Route Planning Software - Kurviger

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I used MS Streets and Trips for years, and found it very good to have with a locator to find you location too. I do not like relying on cell plan routes (many do, I don't).
 

Phil Tarman

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Just because someone wants to use another piece of software to plan their routes doesn't mean you have to remove (or should remove) your recommendation. I'm going to take a look at Kurviger.
 

Phil Tarman

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Chris, my guess is that the response that discouraged you may not have been intended that way. At any rate, whether it was or not, you don't know how many people saw your post and are thinking about taking a look at Kurviger.
 

junglejim

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It just gets frustrating Phil, and makes me wonder why I bothered to share the info in the first place.
I looked at it and didn't like the one route I asked it to plan locally. And I'm painfully aware of my computer limitations, and may not have inputted the right stuff in the first place. I don't think I can use it.

BUT, I'm glad you posted it. Thank you!!!!

Edit: It did plan a nice curvy route, but many of the roads had pavement in poor condition due to frost and poor road bed. Some roads are poor gravel roads that aren't even passable in the spring break-up. But there is no way for the computer to know how lousy our roads are here.
 
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Phil Tarman

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Do curvy roads exist in Kansas?
There are some nice sweepers in the Flint Hills and there are curves at many freeway on-ramps. My observation is that Kansas is great if you're not on an interstate. Not as great as the Rockies, but way better than I-70 from I-35 west.
 
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Yeah, the Interstates through Kansas are pretty straight. I live in the eastern part of the state and many county and 2 lane roads are much more scenic and have sweeping curves and rolling hills. I personally will take Route 4 south of I-70 when I have the time. The roads tend to get straighter and flatter as you go west.

If you stay off the 4 lane interstates you can find some nice roads, but honestly many states have roads that are much more interesting. I do enjoy the "Flint Hills" on a nice day though.

Most people going east or west go right through on I-70 and complain that it is boring and the cross-winds. Honestly, I have just as bored on four lane interstates in many other states around this country. In my limited travels HWY 35 in Texas is one of my least favorite. I have even asked people that have complained to me about I-70 in Kansas "Have you ever driven between Oklahoma City and Austin oh HWY 35?". They often say "no". Either way it usually stops them from whining about "driving through Kansas".
 
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Coyote Chris

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I haven't been this impressed with route planning software ...ever.

Kurviger is a German software company, but the software is also translated to English. It seems designed for motorcycle route planning. You can get the standard "fastest route"...but the defaults are for a Curvy road with an option to find a route that is "Extra" curvy. I had it route me to Duvall, WA already knowing the best motorcycle route there. In a second or two it had come up with the exact same route. Then I asked it to take me to Sultan, WA. After about 5 seconds, it came up with the route I would take along the Ben Howard Road.

Exporting seems quick, easy and intuitive.

Chris
This is a very interesting piece of software. I played with it for awhile. Personally, I like looking at the 3D state maps like Wyoming and Montana put out for route planning, along with asking others about their personal experiences. Routes are not, for me, to get from point A to Point B. They are about a journey. A personal journey. Glacier, Yellowstone, Tetons, Little Big Horn battlefield, Chief Joseph highway, The Bighorns...Cody....The Beartooth.....that is the way to get from Spokane to Spearfish....
 
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I think if I could ee it better Both of the systems referenced would be useful. Personly I never had any use for streets and trips. I felt they were a waste of my money as I got nothing from them.
The best program I have I /delorme Map& /g/o that dates back to 1998 but still works in windiws 7, Not fancy, but simple to use for a dummy like me. will it download to /gps?? I don't know,that tech stuf is way over my head. that is a part of the reason I quit/ retired from the rally circuits, it got to where you had to be a desk joxky & computer nerd to be competativeand riding ability coupled with ability to use a paper map and know how to plan for yourself were important.
Modern technology, Bagh Humb11unless it comes to a self driving car that you simply get into and tell the computer by voice where you want tio go, then I will get interested.

Eldon
 

Phil Tarman

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I still use Streets & Trips. It's much better for me that a Forum member ("its just rain" AKA Garry) walked me through the process of converting S&T files into .gpx files that can be loaded into my Garmin Zumo GPS. I'm not very much of a computer nerd or tech geek any more either. But, as much as I like paper map, I really appreciate GPS and my little netbook computer.
 
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Streets and trips is like having all the maps in the US in one place. I sometimes connect a gps to the laptop to see just where I might want to go from where I am. You don't need a internet connection and the screen is big enough for my old eyes to navigate the program. And moving the .gpx to a GPS is nice.
 

Coyote Chris

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Streets and trips is like having all the maps in the US in one place. I sometimes connect a gps to the laptop to see just where I might want to go from where I am. You don't need a internet connection and the screen is big enough for my old eyes to navigate the program. And moving the .gpx to a GPS is nice.
Sigh....I just dont think I will make it into the 21st century....there is something about real paper books and there is something about a real map folded to the day's ride in the clear plastic of the tank bag.....I admit CoPilot is very useful when I am lost, for example, and MyRadar is one of the coolest apps on the web...period...but I will stumble and bumble along with my map collection, even if it DOES take up half the basement. :)
 

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The one device I would most hate to loose is my Kindle. I am addicted to reading. Some of the places I travel to are a long way from book stores. When I went to Europe for the Euro-equivalent of a Concours Owners Group National Rally, I rode for 19 days and was with the guy who loaned me the bike I rode for three days before I started riding and one day after I quit. I had three books when I left Newark and finished one of them before I got to Frankfurt. I finished the 2nd one the day before I left Sean's house to start my 19 days of riding. The 3rd book was an biography of Einstein that was 900 pages long. I finished it while I was in the little Swiss town of Tiefencastel, which was our Rally headquarters. The bike I was riding had had an alternator failure at noon on the day we got to Tiefencastel (at 10:30 at night). We kept me going by swapping batteries between my bike and a second GTR (the European twin of a Concours) about every 125-150 miles. It took us three days to work out a solution to keeping me on the road. On the third day, I finished my last book. The next day, we rode about 350 miles in Switzerland and I didn't see any place to buy a book written in English.

The next day I rode to St Moritz, and I finally found a bookstore that sold English-language books. I bought three and finished the last one about an hour out of Newark. I bought one in Newark and was almost finished with it by the time we landed in Denver.

Kindle has made it possible to travel with an extensive library and I only have to charge it once every 4-5 days. I have been extremely happy to travel without "real" books.
 

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Sigh....I just dont think I will make it into the 21st century....
I'm with you Chris. A couple weeks ago I followed my !%***!! Garmin and it lead me into Detroit. Not where I wanted to be. I didn't know where I was and I wanted out - bad. I used my phone navigation to exit, but I had to stop and find a shady spot to read the screen (it was a bright sunny day) so my old eyes could make out the small screen instructions. Then I challenged my limited brain power to remember as much of the route as I could. The Garmin WAS taking me to the destination, but not the way I wanted to go. The Garmin route was correct earlier, but it must have changed it's "mind" at some point without consulting me.

A day or two later I inadvertently left it on the motorcycle over night and it rained. I was hoping that it wouldn't work ever again. But, alas, it kept living and successfully got me lost every day that I used it.

At the risk of sounding like Phil, I'll tell a story. About 5:00PM one evening I realized I was only about 50 miles from "vzshadow" and I called him to see if we could meet up. He agreed and I set my Garmin to go to Wooster OH, about 50 miles north. First it took me to a private driveway in Coshocton OH, then to a dead end road in Coshocton, then to West LaFayette, a village 15 miles east of Coshocton. When I got on the correct highway that evening I was temped to open the throttle, but the "deer crossing" signs prevented me from doing that. I did eventually meet up with Dan, but I was quite late and in a foul mindset. On the good side the Garmin provided me with an extra 40 miles of motorcycling that evening. Who needs 40 extra miles at the end of a long day.

OK, so I can't tell a story like Phil.
 
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Coyote Chris

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I'm with you Chris. A couple weeks ago I followed my !%***!! Garmin and it lead me into Detroit. Not where I wanted to be. I didn't know where I was and I wanted out - bad. I used my phone navigation to exit, but I had to stop and find a shady spot to read the screen (it was a bright sunny day) so my old eyes could make out the small screen instructions. Then I challenged my limited brain power to remember as much of the route as I could. The Garmin WAS taking me to the destination, but not the way I wanted to go. The Garmin route was correct earlier, but it must have changed it's "mind" at some point without consulting me.

A day or two later I inadvertently left it on the motorcycle over night and it rained. I was hoping that it wouldn't work ever again. But, alas, it kept living and successfully got me lost every day that I used it.

At the risk of sounding like Phil, I'll tell a story. About 5:00PM one evening I realized I was only about 50 miles from "vzshadow" and I called him to see if we could meet up. He agreed and I set my Garmin to go to Wooster OH, about 50 miles north. First it took me to a private driveway in Coshocton OH, then to a dead end road in Coshocton, then to West LaFayette, a village 15 miles east of Coshocton. When I got on the correct highway that evening I was temped to open the throttle, but the "deer crossing" signs prevented me from doing that. I did eventually meet up with Dan, but I was quite late and in a foul mindset. On the good side the Garmin provided me with an extra 40 miles of motorcycling that evening. Who needs 40 extra miles at the end of a long day.

OK, so I can't tell a story like Phil.
Boy, that is quite the stories! What the heck were you doing in Detroit? I will offer three simple stories in return...when Garmins units came into use, British truck drivers were using them in England. Trouble was, they would route the truckers through old rural town streets that were too narrow for their trucks and they would get "stuck". They couldnt turn corners, the streets were so narrow.

We all know there are more empty buildings in Detroit than there are full ones in Paris, but there are relatively safe places in Detroit during events with police presence. I have an old friend from college who lives in the 'burbs" of Detroit and when I told her I was thinking of coming to Detroit for a skating event and would she come down and we could have dinner, she said "No Way!" This woman who is an independant educated professional who has lived alone all her life would not drive down town to see an old friend, she was that afraid....(I ended up not going to Detroit either!)

Frosty and I were headed to the Lazy J motel in Big Timber MT (1600 souls) to spend the night. Frosty was leading and was following his GPS. I know the town well and when Frosty took a wrong turn to the right, I just went left 2 blocks to the motel. He eventually showed up. (I MAY have enbelished the story a bit. Perhaps I followed him to the wrong address (the Super 8) and told him of his mistake but I really cant remember)

"To error is human. To really foul things up requires a computer!"
 

Coyote Chris

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The one device I would most hate to loose is my Kindle. I am addicted to reading. Some of the places I travel to are a long way from book stores. When I went to Europe for the Euro-equivalent of a Concours Owners Group National Rally, I rode for 19 days and was with the guy who loaned me the bike I rode for three days before I started riding and one day after I quit. I had three books when I left Newark and finished one of them before I got to Frankfurt. I finished the 2nd one the day before I left Sean's house to start my 19 days of riding. The 3rd book was an biography of Einstein that was 900 pages long. I finished it while I was in the little Swiss town of Tiefencastel, which was our Rally headquarters. The bike I was riding had had an alternator failure at noon on the day we got to Tiefencastel (at 10:30 at night). We kept me going by swapping batteries between my bike and a second GTR (the European twin of a Concours) about every 125-150 miles. It took us three days to work out a solution to keeping me on the road. On the third day, I finished my last book. The next day, we rode about 350 miles in Switzerland and I didn't see any place to buy a book written in English.

The next day I rode to St Moritz, and I finally found a bookstore that sold English-language books. I bought three and finished the last one about an hour out of Newark. I bought one in Newark and was almost finished with it by the time we landed in Denver.

Kindle has made it possible to travel with an extensive library and I only have to charge it once every 4-5 days. I have been extremely happy to travel without "real" books.
I really did try to use my tablet as a book. It just wasnt the same. I love to read but I am a very slow reader so two small paperbacks would last me forever. I can see where a fast reader who needs multiple books for a trip would gravitate to a tablet. I will be interested to see if someone finds a way for a tablet screen to mimic the "Text on Paper" effect I missed on my tablet. I also read to try and get to sleep but staring at a screen is the worst thing for that....
 

Phil Tarman

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I've got a tablet and I don't use it to read. The Kindle is an electronic ink on paper screen and doesn't give you the light that affects your sleep. Plus, it's lighter than almost any paperback.

Reading on my tablet would not help me get to sleep.

Regarding GPS: I don't let the GPS plan my routes. I enter waypoints to take me where I want to go. Back when I had my first or second GPS, either a GPS III+ or a GPS V, when I'd be coming to Greeley from Ft Morgan to visit patients in the hospital here, it started having me turn right off of US-34, the only direct route between Ft Morgan and Greeley. It would take me north for 2 miles, have me take another right to the east, then a right to the south, and then another right back onto US-34. Usually, it would then bring me straight to Greeley, but one day it made that into a repeating loop. I followed it five times (I wasn't real excited about the hospital visit I was going to be making that day) and it never quit trying to make me repeat that loop.

Sometimes with those old GPS's, I'd simply have the GPS show a direct track (a straight line that didn't follow highways) to my destination and then I'd make my own choices about which route to follow and occasionally check to see how far of track I was. The newer GPS's don't give you that track line to reference, and I miss it.
 
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In route planning before you transfer to GPS, make lots of way points on your route or the GPS will alter your ride. On most GPS you can just change the next way point if a detour or another problem is found on route. Also the GPS can find a gas station or rest area if you need a unscheduled need. If your new to route planning on a GPS, practice before doing that long ride. I do sometimes just ride out and then use the GPS to find that gas station or a route back home.
 
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