Road Tripping to the Pyrenees

[hmg66]

Thanks for sharing. Really enjoyed the write up.

Just out of interest what sat nav/ route plotting apps are you using? Do you pre plan and share it via a gpx file or just wing it?

[hot66]

Never wing it … the routes take a few months of planning and it can be quite stressful in the beginning if it’s an area I’ve little knowledge of . Start with a physical map / google maps and researching on the web ( usually motorcycle route guides help as do cycling books on great climbs ) , then rough out an approx route and I always use google maps to plan with help from via Michelin for scenic roads . This then needs to be Broken down into daily mileage blocks, then fine tune routes incl lots of street view sessions as some roads turn out to be unsuitable or far too small and all the while trying to find decent hotels approx on route or near the route with secure parking and food … this bit is fairly stressful when you’ve got 10 rooms to find .

Eventually ( this trip I was still fine tuning the routes 6months after I first started ) I’ve stripped each day down so it’s effectively about 6 satnav plots which forces the correct route on google maps . I produce a document for the lads listing each day and the plots for each day plus a link to the google map for that day.

For actually driving the route, I pre save each days plots onto Waze naming them for example :

plot 1 , 15th may , col du portillon
Plot2 , 15th , … etc

Each morning those plots are shared onto the group WhatsApp so everyone just clicks on plot1 and away we go and then they need to click on plot2 when we arrive at plot1 etc

I just navigate to plot 1, then navigate to plot2 etc

Sometimes Waze gives multiple route options between the plots and then I have to double check with the map I printed out to make sure we select the right one.

Not saying that’s the best way, but it works for me and I HAVE to have Waze for the police and speed camera warnings as usually I’m upfront leading

It’s a fair bit of work but then again we are a close group of mates who’ve holiday’d and driven together for years so worth it .

…. Also , have you seen how much the companies that sell these trips charge !

[Anta]

Really really useful for me thank you.

I am off on my first big euro roadtrip July.

Main purpose is I am climbing round Mont Blanc with 6 pals to celebrate 50ths. 2 of us are driving me in the 74 Carrera and mate on a Paris Dakar style bike. The rest are sensible/ boring.

The climb is priority and we are time poor so we will need to use some direct routes but hope to obviously add in a bit of twist!

I have sorted Comms. Have a Cardo Packtalk with Edgephones so we have car to bike open channel and phone , waze alerts etc.

Route is a bit of a time necessity and we have hotels booked. But obviously any known good roads in vicinity most welcomed!

Day 1 drive to Spa. 2 is down to Basel. 3 to Chamonix for climb.

Return is brutal just stopping once in Reims. As I say I think this one is so compressed we might be forced onto big roads but all advice would be appreciated

I will start a thread closer to the time. Just doing a site search on what spare parts and car gear the wisdom of DDK recommends. Bricking it!


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[70sThrowback]

I do my routes exactly like James does and yes its stressful and takes a lot of work which the group appreciate, but never truly understand the amount of hours it takes. The of course you ask on here and nice people like James and others share their routes so you can take advantage of some of their hard work to incorporate it into the destinations you are wanting to see. Nothing better than personal recommendations.

[hmg66]

Thanks for sharing the methodology.

I’m currently finalising the plans for a France,Vosges mountains,B500 Black Forest area trip.

I use the plot a route website and google maps etc to plot a route then save it to a gpx file which can then be shared with the group to be used on Tom Tom /Garmin or the Porsche Roads app which is free.

Jury’s out on the Porsche Roads app as it’s not as intuitive as Waze etc .. Anyone have a realtime experiences of it on a trip? Good/Bad ?

Google maps is great for planning but doesn’t give you a live route to follow only from waypoint to waypoint whilst en route.

Waze is my go to day to day app.. interesting that you’ve figured a way of plotting and saving/sharing a route on Waze?

Or do you just reach a certain point then add the next route point as you go ?

I know a huge amount of planning goes into these jaunts….Would it be too much trouble to share a days itinerary with me by PM so I can possibly fine tune my plans

TIA

[hot66]

In waze , when you press the search bar, you can go to ‘saved’ button . Here ‘add a place ‘ …. And put the address in you want and then rename and drag into order …. Eg our day 1 ….



Waze won’t run through all the points, think the max is 2 …. So I start and drive to plot 1. On arrival start a new destination to plot2 etc . Sounds a hassle but a lot of the time your only doing this every 1/2-1 hour

Regarding sending the plots to everyone … each morning for that days plots, just click on the 3 dots to the right of the place name and ‘send location’ , then WhatsApp it to the group . Do that for all the plots upto lunch . Then after lunch , so as not to confuse them all, send the afternoon plots

[hot66]

This is what the instructions looked like for the lads that they received in advance in our WhatsApp group for the trip. They then could use this to plot their own waze and could click the Google map links to see the overview

[bjmullan]

Great thread, pictures and trip. Will need to pick your brain sometime James as I plan a trip to the Dolomites next September.

[70sThrowback]

I think you mentioned traffic cameras, but other than that what is the advantage of Waze over google maps? I usually plot the full morning route (including all waypoints) or at least until a known stop where we will be getting out of the cars on google maps and send that on whatsapp to the group. That way when I reach the first waypoint I just click continue and off I go. Google doesn't show your speed, it does have cameras but probably not as comprehensive as Waze. Just interested as there must be other reasons.

[hot66]

treat waze as a user generated app. It has all the google map info ( waze is owned by google ) but all waze users can add to the maps in live time, things like mobile speed camera locations , police , potholes , cars stopped on the road or hard shoulder. etc You can add traffic & road works.

It is very good at redirecting when there is traffic ahead .. its not perfect and sometime does give you some interesting routes

Waze has saved me many many times from the North Yorkshire Speed camera vans , I don't drive any car without it on. Of course with the camera vans etc it only works if you're not the first car to see the van

[IanM]

all waze users can add to the maps in live time, things like mobile speed camera locations , police , potholes , cars stopped on the road or hard shoulder. etc

Didn't know that. Thanks.

[jeremyg]

Only just seen this thread (too much Frazer Nash/BMW stuff in my life!) - great trip, great reporting and many thanks for all the route planning and mapping info James - I often wondered how the hell you did it! Boy your fellow trip members have a lot to thank you for.

I had to use the Porsche Roads/GPX file method on a recent GRRC group drive in Wales. Ended up tearing my hair out and coming home early. I think it was probably rookie user error, as much as infuriating app, but it really seemed clunky and inferior to Waze.

[hmg66]

Only just seen this thread (too much Frazer Nash/BMW stuff in my life!) - great trip, great reporting and many thanks for all the route planning and mapping info James - I often wondered how the hell you did it! Boy your fellow trip members have a lot to thank you for.

I had to use the Porsche Roads/GPX file method on a recent GRRC group drive in Wales. Ended up tearing my hair out and coming home early. I think it was probably rookie user error, as much as infuriating app, but it really seemed clunky and inferior to Waze.

The Roads app is absolute pish. The minute you even slightly stray from the intended planned route it constantly wants to keep sending you back to the start of the route rather than directing you to the next waypoint en route to the final destination. No option to skip the waypoint en route either.

So so badly thought out.

It’s a shame as you can upload pre planned gpx files and share them within the app to a group but I just tried it on a weekend away and I lasted about 15 minutes before reverting to Tom Tom or Waze.

[jury]

'kin epic Lads and Lasses !!.....Awesome write-up and great images, I need to get back to Europe !!

[70sThrowback]

Only just seen this thread (too much Frazer Nash/BMW stuff in my life!) - great trip, great reporting and many thanks for all the route planning and mapping info James - I often wondered how the hell you did it! Boy your fellow trip members have a lot to thank you for.

I had to use the Porsche Roads/GPX file method on a recent GRRC group drive in Wales. Ended up tearing my hair out and coming home early. I think it was probably rookie user error, as much as infuriating app, but it really seemed clunky and inferior to Waze.

The only way I use the roads apps is for ideas of good roads. I then plot them into google maps. I also like James use motorcyle websites for routes. Occasionally they can be too narrow, but in general they are good fast sweeping quiet roads.