Garmin Edge 500 Course

Okay, here's my experience with the Garmin 500's course thingy.
As I said the other day, I downloaded a course from Garmin Connect to my Edge 500 unit.
You can search Garmin Connect for other folks' rides and if you like them, you can either print the route out or put them in your Edge.
Let me just say, I wouldn't have used this function, but the area I rode in yesterday was a sort of tricky with all kinds of freeway on ramps and off ramps and without the Edge 500 and the route info I had, I wouldn't have found the beginning of the trail.
I had to cross an off ramp going in the opposite direction and use a state maintenance road to get started.
The Garmin Edge is a breadcrumb GPS, meaning it doesn't have the fancy smancy mapping the more expensive models have:



Near as I can figure, it adjusts for your position every 25-50 feet or so, the screen changing to show deviations in traveling direction.
Mostly you want the breadcrumbs to be showing straight ahead.
If you get off the route, the unit beeps and gives you an "off the course" message, showing the trail, the pointer showing your present location.
Okay, I downloaded the course to my Edge, but I wasn't planning on doing the whole thing.
I started about ten miles in.
The Garmin went along with no problems, steering me through the snake like unexplored Pearl Harbor path.
I took a few wrong turns, but thanks to the Edge, I was able to find the correct turns without difficulty.
It will show you upcoming course changes:




It's showing a left turn up ahead.
The dark triangle is me now, the white triangle is me then.
It also tracks your progress against the person who previously did the route, in this instance, I downloaded my own route to show the different screens:



This shows the terrain and the tracking data.
The dark dot is me now, and the white dot is me before.
As you can see, I'm about 462 feet and 39 seconds ahead of myself, having just crested a small hill, and behind me, I'm just about to hit the incline.
Damn I'm fast!
Or slow.
Wait a minute:



Here I am after lallygagging around.
The tracking info changes color to show that now I'm behind.
Myself.
More on this screen later.
By the way, last Saturday was Lahaina Noon, when the sun is directly overhead.
It was almost there today too:



Anyways, following a particular course with the Garmin Edge is great!
Or is it?
What happens when you get off course?



Next I'll show you the not so good stuff, even though the not so good is still pretty good.
If you know what I mean.
Stay tuned.