Making maps of where I have been

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I have been thinking about this from sometime and was wondering if anyone does this and what software do you use.

I have a 48" wall map in my living room that I mark up showing all the big trips Anita and I do on the bike. This map is cumulative meaning that I now have three years of routes and all are color coded by year. I laminated tis map and use dry erase markers to show the routes.

I would like to do this with some type of free or inexpensive software that has a street network that I can overlay my routes on and color code them. Tools like Streets and Trips and Google maps are not satisfactory for this.

Ideally it would be great if I could import my GPX file and build the routes quickly and then color them as I see fit. Adding a legend would be nice to.

So all of you GIS mapping geeks out there any thoughts?
 

paulcb

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Can't help with the software but the wall map is a neat idea. My grandparents did much the same with their RV trips... my grandfather had a big wall map and would place a push pin on every town they visited during their travels. I remember studying it as a kid and asking him about all their adventures. Great memories!
 
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We place push pins with label flags on them for where we want to go. Kind of our bucket list.
 
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I am looking after the trip is done not the planning piece. I want to be able to load by route that I have driven and color code the line. I currently use Expert GPS to upload my completed route(s). But currently there is no way to color code each route.
 

amorley

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I am looking after the trip is done not the planning piece. I want to be able to load by route that I have driven and color code the line. I currently use Expert GPS to upload my completed route(s). But currently there is no way to color code each route.
Google Earth allows you to colour code each route. The GPX files can be either your planned or actual route. Attached is produced from GPX files from my GPS for the major rides I did in 2012.

Google Earth.jpg
 
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Thank you. Have you tried to produce a wall map sized poster from this? That would be my ultimate goal is to create a new map at the end of every year that we can hang in the living room.
 
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I've wanted to do this before, but never looked into it. A moderate search produced THIS info, but there are some other options as well. Sorry no personal experience!
 
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Google Earth allows you to colour code each route. The GPX files can be either your planned or actual route. Attached is produced from GPX files from my GPS for the major rides I did in 2012.

Google Earth.jpg
Sadly the area I've traveled in this year could nearly be contained on a city map. I'm at 1,750 miles with only a 200 and 300 mile trip to speak of. Most of my rides (95%) are under 3 miles!

Recounting my travels would sound something like "Remember the time I went to the post office?!?"

Enjoy your travels, your map-making, and your reminiscing. I'll get there someday.
 
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I keep this one in the garage. I'm not so sure my wife would consider it suitable living room wall art! :D

Suits my needs with one colour, since some trips have gone over the same roads more than once and multiple colours would get too busy and this only covers travels on my ST for the last 20 years.
 

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Bush for us we look at the map all the time. And like I said earlier we put push pins with label flags. This allows us to plan for the next year. The problem we are having now is that everything we want to plan gets further and further from home base. Meaning that the time required to get some where increases as we travel old ground. I don't mind traveling old ground but it is the time constraint that we typically are up against. Especially since we like 3 to 400 mile days and time to stop and see things.
 
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For sometime now I have had a piece of software called Expert GPS and have used it for file conversion and uploading my routes that I have ridden without much thought as to how to really use it to make maps until I started this thread. Not only can you do file conversions, upload GPS files but you can also look at your elevation and speed in graphs or thematically display them on the route with a speed or elevation range and a color gradient.

From Expert GPS you can also go directly to Google earth and display your routes there too.

So have quickly learned a little more about this software today and have built several maps and a cumulative map by year. Not that they are where I want them but it does provide results that I might be able to live with.


2013.jpg

2014.jpg

All Trips.jpg

Speed Graph.jpg
 
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jfheath Thanks for the info I will look at this. It is similar to what I have but I will take a deeper look.
 
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I like the idea of making and displaying a map.

Is everyone using a GPS or are some using your phone as a GPS?

I have a tom-tom for the Jeep and have used it on the bike a few times but ended up letting my oldest take it to college... So, I've been using my phone on the bike and in the Jeep.

I haven't really looked into how to really get the most out of it, I have an Android so I assume it's using Google maps.

Is it possible to create a route using Google maps?
 
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I am at the point where I am using a host of different software's because at the consumer level there is nothing that is really a complete map making import/export software. Each software I use serves a specific purpose. Also I consider things like Google maps and Google Earth software. Some I use because I am comfortable with what they do and understand them fairly well. Others I use because the have features that may be different than my comfort software. I also don't really care for the idea of publishing things on the web like Google Maps and Google Earth. I know they are secure and you can delete but it is not for me.

I really have few goals with what I do.
1. Plan trips & routes
2. Review the routes at the end of the trip
3. Produce yearly and overall maps that I can print in large formats. Like C and D size prints.
4. I may even want at sometime to geocode photos to the maps.

The software I use and how I use them.
1. MS Streets & Trips - for trip planning/routing and GPS export for my Zumo 660
2. Expert GPS - This software performs many tasks, it can convert MS S&T directly to GPX, it can import GPX from the ZUMO (the current and archive routes), I can create the maps that I want, it exports directly to KML/KMZ, has a direct link to Google Earth with the route info, etc.
3. Google Maps and Google Earth I am still trying to figure out how to really take advantage of these for want I want to do.

Looking at the RockSTOC Daily Ride thread maybe it is time to have a Forum area for these discussions. It could include How To's, Better ways to share information, For pay and Free Software's, etc. Granted this is like anything else so everyone will have an opinion but it may be worth while. Any thoughts on this?
 

Reginald

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3. Google Maps and Google Earth I am still trying to figure out how to really take advantage of these for want I want to do.
It could be used for trip planning where the maps are shared on this forum and folks can add points of interest and possible route changes. I've been playing with Google Maps so I can do just this. I've been practicing exporting Garmin Basecamp files to KML files and importing them into Google Earth Light Maps and sharing to close friends for comments on presentation and easy viewing. Your query about exporting from Google Maps was the first time I went the other way.

The initial map produced by Google Maps from Basecamp is ugly (my opinion) and requires editing for clarity. Points of interest can contain comments which is nice. Route colors can be changed. Currently working on a multiple day tour from near my home to RocSTOC trying to get different day routes in different colors. I'll post it in that thread when I think I've got it right.
 
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When I first got my ZUMO I tried Basecamp and was underwhelmed. That is why I bought Expert GPS. Plus I can quickly produce KML/KMZ files.
 
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MajorTom

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When I first got my ZUMO I tried Basecamp and was underwhelmed. That is why I bought Expert GPS. Plus I can quickly produce KML/KMZ files.
Take a look at RouteConverter. I think it can do all of the things your suite of tools can do and using KML output you can use Google Earth to display all you rides.
 
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