Ha! Well, it's not quite that bad once you the hang of it, but it could be better. The problem is that Google maps has spoiled us, I suppose. You can try the Garmin basecamp thing, but I find it ponderous.

You're right, it is difficult to condense the subject! The process is a little ponderous, but it does work in the end.

Yeah, it's unfortunate there are so many steps involved, but when planning a longer trip it's worth the effort to make certain things go smoothly. I have used this method in hotel rooms to make changes on the fly, and as long as the internet access hold up it all works.

Glad it was helpful!

The Zumo is a great device. Some of the features, such as the "what's ahead" side screen are invaluable on long trips.

@@tinderboxarts Weird. Following your instructions, I created a simple route with four points (start, end, two in middle) in My Maps, saved it to laptop, opened in Explore on laptop… but my route is not visible! Explore is showing me my four flags, but not the route itself. Is this normal or is something wrong? In your vid I see your day’s route displayed in a series of blue triangles on your PC. Would be nice to see route on my laptop to ensure it is as intended. In any event, I proceeded to open the route using Explore on the Zumo, the route is shown and all looks good. Thanks again and if you have insights into why I’m not seeing the route in Explore on my laptop please advise.

When you are viewing a route on your laptop you are using a browser and data over the web. There are all sorts of things which can go awry in this circumstance, from bugs in the host software, incompatibility in the browser, and more. All I can suggest is to try a different browser and make sure it is a current version. Chrome is usually a good choice but if you were using that try Firefox.

Glad it helped!

Glad it was helpful!

Timing is everything in life! I'm still figuring out new features of my Zumo. On my most recent trip I discovered that you can overlay weather radar on your map as you ride. It takes data from your phone and adds it to the display.

I typically use the "trip planner" app in the GPS itself to follow the route, and it will recalculate if you get off course. Depending where you are that may or may not be an issue. The other option is to use tracks to follow your plan, or you could switch back and forth depending on circumstances. If you are in populated, traveled areas it's a non-issue. If you are in remote or rural areas it can sometimes be an issue.

@@tinderboxarts thanks, I use trip planner and so if it recalculates like normal its' great. I had to learn google my maps and Garmin explore today, your video inspired me, thank you!

I have not played with the XT2 version yet, but I would suspect it's substantially similar to the XT shown in the video.

Some people do use their phone, and that can work okay in some situations. The downsides are that there is not cell service in some areas, your phone is probably not weather-proof, and the phone may not hold up to abuse on the road. The Zumo also offers additional features on the screen such as speed, time, "up ahead," weather radar overlay, etc. My last two trips included areas in which cell service was unavailable for hours of riding during a day.

You're right, Garmin doesn't make it intuitive to find! It's just a website, though, so it should work on your mac as well as a PC. Here's the link: explore.garmin.com

I'm just using the garmin website: explore.garmin.com/ on a web browser. Possibly if you are trying to do this on a phone you need to toggle between two screens. I would highly recommend using a personal computer.

I was using the app on a chromebook. You answered my question. Thank You so much!@@tinderboxarts

I assure you it is doing what I described--I've ridden all over the US and Canada using this procedure. For example, in Google Mymaps I will often force a deviation onto a road which looks interesting even though Google does not pick it. When I save that as a KMZ file my deviation is still in the data, and when I use the Garmin app to transfer that KMZ file to the unit, the deviation is still there. What you noticed is that the mileage was different before and after I converted the KMZ file data to a route inside the Garmin unit. That is a fluke due to the way distance is calculated. The KMZ data created a track put together through a series of dots with straight lines between the dots. After conversion to a Garmin route in the trip planner, the unit calculates distance based on the actual roads, which is generally greater. Interestingly, you can have both the original track and the trip planner route displayed simultaneously on the screen, which we sometimes do in rural areas. The two lines will be similar but not always identical. So the Garmin trip planner route is the more accurate model and it matches the regular Google maps very closely. In addition, that deviation that I may put in the data also shows up in the Garmin trip planner route as an icon on the map. Basically it becomes like a waypoint.

I'll need some more information to help. There are tracks and routes, and you should be able to do either. When I convert an imported track I convert it to a "trip" so I can use it in the trip planner app. I showed this around 8:32 in the video. Is that what you are doing?

The Garmin explore software is web based. You just go to the website, create an account, and you run it in your web browser: explore.garmin.com/

@@tinderboxarts Excellent!! thx for reply.

I haven't had a chance to play with the new XT2 model, but I strongly suspect it will work identically to this. I know the screen menus are a little different, but I think the basic function underneath isn't changed dramatically. Let me know if you have success, I'd be very curious.

@@tinderboxarts Thanks for the info

Yes--my fat fingers were hitting the X rather than the Z! Thanks for the catch. I'll try your other tip, too.