[talk-au] Routable maps

[John Henderson]

Steve Bennett wrote:
> I also just tried out routing on my new Garmin Oregon 550...awesome. I 
> was on cycling Churchill Park in Melbourne's east and camping the night. 
> The gps, using only osm data, found me some really interesting tracks 
> that I wouldn't have thought of on my own. Someone's done a good job in 
> that area. It's particularly cool that you can see some interesting 
> singletrack, take it, and the gps figures out a way to incorporate that 
> decision and still get you to your destination.
> 
> Then, on the way home, I used it again. I had to get my car towed to a 
> mechanic, then ride home. I would have gone a pretty boring way by 
> default, but the gps pointed out that I was near the elster canal bike 
> path, and took me that way. It's still not perfect — Garmin doesn't 
> value bike paths as highly as I do — but it's really helpful. I was 
> pretty skeptical about the value of routing on roads, but now I'm 
> convinced that it can you help you find more interesting ways around.

Using mkgmap to prepare Garmin-format routable maps, you have the 
flexibility to prioritize whatever type of ways you want for routing 
purposes.  See:

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mkgmap/help/style_rules

It's great fun experimenting with your own Garmin routable bike (and 
road) maps.  You can choose your own colours for the different types of 
ways, and icons for POIs, using this facility:

http://ati.land.cz/gps/typdecomp/editor.cgi

John