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Mount Baker Bicycle Club

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New life for an old smart phone: Ride with GPS offline

Margot Jerome | Published on 3/3/2024

Do you ever have trouble seeing those tiny maps on your GPS device? Are you concerned about running down your cellphone battery by using it for navigation?

I used to, but I figured out a solution: I use an old smart phone!  All I had to do was install RidewithGPS and VOILA! I have a map I can see!

While I’m at home and connected to my wifi network, I save the MBBC route I want to ride to the old smartphone, choose Download for Offline Use, and that’s it!  I’m ready to go! 

I do not have a SIM card in the smart phone. I’m only using the GPS function in conjunction with RidewithGPS and that leaves my actual working cellphone for when I need it.

I found a company on Amazon called KOM that makes a Garmin connector for the back of my smart phone case. Here’s a couple of photos of my setup. Happy riding!


handlebars with a phone mount

phone case with mounting bracket