let fresh air in. They get very warm inside very quickly. I've only ever used one once in a real emergency - that was in snow on a mountain top. Literally a life saver - but we'd use them regularly for lunch stops.

I have a similar one for two people that I pack now. I once stayed with a friend whose final drive had collapsed on his BMW. We were 3 hours waiting to be recovered. It was still sunny and fine when we stopped but when the sun went behind the hills, it was bitterly cold and I didn't have anything with me. Even in full biking gear and helmets on, we were suffering. Which is odd considering we ride in 70mph winds for hours on end and not feel cold. But when riding your muscles are working all of the time. The following week I bought the two person shelter and it is nearly always packed.

If I am short of space, I have a salvaged chopped up flysheet from an old two person tent which is just a large rectangle of waterproof nylon. So that would be like a rectangular tarp. I rarely take the primus these days, but we had it with us on the trip in the photo.