How to use our routes

> All the routes described in this magazine are available as GPX

files for sat navs, compatible with BMW, Garmin and Tomtom devices, from the RIDE website (www.ride.co.uk/france17). To preview a route, click on its title. This will open it in Google Maps – but please note that if a road is closed (say, by snow in winter or by roadworks) the previews may not show the true route.

To download a route, simply click the “Download the route” link. It will be downloaded as a

Zip file, which needs to be opened with Stuffit Xpander, Winzip or a similar application to get the GPX file you can use.

> If you have a Garmin or BMW sat nav, we recommend using Garmin’s free

Basecamp software to open the route: go to its File menu and select “import”. You need your sat nav connected to the computer, as Basecamp uses its maps. Occasionally, the route will appear as straight lines – don’t panic. Double-click the route to open it and select the “Recalculate” option to make it snap to the roads. Then select the “Send to Device” option in the top-left corner of the screen to install the route in your sat nav.

If you have a Tomtom Rider 400/410/450, you can drag and drop the route straight onto the unit’s SD card – it will process the GPX file just fine. If you have an older Tomtom, it’s worth going to the www.myrouteapp. com website – Tomtom’s new planning platform – and uploading the GPX file. You can then resave it to your computer as an ITN file, which older Tomtoms will process happily.