UPDATE : August 30th, 2010
Due to some minor route changes on the Saturday Routes (due to a road closure), the Saturday GPS route files have been updated to reflect the changes. If you downloaded these routes prior to 11am EDT on Monday August 30th, you should consider downloading the revised Saturday routes which have a revision date of Aug 29th as part of their file name.
Also some additional testing using a Garmin Oregon series GPS unit indicated that a navigation preference of Car/Motorcycle was critical in having the unit follow the intended MTR routes (having the unit set for a preference of Bicycle caused some minor discrepancies in how the unit navigated the routes). Please make sure you have Car/Motorcycle selected for navigation of the MTR routes. The Oregon unit was tested with the Shortest route preference selected and since Shortest Route preference tested OK with the Garmin Vista HCx, the Shortest Route preference is highly recommended.
Below are the MTR2010 GPS route files (total of 12) in .gpx format (GPS device-independent data format) that you can download and save to your computer, and then upload (transfer) to your GPS unit using whatever software you normally use (GPSBabel is recommended for transferring the routes to your GPS unit, and instructions for using GPSBabel can be found below).
Note : For Garmin units that are "USB Mass Storage Mode Devices", you should be able to just download the MTR2010 route files, and then drag and drop (or copy and paste) them into the appropriate .GPX folder on your GPS unit (these should be models like the Nuvi, Zumo, Dakota, Oregon, and Edge).
These routes were tested on a Garmin Vista HCx GPS unit and numerous problems (incorrect via points transferred to the GPS unit) were noted when using Garmin MapSource to upload (transfer) the routes into the GPS unit (even though MapSource was used to generate the routes) and this causes incorrect routing, so it's highly recommend that you use GPSBabel, or a similar third party software to upload (transfer) these routes into your GPS unit. GPSBabel is free software that you can download at the following website http://www.gpsbabel.org/download.html, and it worked flawlessly during the development and testing of the MTR routes. (Note : if you use GPSBabel to transfer the route to your GPS unit, do not have the waypoints box selected in the translation options section to avoid cluttering up your GPS units waypoint file.) Due to our efforts Garmin is now aware of and has been able to duplicate the problems we encountered but there is no short term fix available for the Garmin MapSource route transfer problem and therefore MapSource should be avoided if at all possible for transferring the MTR2010 routes to your GPS unit.
If you load all routes located in the 12 route files into your GPS unit, you will actually see a total of 17 routes due to the Sunday routes that are broken into multiple routes (see notes below).
These routes were designed for Garmin GPS units with the "Automatic Routing (turn by turn routing on roads)" option, and some of the Garmin models that appear to have this option are as follows : Vista Cx, Vista HCx, 60 Cx, 60 CSx, 60, 78sc, 76Cx, 76CSx, 520 HCx, 530 HCx, Dakota series, Oregon series, Zumo series, numerous Nuvi models, and the Edge 605 and 705. It's also highly likely that non Garmin GPS units that offer Automatic Routing via roads will work, and that's why the routes are provided in the device-independent data format (.gpx file format).
Your GPS unit should have up to date detailed street maps (typically City Navigator North America for Garmin units) in order for the routes to be completely valid (see notes below). When navigating a route you would select the "Follow Road" option since this allows your GPS unit to generate a complete set of directions (with street names) based on the route points (via points) that are within the route file.
The routes were tested using a Garmin Vista HCx GPS unit with its routing set for the "Shorter Distance" option and also tested with the unit set for the "Faster Time" option, and both configurations navigated all of the routes properly. The test unit was configured for "Car/Motorcycle" routing, with U-Turns and Unpaved Roads avoidance options selected (also tested with U-Turns and Unpaved Roads avoidance options deselected and the routes still navigated properly).
There are many variables involved in how a GPS unit automatically generates a route on roads using route via points, so don't be surprised if there are occasionally conflicts in what the GPS unit says versus the official MTR2010 paper cue sheets, paper maps, and road markings (see warning in Red below).
Important Notes
Saturday
It's possible that your GPS unit will not have street maps that include Berkshire Drive which is in the first and last 1.6 miles on the Saturday routes. Berkshire drive only became available on Garmin maps on August 2nd, 2010 (City Navigator North America NT 2011.20). Due to this, you should not rely on your GPS unit for routing on Saturday for the first or last 1.6 miles of the route unless you have the most up to date map which includes Berkshire Drive.
Sunday
All routes (Short, Medium, and Long) use one or two sections of bicycle trails, and these trails are not included in the GPS route files since the bicycle trails are "off road". Therefore you will see that your route files are broken down into multiple routes (or what I would consider segments).
The short route is broken down into 2 routes : one route before (route named "Sun S1") and one route after the Worlds Fair bicycle trail (route named "Sun S2").
The medium route is broken down into 3 routes : one route before (route named "Sun M1") and one route after the Pumpkinvine bicycle trail (route named "Sun M2"), and then one more route after the Worlds Fair bicycle trail (route named "Sun M3").
The long route is broken into 3 routes : one route before (route named "Sun L1") and one route after the Pumpkinvine bicycle trail (route named "Sun L2"), and then one more route after the Worlds Fair bicycle trail (route named "Sun L3").
Example : If you are riding the Sunday Medium route, you would start navigating from the mass start of the ride using the GPS route called "Sun M1", then after the first bicycle trail you would switch to the GPS route called "Sun M2", and then after the second bicycle trail you would switch to the GPS route called "Sun M3".
Using GPSBabel to transfer routes to your GPS unit
1) Download and install GPSBabel on your computer http://www.gpsbabel.org/download.html
2) Create a folder on your computer called "MTR GPS Files"
3) Download and save to your "MTR GPS Files" folder the 12 route files shown below in the attachment section of this webpage.
4) Connect your GPS unit up to your computer, and turn it on.
5) Run the "GPSBabel" program
6) Select the "File" option found in the "Input" section of GPSBabel.
7) In the "Input" section of GPSBabel select "GPX XML" found in the "Format" pull down box
8) Select the "Routes" option found in the "Translation Options" section of GPSBabel (deselect "Waypoints" if it was selected).
9) Select the "Device" option found in the "Output" section of GPSBabel
10) In the "Output" section of GPSBabel select "Garmin serial/USB protocol" found in the "Format" pull down box (if you are using a Garmin GPS unit)
11) In the "Output" section of GPSBabel select "usb:" found in the "Device Name" pulldown box if your GPS unit uses a USB port, otherwise select the proper com channel.
12) Use the "File Name(s)" box found in the "Input" section of GPSBabel to select one of the route files you stored in your MTR GPS Files folder, and select "Open"
13) Select "Apply" in the bottom right corner of the GPSBabel screen, and the route will quickly transfer to your GPS unit.
14) Repeat steps 12 and 13 until you have transferred all the routes into your GPS unit.
15) Turn off and then disconnect your GPS unit from your computer.
Please contact Don Kirk via E-mail if you have any questions or need assistance : wd8dsb@aol.com
If you wind up using the downloadable GPS route files for navigation of MTR2010 we would like to know this along with comments. Please e-mail wd8dsb@aol.com with this information.
Warning : MTR2010 paper cue sheets, paper maps, and road markings should be used as the primary method of navigation, using GPS only as a secondary aid.