Can you see anything intresting?

[brian81]

Well, I have finally finished planning my rout across America. I have 3 months to do it in, I should be OK. Here is a link to the gpx file. If you have any suggestions on cool places, roads, or anything interesting around my rout, I would love to know about it. I really have no schedule, so I can pretty much go where I want. If you know of any cool things along my rout let me know!


Just right click and save as!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tbirdsp]

Can't get it to work as a .gpx, I get a .xml document

[brian81]

Originally Posted by tbirdsp

Can't get it to work as a .gpx, I get a .xml document

If you right click and save as it will work

[BlueLghtning]

Do you really want me critiquing it? I love coming up with routes on maps.

First major thing I see is you owe it to yourself to cover the entire "going to the sun road" in Glacier National Park. You have yourself coming in and going out the same way. Its well worth it to do the entire thing if it will be open when you go through there.

The other thing I just noticed is you do have interstate sections down in the SW. For a 3 month trip and only covering 10k miles which leaves you plenty of time to take your time and explore, you owe it to yourself to stay off the super slab. Just a quick glance even looks like you are on more major highways in places then I would choose. I've down 6k miles over just 2 weeks and hardly ever touched the interstate. I stay on back roads and even sometimes find cool gravel roads to go hit, but that may not be your thing. I envy you to have that amount of time to go on a MC trip, so don't waste it hitting the slab. Find those out way back towns and old deserted highways no one travels anymore.

I'm still going over it, I'll be back with more feedback!

[BlueLghtning]

Just curious before I go looking at this more?

I'm wondering if your GPX file had everything or if all the route info is actually being loaded correctly?

For example, if I look around the BRP, right at the state line of VA/NC. As you come down through VA, you are following the BRP and there a bunch of blue "via point" flags marking your route. Once it crosses into NC, the blue flags stop, the route jumps off the BRP, and gets on I-77 to I-40 over no the next waypoint where the BRP ends?

I would think you would take the BRP the entire way? So is this displaying correctly on my machine where in shows you taking the interstate there? I'm thinking there's a whole bunch of blue via pt flags missing to keep it on route along the BRP? if you took the time to mark the beginning and end of the BRP, I would assume you would plan on following the entire thing???

I might try DL the file again and see if I get something different. I don't think my MapSource tried to re-calc the route when I opened it.

[Moose_DK]

Hi
I made the attached GPX for our USA trip..
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=462173

Its just a lot of waypoints of places we could visit.. maybe you can finde something you could use.

[BlueLghtning]

Okay, I DL it again, but same thing. It just looks like that particular section of the BRP, you don't have any via points forcing it to stay on it?

I did notice though like after you get off the Natchez Trace Pky around Jackson MS, you have it basically following I-20 towards Dallas, but staying on a highway just off of it. Same thing from Dallas to OKC following I-35, and then once again, from OKC almost all the way to CA as you follow a highway just off I-40? Is there a reason you are basically following the interstates even if you aren't quite on them?

I'm not sure how much you have traveled before, especially out West, but I would definitely be trying to put some distance between me and the interstates. Sometimes in the NE, its hard to avoid them because everything is so crowded, but out west especially, enjoy the wide open spaces. Get out away from the everyday travelers because even traveling the highway right next to it, you aren't going to see anything except everyday chain type gas stations and places to eat. Find all the little mom and pop places to eat, small little gas stations to stop at and just find the people that haven't traveled more then 100 miles from their little bitty town their entire life. That is the type of memories and experiences that will make a trip like this.

Get off on state highways away from interstates and even secondary roads. Your trip will be so much more enjoyable. I'd also try to avoid some of the big cities you are going through unless you are just going there to visit someone.

Do you have an avg number of miles you like to cover in a day? Are you camping at all or just hoteling it the whole time.

I'll send you a link, but my wife gathered different GPX files that people have put together of places to eat. One of them is called Diners, Drive In's and Dive's from a TV show by that name. Basically its all these little hole in the wall places you would never know existed, but are just awesome little treasures. I think another file is called "Ride to Eat" and I forget what the other one is. All said and done, I think combined its 1300+ places to eat through out the US.

[tbirdsp]

Originally Posted by brian81

If you right click and save as it will work

Still get a .xml file if I do that, must be on my end though...

[BlueLghtning]

Originally Posted by tbirdsp

Still get a .xml file if I do that, must be on my end though...

Thats all a GPX file is anyways. You might be trying to save with IE? I think FF handles it better.

If it opens an XML file, just save it as one and then change the last three to .gpx and you should be able to open it no problem.

[brian81]

Ya, the more I think about it, the more I think I need to add the Pacific NW.

I started going over my files and noticed there are a lot of places where it routs me to a freeway, like half way threw the BRP. Well, it looks like I need to fix those things and spend the next few days adding the Pacific NW, I had better hurry I leave Monday

[BlueLghtning]

Originally Posted by brian81

Ya, the more I think about it, the more I think I need to add the Pacific NW.

I started going over my files and noticed there are a lot of places where it routs me to a freeway, like half way threw the BRP. Well, it looks like I need to fix those things and spend the next few days adding the Pacific NW, I had better hurry I leave Monday

Are you using MapSource to create your route?

If so, there is road preferences settings in there, and you can tell in to use more minor roads. About 2 from the left seems to give the best results.