Amsterdam to Paris

[Richard Tack]

I'm trying to put together a solo ride from Amsterdam to
Paris and maybe beyond in early October.

If anyone has done a route similar or knows some
information, I'd be interested in some online sources, trip
reports, mapping.

Also, if anyone has any experience they could pass on with
using a GPS device in Europe, it would be much appreciated.
I was thinking of a Palm or PocketPC unit with a add on GPS
module.

[Tim McNamara]

Richard Tack > writes:

> I'm trying to put together a solo ride from Amsterdam to Paris and
> maybe beyond in early October.
>
> If anyone has done a route similar or knows some information, I'd be
> interested in some online sources, trip reports, mapping.

There'sa few things I found with a quick Google search, no vouching
for content except for Trento. And you might have already seen them.

http://www.bicycletrips.com/trips/amsterdam_paris.shtml

http://www.petersons.com/summerop/sites/128496si.asp

http://pages.cthome.net/christopher.pile/bicycling/1999/Paris-Amsterdam.html

http://www-math.science.unitn.it/Bike/Countries/Netherlands/

(The above is part of the Trento Bike Pages, ground zero for
information about cycling in Europe)

http://www.zbikes.com/zeb/EuroBike2002/index.shtml

http://www.udena.ch:8080/ridingtoAix/

> Also, if anyone has any experience they could pass on with using a GPS
> device in Europe, it would be much appreciated. I was thinking of a
> Palm or PocketPC unit with a add on GPS module.

Good old Google, although most of this is unit-specific:

http://gpsinformation.net/userviews/gveurope.htm

http://www.routeplanners.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=386

[Rick Warner]

Richard Tack > wrote in message news:<grKZc.1281$YP1.265@trnddc03>...

> Also, if anyone has any experience they could pass on with
> using a GPS device in Europe, it would be much appreciated.
> I was thinking of a Palm or PocketPC unit with a add on GPS
> module.

What's the question(s)? Using a GPS in Europe is the same as using
one here, just need different map sets. Done it, but prefer a single,
integrated unit - no device-to-device communication that can cause
issues, only one device to keep powered, etc. But whatever floats
your boat.

As I said, the big difference is map sets. You will need to buy maps
for the relevant areas specific to your device. AFAIK the electronic
map sets for Europe that are currently available do not support
autorouting, so you will not have that feature if your device supports
it. For the trip I just completed (northern Italy with a skirt along
the Austrian border and short forays into Switzerland) I downloaded
the relevant map segments from the electronic map set into the GPS
before departure. Worked great. The maps I use include data on
'features', including hotels, restaurants, transportation centers
(train stations, bus stations, etc.) and attractions of interest to
tourists. I used this to query the GPS for hotels in two cities,
train stations in three, and a museum in another. Handy.

- rick

[Yum]

"Richard Tack" > wrote in message
news:grKZc.1281$YP1.265@trnddc03...
> I was thinking of a Palm or PocketPC unit with a add on GPS
> module.
From my exeperience, I liked dedicated GPS unit, that is designed for
outdoor use, much better than PDA+GPS combination for a bike ride because it
has longer battery life, ruggeds and water proof. I had trouble with a
map on SD memory card in my Ipaq PDA. I experienced frequent read error
while riding a bike. I ended up copying all maps to internal memory.

[Richard Tack]

Yum wrote:
> "Richard Tack" > wrote in message
> news:grKZc.1281$YP1.265@trnddc03...
>
>>I was thinking of a Palm or PocketPC unit with a add on GPS
>>module.
>
> From my exeperience, I liked dedicated GPS unit, that is designed for
> outdoor use, much better than PDA+GPS combination for a bike ride because it
> has longer battery life, ruggeds and water proof. I had trouble with a
> map on SD memory card in my Ipaq PDA. I experienced frequent read error
> while riding a bike. I ended up copying all maps to internal memory.
>
>
Ok, that's what I'm leaning to. Which dedicated GPS unit is
my next quest.

[Yum]

"Richard Tack" > wrote in message
news:lB61d.1499$bj2.706@trnddc08...
> Yum wrote:
> > "Richard Tack" > wrote in message
> > news:grKZc.1281$YP1.265@trnddc03...
> >
> >>I was thinking of a Palm or PocketPC unit with a add on GPS
> >>module.
> >
> > From my exeperience, I liked dedicated GPS unit, that is designed for
> > outdoor use, much better than PDA+GPS combination for a bike ride
because it
> > has longer battery life, ruggeds and water proof. I had trouble
with a
> > map on SD memory card in my Ipaq PDA. I experienced frequent read
error
> > while riding a bike. I ended up copying all maps to internal memory.
> >
> >
> Ok, that's what I'm leaning to. Which dedicated GPS unit is
> my next quest.

I am very happy with my eTrex Legend C(Color). Visible display under sun
light. 30Hr battery life(catalog data) with two AAs. It has 24MBytes
memory. Note that the memory of this model is not expandable. You'll
want to make sure that the memory is large enough to cover between Amsterdam
to Paris, otherwise you'll need to carry a separate laptop.