Maps and Overthinking
I got a little lost in the weeds when pushing waypoints and tracks.
TimCC
4/2/2025


I spent my weekend with my nose buried in mapping programs and some of you have seen my initial test files.
I ran into some glitches on output that lead me to dig a little deeper into how I was creating each track. Which, being an over-thinker led me to changing my whole approach to route creation and I'm in the middle of another redraw of the track.
My new approach is to draw the big bike / hard stuff bypass as the core backbone of the route and have the more difficult sections as extra tracks. The main driver of this decision is the idea that the people who most need the bypasses may also be those less familiar with multi-track navigation. This gives them one track to follow north that with the new Garmin devices can be converted to a route with turn guidance.
One of the other reasons I did this is that many GPS apps will randomly reassign colors when importing the files. This would make communication between riders more difficult. With the new approach, any side trip will be either a more difficult route or a spur to services like fuel or food.
I've added 20 rally points along the route, each of them should be at locations where a dozen or so bikes can be safely parked while waiting for everyone to catch up. They should also make it easier for riders to join up mid-journey.
The new files will not accommodate older devices with a 500 point limit on tracks. However, my track does not deviate from the original by much so you should be fine if that's what you have, just import the rally points and we should be on the same page.
The benefit is that everyone should see a more detailed track that more closely conforms to the roads and should reduce confusion at turns.
I hope everyone will indulge me and my obsessing over these details. I should have something worth sharing in the next week or so.
I will share the files both on a google drive and, if I can get it to work, on my side-project website timccmoto.com/twat
Cheers,
Tim Clarke
TimCCmoto.com
Motorcycle clubs, events, and adventures.
© 2025. All rights reserved.