Ow Dooo!

It is my aim as Ride-Out Coordinator to get the routes for all future Ride-Outs posted on the Forum approximately one week before the Rde-Out so people can view them beforehand, and allow those interested (and fortunate enough to have one) to import the route to their Sat-Navs. The advantages this can have are that if a member of a Ride-Out has a Sat-Nav it could provide a useful backup for the Ride-Out Leader even if they haven't got one themselves. Also, with the route posted on the Forum, (and available for Sat-Navs), should a designated Ride-Out Leader have to drop out at the last minute, someone else can step in to take their place with a reasonable knowledge of the route. 

Below are details of how to import routes to your Sat-Navs. Unfortunately these instructions only apply to Garmin and TomTom Sat-Navs. If you have a NavMan or other make, I'd be interested to see if the same can be done with those. I'm guessing that you'd need to save the files in .gpx format, but Tyre doesn't seem to be available for other makes.

Anyway, here are the instructions, with many thanks to Tom Donoghue for his assistance with the instructions for the TomTom;

Firstly, you need to download and install a programme called Tyre from;

http://www.tyre.tk/

Once you've installed Tyre, open it and click on the Tools menu, choose Preferences and under the General tab, set the Default to suit the device you have, i.e. TomTom.

You can use Tyre to create the routes, (recommended if you’re creating your own), but for files created and posted by other people, copy the link (known as the URL and starts with http://), then in Tyre, select File/Import from Website. Paste the URL into the address bar at the top, (it’ll already have http:// highlighted in blue, but just paste over it), then click on Import. Google Maps will open, (in Tyre), then click on Import again.

Tyre will reappear with a list of Waypoints in the main window. Click on File/Save As and save the file in either *.itn (TomTom) or *.gpx format (Garmin, although the .itn will work on the Garmin.It automatically converts the file type)

To access the maps in your device you need to do the following;

 For the TomTom

You may need to have TomTom Home2 installed on your computer, which you can get from here:
http://www.tomtom.com/services/service.php?id=16&tab=87

Connect your TomTom to your computer, then from the menu bar in Tyre, select TomTom, then Copy to TomTom, and the file will be copied across.

To access the route in your TomTom, select Itinerary Planning/Options/Load Itinerary, say YES to the request, then locate the file which should be saved under the name you saved it as in Tyre, (or as it was sent to you). Select Open File/Done then choose YES. (Note the Yes in brackets may or may not appear)

If you wish to rename the file using your TomTom, load the Itinerary, then choose Options/Save Itinerary, and save the Itinerary with a new name. Then, choose Options/Delete Itinerary, and delete the file with the old name.

For the Garmin

Assuming you have the file already open in Tyre, connect your Garmin to your computer, then, from the menu bar in Tyre select Garmin, then Copy to Garmin, and the file will be copied across.

To enable the route in your Garmin, select Tools/My Data/Import Route From File. Select the route that you have just copied across and select Import. Click Back to return to the main menu screen.

To access the route select Where To?/Custom Routes and select the route you require.

Should you wish to delete the route, select Tools/Custom Routes and choose the route you wish to delete. Select Edit/Delete and confirm that you wish to delete the route.

If you have any problems with it, you can email me at rideoutcoordinator@poyntonmotorcycleclub.co.uk and I'll do my best to help.

Rob D.