eTrex 20 in the cockpit!

I just thought I'd show how sweet the mount for the Garmin eTrex 20 is when my fairing is installed. I just moved it to this position after missing turns on my last ride. Before I had the Garmin eTrex co-located with the heart rate monitor on the left. In this position it is right in my line of sight and if the sun light is right or back lighting is on, I shouldn't blow past any more turns.

I'm using a RAM mount for the eTrex. I've used these mounts on motorcycles(staring back when the Garmin III+ was bleeding edge tech) and boats. They are a little heavier and probably more expensive than some others but in literally hundreds of thousands of miles traveled by MC and boat they have never failed.

This fairing mount is pretty handy. I think I may use the end to mount a new mirror. Also if weather gets really sweltering the clear plexiglass comes off easily by removing the 4 screws with knurled heads.

Using the Garmin eTrex 20 GPS.

The last several days gave me some invaluable experience using the Garmin eTrex 20. We have the complete set of ACA maps needed but my plan is to let my wife have those while I used downloaded routes on the eTrex 20. Inital thoughts.

• The ACA GPX waypoint files may not be completely up to date. The NTR section 11 map 152 routes from Belfast ME to Camden ME via RT 52. The GPX files route via US 1. 
• Garmin BaseCamp  program has a distinctly 1990's feel to it. www.RideWithGPS.com has a free and much better interface IMO. 
• Garmin BaseCamp has a "Bicycling" activity setting but I don't know what the point is since CityNavigator knows zero about bike paths and will go to crazy routing to get around them. 

This is the crazy route around the Brunswick Androscoggin River Bike Path. F0B7M0 is the start of the path that then follows the river past the Rt 196 bridge

•  The workaround I found was to make a route on on RideWithGPS, download as GPX file. Up load this file to BaseCamp. It is then viewed as a track and will follow the bike path. I did try to convert the track to a route but the same garbage happened. So I just uploaded the track and told the eTrex20 to follow the track. The problem is the eTrex will not "navigate" and give turn data and the like when using tracks. So when entering the route in RideWithGPS I made sure to put waypoints near any turn. Then on the GPS I set one data field to "Distance to Next".  And voila, I know when my next turn is coming up:)

This is the tracks file of the above route. This is then uploaded to the eTrex 20.

This has been a trail and error approach. I've blown past turns and not noticed until miles later. This happened when following US1 near Damarscotta, the track was through town I stayed on US 1. The route did reenter US 1 so no real harm, this time.

Also viewing the eTrex is difficult when the sun is not behind. And for me the magenta track/route color on the GPS is hard to see with sunglasses on. So it would be nice to have routing where it would at least beep when a waypoint is reached. 

But even with all these issues it's still better than using paper maps IMO. And without back lighting the battery run time easily covers a few days of riding. I think I'll do a test with the back lighting on constantly to get an idea of how many hours a day it can be safely used.

New GPS

Decided that the Garmin eTrex 20 will serve my needs. This came about when I decide to install a fairing on my trike which will give many more locations for gadget attachment. I decided that on a trip like this cadence is not needed, i.e. I know when to spin faster. I have a Cateye heart rate monitor already, and Cateye Mitty 8 bike computer with basic speed/distance functions. Now that I’ll have the fairing the only things missing that the Garmin Edge 800 would supply is the power meter display which I never intended to use, and the “Virtual Partner” which is very cool but not worth the $364 extra dollars that can go towards the fairing.

GPS on a bicycle, isn’t technology great!

A GPS on my trike for my cross country ride certainly can’t be counted in the “Need” category. But I’ve been using GPS units motorcycle since the Garmin III+ was bleeding edge tech circa 1998. So I think it’s natural to what to use a GPS on a long bike ride.

After a few hours of research I’m going to get either a Garmin Edge 800 or Garmin eTrex 20. The Edge is best described as a bicycle computer that is GPS enabled, while the eTrex is aimed at Hikers. Both are very small and light weight, under 5oz. So either would easily fit a bicycle handlebar.  So which so I get?

Here are the pros/cons as I see them.
Garmin Edge 800
Pro:
Integrated Heart Rate monitor.
Integrated Cadence count.
Cool “Virtual Partner” icon to race with.
Comes with handle bar attachment bracket.
Less clutter in the cockpit with integrated functions.
It’s a Garmin and I’ve always had good luck with them.

Cons:
Expensive!!! $450 for unit, $79 for maps, $44 for HR strap, $35 for Cadence sensor, $50  for mobil charger for s total of about $658.
Internal battery that can’t be swapped for fresh, instead must be recharged each night.
It appears to be a more limited market so updates to firmware probably are not as timely.
Integrated functions means single point of failure.

Garmin eTrex 20
Pro:
Uses AA batteries, already own a boat load of rechargeable AAs.
Relatively cheap: $185 for unit, $79 for maps, $30 for handle bar bracket. Total about  $294, this is less than I paid for that III+ 14 years ago.
Segregated function so less single points of failure.
It’s a Garmin and I’ve always had good luck with them.

Cons:
More cockpit clutter since I really would like to have HR and Cadence
No “Virtual Partner”