Carusoswi

I am revisiting this subject (almost had forgotten about GPS units) since the Mrs. and the kidlums (more lum than kids these days) gave me an Etrex Vista CX for Christmas.

They somehow got the impression that the bike mount was included in the base package, so I haven't used it on the bike yet, but have had a lot of fun learning to use it in the car (while someone else does the driving).

Looks like it will work out fine for my biking adventures. I'm anxious to get out and get lost on roads I would not normally bother with.

I was really not much into paper maps, geo8rge, especially on a bike. If they work for you, that's great. FWIW, the zoom function on the Garmin unit allows you to back out and see a more general view of the area or to zoom in and see a closer view of the detail around your position.

In my "package" was a smaller package containing Mapsource City Navigator North America, so, I can either use the unit/software to track actual rides, or sit in the house and plot rides in points I may never visit during this "trip through."

Very much looking forward to getting my new toy tethered to the "beast" so I can give both (and me) a real work out.

I like the feature that allows you to plot a route, then, ignore the unit until it beeps to warn you of an upcoming turn.

If for some reason you miss the turn or decide on an alternate route, it will recalculate from your "off-route" location to re-route you over an alternate course to your destination. Pretty cool, I think.

Caruso