Strava "Local" routes - exporting routes onto your GPS

[BugsBunny]

Hi guys

In Strava they have this function called "Local". Its basically a selection of the best cycling routes for a given city. I found one for Paris which I was thinking about trying.

https://www.strava.com/local/fr/paris/cycling/routes" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Has anyone tried downloading the routes onto their Garmin and given the routes a try? Does it offer turn by turn navigation? I have a Garmin 520 which I'm not yet an expert on using. I was hoping that with turn by turn navigation then I can just explore the city of Paris relatively easily without getting lost.

I see they have one for Melbourne too.

Bugs

[BenGr]

The 520 might be slightly different, but with the 510 it's a breadcrumb route. At major turns it will say to turn, but be wary of intersections where the corners are not sharp as you won't get a warning.

I'm not sure about other routes, but the Melbourne ones are pretty average. The arbitrary starting points makes it a bit silly, not to mention multiple routes are just different distances along the same road.

[BugsBunny]

Thanks Ben

That helps mate.

I just had a deeper look at the Strava routes and from what I can tell, they are short text descriptions (probably also with the breadcrumb as you say) - like "Turn left on X", "Proceed", "Continue on X". I suspect it doesn't have the smarts to guide you back onto the path if you missed a turn or something. But seems it will suffice.

Whats the best way to download the routing data onto your Strava on your iphone? I can't seem to find that from within the Strava app - although in the Web version of Strava, I was able to find it/download it.

Is the process:
1 - Download routes via Web version of Strava
2 - Somehow get that data into your Garmin head unit; (dunno how to do this step) or....

1 - Download routes directly into the Strava iphone app?

And lastly, how to you "start" the routing?

I'm confused if this is a Garmin function or if its something that can be "activated" from within the Strava app.

Many thanks.

[BenGr]

If you just use the strava app it should be as simple as opening the route and hit use route. To get it onto your 520 you export the route.

From there you can send to your 520 through garmin connect, or something. I've never done it though, I've always just plugged it into my computer and put the file in the New Files folder. Plenty of guides around.

To actuality use the route, once it's loaded go to courses in the menu and load it and hit ride or something similar. You'll then be directed in the direction of the start, note you can join the route at any point and it should work fine.

[BugsBunny]

Thanks Ben

I emailed Strava and asked if the "Local" function was available from within the iphone app and they replied that its currently only available on the Web version.

I guess that means you first download the "Local" routes (GPX etc) onto your computer. Then import them into your Garmin. Then start the routes from within Garmin. So effectively it has nothing to do with the Strava iphone app - which was the bit that was confusing me. Thanks for your help.