No problem with questions though I’m not sure I can answer them all!

Guide Text – that’s the default I think and I’ve never questioned it!
Lock On Road – I think that assumes you’re on a road always, so moves the current position to be on the road even if the GPS has you slightly off it. Again, a default I’ve never questioned.
Recalculate Off – I like to plan a route and stick to it. If I need to divert I tend to zoom out and then use the map + original route to work out the alternative rather than the Garmin help me. Recalculating on the 700 was quite broken so this may now be a redundant habit.
Map Display – If “on” the route is always shown on the map, even if you’re doing a totally different route/course (or indeed not doing any course at all). I use this feature sometimes if I don’t want to “do” a course but still want to follow it.
Going Off Course – it should work like that but see my comment re Recalculating above
Joining a course part way round – it does indeed work like that.

Hope that answers your questions, any more ask away and I’ll try and answer.

I think the best thing you can do with the Edge is plot a simple course near your house then play with the settings. That’s all I did and whether I got it right or wrong could be open to debate. However, I’ve settled on the method outlined on this page and it works brilliantly for me.

I have a few questions about the Edge 800 I hope you don’t mind answering?

Why Guide Text only when navigating?
Is Lock on Road where any routing or recalculating will only route on roads?
Why recalculate off?
With Map display I’m still not clear with what it does. I’ve been using this with on. What exactly does turning it off do?
Why course points off?
If i’ve loaded a course and i go off course i know it tells me i’m off but can it re-route you back to the course – not necessarily going backwards, i.e. will it guide me to the nearest point?
If I am out somewhere and i decide i want to join a course tha i have saved will it route me to the nearest point rather than the start?

Sorry for so many questions but i love this gadget but don’t fully understand it yet and am looking for some help.

Regards

Chris

Good old Microsoft …

It sounds like you only have the base map that comes with the Edge 800 and this doesn’t contain enough detail for the Edge 800 to work out turn-by-turn instructions. You need a street-level map for this to work.

If you bought your Edge 800 without a street-level map then you have three choices:

1) Buy a micro SD Card and create your own map using Open Street Map (very cheap, but a bit of a faff and certainly not for the non-technical).
2) Buy a Garmin map on SD Card.
3) Use the Edge 800 without a map. You’ll still see the route and the Edge 800 will still bleep and show Left/Right/Straight for each entry in the RWGPS cue sheet (the bit on the left of the screen when viewing the route on RWGPS).

Sorry my notes didn’t make this clear, I’ll update them.

Regards,

Rafe

Map – will the euro map seen on RWGPS be displayed on my Edge 800 or have you bought a Euro map ?

rgds

Derek

Getting lost sucks & not really knowing where you are is stressful – a GPS is very much the way to go!

The Garmin 605 will be fine. I’ve not had one of those for a while so am a bit rusty, but from memory…

Download the three routes from RideWithGPS site as TCX files and copy them onto the device in the Courses folder. Then you have two choices, you can either just select a course and say “View on Map” which will just give you a line to follow or you can “Do Course” which will bleep at each junction and say “Left”, “Right” etc. as well as bleep and say “Off Course” if you stray off the line. Note that the “Left” “Right” etc. are as the route was meant to be followed, so if you take a wrong turn and had to back up on yourself, it might bleep and say “Left” when actually it’s really a right now, if you follow!

I strongly recommend creating a short test route near your house using RideWithGPS and having a play as it’s not always the most intuitive thing. But once you’ve mastered it, you’ll never want to do a long bike ride without something like the Garmin!

A map is handy but not essential. If you’ve not already got the European maps then I wouldn’t bother.

There are more instructions on using the 605/705 here:

http://ridewithgps.com/edge_705

It is not possible to use the Garmin.