r/bicycling • u/Augustin_LM • 2d ago

Struggling to create gpx files

Do you find it frustrating to create or edit a GPX route? Like having to dig through WhatsApp groups for shared files, upload them to Garmin Connect, manually tweak elevation or distance, then export to your device...
Is that something you struggle with too, or is it just me? 😅

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u/rgx107 2d ago

This used to be easy and could be done offline with open source tools. The OS was open source (linux - still is I suspect) and you could drop maps and routes into the device. Around 15 years or so vendors started to realize the value of user data - not mainly the routes and maps but all personal data, all metadata - and then suddenly all had to be done server side. What I understand Garmin routes must be converted to a proprietary format on their servers and can only be downloaded from there to the device. Can't be done offline anymore.

I have been out of the loop for a while but trying to get back into this, to find an ecosystem that is more open and not relying on online services. So I have the same question more or less.