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Building An MTB Course With Garmin Connect Course Creator

Garmin Connect Course Creator Offers Course Building – But Singletrack Can Be A Challenge

The Garmin Connect Course Creator is yet another of Garmin’s under-utilized features. Other Apps and Software offer Course Creation, like RideWithGPS, but keeping everything inside the Garmin Connect Ecosystem allows for easier transfer to a Garmin Bike Computer or wristwatch. However, it is easier to build a course on known roads or routes. If a cyclist wants to build a Garmin Course for a mountain bike trail, he or she has to be precise, and add in a LOT of waypoints. These waypoints can be a distraction when certain settings are running on Garmin Hardware.

Let’s dig in to the Garmin Connect Course Creator.

Creating a New Course in Garmin Connect Course Creator

I’ll post a caveat to this weblog; GO TO A WEB BROWSER ON A PC OR MAC and use the ‘Big Screen’ version of Garmin Connect. 

Once you’re in Garmin Connect, move the mouse over to the vertical ‘Connect’ drop-down menu of options.

Click on ‘Training & Planning’, then on ‘Courses’. The ‘Courses’ sub-menu will pop up, and you’ll see a list of options, including ‘My Courses’, ‘Favorites’, and ‘Nearby Courses’, where you can see public routes built by other cyclists or afficionados.

I’ve highlighted the course I’m reviewing for this post; the ‘2019 Reno Wheelmen Peavine Classic XC MTB Course – Online Bike Coach Created‘.

When you mouse over the pre-built course, the route pops up on the map overlay, with a summary of distance, meters or feet of climbing, and descent. There’s also the option to ‘Send to device’, which I’ll cover later.

Garmin Connect Course Creator Map 1
Garmin Connect offers a course building feature. Here’s where to find it.

This course is my ‘home’ course, and it’s the one I use for almost all of my training and testing purposes. It’s usually low-traffic, and it can be completed in about 30 minutes for me.

 

Garmin Connect Routing Options

The first part of the process is to use the ‘Custom’ Drawing Method. Why? Well, sometimes maps are not completely updated; in this case, if I try to follow the ‘Follow Popular Routes’ option, the ‘Halo Trail’, shows an old, dug-up, not-used version of singletrack. This trail is not even called ‘Halo Trail’ at that junction. The trail is called ‘Total Recall’.

Garmin Connect Course Builder Image 2
Sometimes satellite images are not as up to date as maps might be. Here, when the Garmin Routing Option was set to ‘Follow popular routes’, the Purple Trail, known as ‘Halo’, was where the routemaker kept taking me. That trail has been re-routed to the trail that is more prominent (and serpentine). Changing the ‘Routing’ setting to ‘Freehand’ allows a coursemaker to follow the most updated trail for GPS purposes.

In this image, you can see that as I needed more detail, I added more and more waypoints, to stay on the route I wanted.

Garmin Connect Course Creator Waypoints lots of waypoints
To keep the Course as accurate as possible, use LOTS and LOTS of waypoints. Waypoints will create a straight line between them for the course, so add as many as you need for accuracy.

Back On (Single) Track – a KNOWN ‘Track’

Here’s an example of what I like to call ‘Drift’. If you place your waypoints zoomed too far out, then at times, the waypoints will be ‘off the track’. The ‘Course’ in the GPS world, is off from the ‘actual’ course by a few feet. This error DOES add up, and it can make your ride annoying, since the head unit will continually call out the error, and may direct you off the actual singletrack.

Garmin Course Creator Known Trail Drift
Details matter. I had to zoom in on this map, to realize that my waypoints were ‘off’ by just a few meters, and those meters can lead to the Garmin bike computer chirping and redirecting you off the known trail. Use more waypoints, more often, especially in singletrack, and zoom in.

Zoom in and continue to use as many Manually Placed Waypoints as possible, to ensure the greatest accuracy.

One more thing; take a look at the ‘Knuckles’ that have been automatically placed, without a blue-dot waypoint, on this image of the Course Creator. This implies that the App, and corresponding Mapping Service behind or beneath it, recognize this trail as ‘Popular’, and generally follow it through twists and turns.

Automatic Routing on Singletrack is really hit-and-miss, so use Individual Waypoints and Freehand Routing as much as necessary to ensure the most accurate Course.

Looping the Course (Making a Lap) in Garmin Connect Course Creator

Building the Course is definitely tedious, but it’s worth it. Once you’ve finished the Course, get the final waypoint as close to your Start Point as possible, and then click ‘Loop to Start’. This will connect the start to the finish, making each the same waypoint or GPS coordinate.

Garmin Course Creator Loop to Start and Save
When you’re done creating your course, click ‘Loop to Start’ so that the Start and Finish overlap perfectly. Then, ALWAYS and OFTEN, click “Save”, so you won’t lose your work!

ALWAYS click ‘SAVE’!

The ‘CLIMBS’ Button….

Once the Course is saved in Garmin Connect Course Creator, click on the ‘Climbs’ Button, and you’ll get a breakdown of the vertical elevation, as it relates to ‘Category’. Climb Categories are based on % grade, length, and surface type. They’re not especially applicable for this Course, but they can provide some useful information.

Garmin Connect Course Creator Climb Category and Highlight
In the Summary box of the first climb (‘Category 4’), you can see that the average slope is 5.7%, length is 2.46km, and the vertical rise is 144m.

 

Garmin Connect Course Builder Climb Detail
This detail of the vertical composition of ‘Climb 1’, breaks down the slope percentages. This image also appears on your head unit when climbing, and you can customize that screen to show two fields, like ‘Distance to End’ and ‘Time to End’.

Using the Speed Calculator (Virtual Partner) In Garmin Connect Course Creator

Now, this feature on a course is a little challenging. I need to start with some background.

Per my Strava history, which is NOT Garmin Connect, I’ve ridden this route at least 91 times over the last five years. That would be even higher if I had not moved to Sacramento for 18 months in 2023 and half of 2024. I know that my fastest time on this loop is a 27:10, set in 2020. At the time of this writing, my fastest time this year, four years later, is a 29:36.

A modest improvement would be about 15 seconds on a lap, matching a time from September 0f 2020. So, I’ve set a ‘Goal’ time of 29:17, which translates to 17.6kph. If I achieve this goal, then I can always edit the course, and enter another time, like 29:00 flat.

Garmin Connect Speed Calculator - Virtual Partner Goal Time
Garmin Connect does have segments, which can be ridden and raced, and there are rankings, but that’s another feature to be saved for another day.

“Send to Device” in Course Creator

None of this work bears fruit without having the Course in memory on your Garmin bike Computer. When you’re done with your mountain bike course, ALWAYS click “Send to device”. You’ll get a pop-up asking ‘which device’? Choose your bike head unit, and once again, click, ‘Send to Device’. I prefer using Garmin Express, but it SHOULD sync with Garmin Connect on your Smartphone, and when you sync or turn on the head unit, it should download the course in to your bike computer’s files.

Garmin Connect Send to Device Course Creator
I guess I’m just old school, but I still prefer a cable connection to my 10 series computers for data transfers, and in Garmin World, this means using Garmin Express. You can also use basic Garmin Connect on your smartphone.

I’m going to hold off on the Field Application part of this post, because the intent of this effort was to explain how to build the course itself; not to ride it. I’ll do that part soon.

Stay tuned, and Enjoy the Ride!

 



Like what you see in these posts? Why not take the next step? Coach Wharton is currently accepting new clients for both Xert and PerfPro training methodologies. He is also available to discuss specific questions or equipment/training issues—just  schedule an online video consultation.

Comments

  1. Ian says

    I’m curious, so I’ll check it out, but I’m too far into the RWGPS world. Started there early on (user #1733), and really find the course creation there to be so good. And sending to my Garmin unit is easy. With Garmin account synced to RWGPS, all I have to do is ‘pin’ a RWGPS route, and next time my Garmin powers up and connects to data, it will download that route.

    I did look the other day, as I was talking RWGPS w/ a friend. I have almost 400 routes created there. !!!

    • Richard Wharton says

      @Ian – yes – I still use RWGPS a ton, and I think you and I are some of the original members. It’s something I take pride in.

      That said – they’re using older maps as well. I don’t think it’s a heatmap thing. I think it’s a cost issue for these companies; they’re smaller than driving apps, and probably are using maps that are slightly obsolete to avoid patents or copyright issues.

      When I was living in Bozeman in the 90’s, one of my kids and I went to a Forest Service station, bought a big map, found a ‘trail’ and tried to ride from Big Sky to Pray.

      The map was over 40 years old and the entire trail had been obliterated by clearcuts. We got DANGEROUSLY lost, and then ended up in a July blizzard, complete with lightning, snow above 7000′, and hail below that. I abandoned my bike up there because it was easier to walk down than schlep the bike. I picked it up 2 weeks later, and it was completely rusted out from the snow and melt.

      I only WISH I’d had RWGPS and/or Garmin Connect!