making my own gps track, but how?

[annoying crack]

OK, I'm still very new to this GPS thing. I've been playing with it over the last few weeks and started using Basecamp the other day to make my own route on the computer.
- I'm leaving shortly on a long bikepacking trip (2 weeks, over 1000km) and I'm wondering what the easiest/best way is to make my track to follow. My ride is basically a combination of 2 long trails of which I have the printed maps. So, I'd like to put that trail in my gps.
How do I go about doing this?
- When do I use waypoints and why?
- Every how often do i need to put 'crumbs' to follow and where. Before/after turns?
- How do I set up the gps to follow the track later on on the bike to make it the easiest?
- Do I make one long track, several short ones? I have a vista Hcx if that makes a difference.

Can someone fill me in, I would be grateful. Sorry if some of those questions sound dumb. I'm a newbie to the gps world.

[DaveH]

Are you on a Mac or PC?

Waypoints and track points (bread crumbs I think is what you are calling them) are actually quite similar.  Waypoints just have more potential data associated with them - icons, descriptions etc.  Use waypoints for points of interest (POI) like trail intersections, water sources, pubs etc.

How often to have trackpoints:  if your GPS can handle it, the more the better unless you are on a well established trail that's easy to follow.  I believe the Vista has a track point limit of 500/track and can store up to 20 tracks.  If you have more than 500 points in a single track it will get truncated on upload.  Split the track into multiple tracks or simplify the track using software. 

I'm not familiar with Basecamp but if you are on a PC TopoFusion.com will work nicely for all of this.  "Drawing" tracks is easy in TF - use the "pencil" tool to trace out your route and upload it to your GPS.  On the Vista just upload the tracks and set a color that stands out, that should be enough.  You can also navigate a track, but I prefer to simply have them shown on the basemap.

Hope that helps.

[AZTtripper]

Ok, everybody has to start somewhere. First off There is only so much you can do from home with maps and mapping programs. Not sure what Basecamp is I use Topfusiion for my GPS mapping work. Most programs give some way of drawing tracks that can then be loaded into the unit. This is pretty easy for roads and sometimes possible for single track in open terrain using aerial photos rather then maps. If you want to use the GPS in a follow the track mode there are two ways to get started one is to get a ground truth track (one that somebody else has made by riding the course) number two would be to draw a track in the program and then load it into the unit.

Waypoints have many uses, if you know the location of a point Lat/Lon you could make a waypoint in the program and then load it into the unit and use that to help find the spot on the ground. Or you can make a waypoint on the unit and then load it to the program and see it on the map.

I am guessing that by crumbs you mean track point to try to follow. What you might have to do is draw out the roads that lead to and from the trails you want to link, assuming that once you are on the trail it will be easier to follow. I know that for the AZT 300 race the cue sheet is really only for the linking of roads to rejoin the trail when you get to the trail it is signed, the hard part is linking a bunch of unmarked dirt roads.

To follow a track, assuming you have one either hand drawn or ground truth by someone else, loaded into the unit. It is up to you to watch the unit and make sure that you follow the track you loaded into it. The Etrex and most all other non-car units will not talk and tell you where to go you just have to find the track and keep yourself and the little triangle that is you on the screen on course. The easiest way to follow a track is to have the unit on the bars so you can see it while you ride.

The program should have a way to draw and link multiple tracks into one big track and then at least with Topofusion Pro you can split the file up into pieces that will fit into the unit.

Hope that helps good luck.    

[annoying crack]

Thank you both for the replies.

Where do I start.
I guess my crumbs are called trackpoints, get it.
Basecamp is the free Garmin software for making/linking/whatever tracks and routes, similar to Topofusion I guess. I'd like to support Topofusion it's just that I don't have much time left to figure this all out and the last thing I need is another program to get the hang of. Later I'll give it a go.
Good news, I found a gps-file for one of the trails I want to ride, saves me lots of work. So, I'll draw the second one myself, join them up and then split the whole thing up in 500 trackpoint files, name them with follow-up numbers in the name so it doesn't get too hard to figure the order out.
I put waypoints in for places of interest along the route like campsites, stores and the like so I can figure out how to get to them along the way and calculate the distance along the track to a certain waypoint (that possible?).
I just ride and keep the arrow on the line, simple! 

Another question, I can follow a track by keeping the arrow on the line and then there is backtrack. Backtrack is just to follow the route in the opposite direction or does it have another function?

Keep the tips coming. I'm learning gps-use in the hope that I'll be able to make it to the start of the divide-tour next year with some experience under my belt.

I promise to write a report when I get back. Leaving next friday after work, back beginning of july.

[DaveH]

Backtrack - not sure if you are talking about basecamp or the hcx - but it sounds like a function in the hcx to return you back to where you started.  IOW, follow your track backwards.

It sounds like you are off to a good start.  It's a steep learning curve for awhile.  Be sure to get that track loaded ASAP, make sure you can see it on the GPS and that your basemaps are also loaded, and if you can do a test or two on a local ride all the better.

Have a great trip and don't get lost!

[annoying crack]

Have a great trip and don't get lost!

Thanks. Getting lost is really a state of mind more then anything, no?

I'm still taking the map/compass though, just in case I delete the track by accident. Self knowledge is a good thing! The trails should have little marks along the way but out of experience, I know that they won't be everywhere. I don't really need the GPS, maps alone would do just fine but I would like to take this opportunity to learn more and maybe make a track of the combined trails for others.

Thank you again for the help, it's appreciated!

[AZTtripper]

Sounds like you are starting to get it figured out. Not sure if there is anyway to get the distance along the track to any give way point most likely you will get an as the crow flies distance. Not sure about back track you can follow the track any direction you want to it doesn't matter what direction the program thought you were going to go. It may sound stupid but it is possible to get turned around and find yourself backtracking unintentionally this is easy to do if the track you are creating is the same color as the one you are following. I find it helps to use different colors even.