Maps vs GPS

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Ragini
I'm planning on cycling home to NZ from London some time next year and I want to know if there are suitable/detailed cycling maps available for India/South East Asia?

Are there people out there who have used a GPS for cycling parts of the world? Would you recommend them? If so, what sort? I take it these will not be suitable for the Asian countries?

I will generally be cycling the Mediterranean route, India, South East Asia, Australia, NZ.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Well, assuming that France and Italy are among the parts you were thinking of, I guess I have. I used a Toshiba Pocket PC with a Pharos GPS Compact Flash card and TomTom GPS Citymaps software for a two-week trip this Fall. I adapted the car mount that came with the GPS card to mount the PocketPC on a set of Profile clip-on aero bars, so the computer screen was right in front of the handlebars, where I needed it.

For the rural areas and small towns, it worked very well. It was easy to see where I was on the route, and rather difficult to get lost (not that I didn't find a way of course). It also helped with route planning each night. In some places, it even helped predict the terrain (e.g. upcoming switchbacks = steep climb; road that follows a river = flat).

It was less helpful in congested areas like Sienna, where the software often didn't contain enough street names to find my way. (When every street is called "Un-named Road" and you're trying to get to a hotel address, you're in trouble).

I'd recommend it highly as a primary means of navigation, but I think I'd still stash some paper maps as a backup.

I use a Garmin Legend GPS and am very pleased with it as you can get street level maps (for europe at least) on it but even when using my older GPS I still found it useful , even when riding through the areas that did not have fine detail at least you knew you were going in the right direction. you can enter lat/long for your destinations and it will help keep you on track even in areas wher there is no detail at all.

The main issue I would have is powering it over long periods. My favoured option is a solar powered battery charger, I use this (http://www.isunpower.com/html) along with the batt pack. The battpack will charge up to 10 AA or AAA cells from mains, 12v or solar panel and can be used as a 12v supply for charging phones cameras etc. I've also considered powering the GPS directly from the solar panel/battpack using the 12v car adapter.

The chap on this trip (www.mark-ju.net) has some interesting ideas also look at http://www.digibattery.co.uk/astro/index.htm who have some interesting high capacity cells.

Good luck

Steve D

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Ragini
I'm planning on cycling home to NZ from London some time next year and I want to know if there are suitable/detailed cycling maps available for India/South East Asia?

Are there people out there who have used a GPS for cycling parts of the world? Would you recommend them? If so, what sort? I take it these will not be suitable for the Asian countries?

I will generally be cycling the Mediterranean route, India, South East Asia, Australia, NZ.

Any advice will be appreciated.

i have carried a GPS unit that i use for general navigation purposes (e.g., am i going towards the town i thought i was). but i also carry "atlas type" maps with lots of road detail. i also have a typed itinerary that shows what town and/or highway i should be crossing in X kilometers. i reduce my maps and laminate them.

my GPS unit (a garmin Emap) has memory limitations that have prevented me from loading via CD ROM (3) geographic zones at once time. i can usually fit only (2).

i like paper maps because they give me an idea of where i am, how much farther i have to go, and what roads or towns i need to be looking for to ensure i'm travelling in the correct direction.