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Export GPX Route rather than trackpoints?

28 Jun 2015
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The GPX export you have is really good as it seems to make an exceppent compromise between having too many points (my device would be constantly beeping, and it has a limit of 250 points per route) and not enough (so it wouldn't capture the turns in the route properly).

However, to use the GPX file for navigation on my Garmin GPS60, I need the route to be a GPX "Route" rather than a sequence of track-points. I can do the conversion from the file I export from cycle.travel using GPSBabel, but it would be more convenient if you also offered a direct GPX Route export. I think it would also be more logical to provide the data in this format, as it's a route that's being described.

So would it be possible for you to add a "GPX Route" export option, in addition to the current "GPX Track" one?

Comments

Wed 1 Jul 2015, 21:29

Yes - certainly. Just for testing, could you post a GPX route file somewhere so I can check the output is what you'd expect?

Mon 6 Jul 2015, 17:32

Many thanks. Here's the file I created by converting your GPX output for http://cycle.travel/map/journey/13475 to a GPX route: http://robert.mathmos.net/cycling/BuryCircular.gpx

Thu 9 Jul 2015, 18:12

Thanks! That doesn’t look too hard to create. I’ll have a play and post back here when done.

Thu 27 Aug 2015, 16:37

There's now an option to create GPX routes as well as tracks.

Sat 12 Sep 2015, 23:39

Thanks for setting that up, and sorry I haven't been back here for a while.

Unfortunately, it seems that you're using far fewer points with the gpx route option than with the GPS track one. The points with the Track export were a good compromise between too many and too few -- enough to capture the bends in the road, but not too many unnecessary points. With the Route export, there aren't enough points, so joining them with "as the crow flies" lines (as my Garmin GPS 60 does) means that the route you see isn't close enough to what you actually need to ride. In particular, it may send you off in the wrong direction at a junction.

(See for example, the route at the SW end of Gaymers Industrial Estate, near the start of http://cycle.travel/map/journey/15864 -- compare http://robert.mathmos.net/test/gpx-track.gpx and http://robert.mathmos.net/test/gpx-route.gpx )

Could you not do the GPX Route option with the same sets of points that you use for the original Track option?

Thu 17 Sep 2015, 00:46

The GPX route option is very useful.  There are just enough points to make sure the route goes where you want it without being so many that it overloads the GPS.  I have a Garmin Dakota 20 and if you set it to 'recalculate on road' it will instantly convert the straight lines between points to click to the nearby roads. You now have proper sat.nav guidance with turn by turn directions at the top of the screen.   Susan Gameson

Mon 13 Sep 2021, 15:09

I have a query. I program my GPS watch via a package GPS Master, which requires input data in the form of a KML file with waypoints. I can take your GPX file and convert it to KML but it has no waypoints, so GPS Master will not accept it.

Looking at the GPX file generated by Cycle Travel, it appears to have a list of coordinates , but these are not interpreted as waypoints when converted to KLM. Is there a recommended conversion package that will o this?