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GPX files sound boring until they’re the reason you miss a checkpoint, get rerouted onto a worse road, or spend your night untangling tracks on a tiny screen. We sit down with Rick Claus to talk navigation for the ADV Cannonball Rally, and we keep it practical: what to buy, what to avoid, and what to practise before you roll up to the start line.

We compare three real-world approaches to adventure motorcycle navigation. First, dedicated GPS hardware like the Garmin Zumo XT3 and Garmin Tread, where ruggedness and GPX handling are strong, but the software ecosystem can feel dated. Second, modern CarPlay and Android Auto head units like Chigee, which give you a bright screen and app flexibility while your phone stays safe in your pocket. Third, phone-only navigation apps, where the price is right but the single point of failure is hard to ignore on a multi-day rally.

We also get into the details that actually matter on the road: why you should turn off auto reroute on Garmin, why offline maps and offline routing can save your day, and why we like a layered setup with OnX Offroad or OsmAnd for navigation, plus Waze and Google Maps for alerts and fast fuel searches. We talk tracking and strategy too, including how rally apps cache data, how leaderboards change decision-making, and why we keep a Garmin inReach on our body for safety if things go sideways.

If you’re getting ready for the ADV Cannonball or any long-distance ADV ride, subscribe, share this with a riding buddy, and leave a review so more riders can find it. What navigation setup are you planning to run this year?

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