I'm planning on doing the South Downs Way in a day later this year. I've a Garmin Edge 1000, which I've had for a couple of years and get on pretty well with it (not perfect, but not bad!).
My estimated transit of the SWD is ~14 hours, and I doubt that the edge will last that long. I do have a small portable charger (an Anker PowerCore 10000) and I suppose I could jury-rig something, but I'm not sure that, when the Garmin is in the out-front mount, that the power socket is exposed.
Does anyone else have any experience of a similar situation?
Thanks
Rob
PS. Go easy, its my first post!
Get yourself a right angle usb lead. This allows charger to work fine with the Edge 1000 and out front mount.
when the Garmin is in the out-front mount, that the power socket is exposed.
Might clash with your bars, might not. You can get right angle USB cables if it's a problem.
Could you wrap the business end of your charge cable in Sugru to make it a bit more splash proof?
I did a 15 hour ride a couple of years ago. My Garmin was running out but so was I so when we stopped at a Spar I plugged it in to my portable charger thing. By the time I'd scoffed my redbull and sausage rolls it had put 30% or so of charge back in, which was enough to finish the ride.
Point is you don't need to leave it in for long even when it's running, so lunch breaks or breaks between showers of rain might be enough.
Do you need a USB cable without the data pins? I seem to recall that's what I need for my 520 or it thinks it's connected to a pc and goes into that mode. Might be different for the 1000 of course
I did a 140 mile offroad ride, took 12 hours and charged my garmin whilst eating my lunch with a portable power brick along with my iphone. Only took 30 minutes to get back to 50%.
Thanks for all the replies. I'd rather not charge at rest-stops, because that relies on my remembering, and probably by 10 hours in I'll have lost the power of rational thought.
However, a right-angle lead and the charger gaffer-taped to the bars (or in a top-tube top bag) might do it. I'll experiment.
I'm sure there will be other SDW related questions (I've a couple in mind at the moment).
Rob
Did the SDW last year and taped a Anker charger to the top tube amd connected via USB to my Garmin 800. Only issue was that my garmin USB connector was being tempremental so the cable movement meant it kept loosing the connection and sounding a warning, which got a bit annoying. Sorted this at my first rest stop and it worked a treat for the rest of the ride.
