Cross post from TT. Garmin 801 Jong questions

[Benny Profane]

Just got a refurbished Garmin 801 to use on bike rides. Main reason I got it was to download rides from the web that somebody did in some place I am not familiar with, and then let the thing tell me where to go.
So, which sites are the best? Strava obviously is big, but I am not into competition, just riding. RideWithGPS seems to be well liked, and of course, Garmin Connect is most convenient, I guess. I am a paying member of MapMyRide for a few years, because I wanted to download maps from them on paper, but that sucked, and I've been too lazy to downgrade the membership. I do have a record of many many miles over the last five years there, so, there's that, so now I'll probably keep the premium service, if I can figure out how to download files.
Is the GPX file the format I need to download? And then, what do I do with it after I download to use it?
I hear that I need maps beyond the base map. Which are best? Should I go with free maps?

[reynolds.trailrun]

The gpx format is fine for routes. You can upload that to Garmin Connect and also to your GPS. I have used Connect and Strava the most. I have an account on RideWith but rarely use it. I did use MapMy stuff for a while but same as RideWith, I use it rarely now. Really any of them are okay. Maybe trying them for abit and figure out which one you like best. I use my TopoFusion and Topographix ExpertGPS for mapping stuff. With Topofusion I can make map files for Garmin basemaps so no need to buy theirs. And I can have the tracks that I care about already on the basemap instead of an entirely empty map or needing to add them separately by GPX file. Not a huge deal just convenient. Quick note, I did not buy either of the programs for basemap purpose. I have been using both for nearly 12 years so that aspect just happened to be a nice benefit.

Freemaps are all over the interwebz though some suck. At one point I was looking for some routable maps for driving for my gf's Garmin. Found some though never tried them.