How do you 'Build your route' ?

[betty swollocks]

Point my front wheel in the general direction of where I want to go and use maps to avoid main roads. That's it really.
I prefer maps, because you get context: you know where you are in relation to your surroundings.

 

[MrJamie]

I usually use Google Earth, draw a line from A to B with the ruler, save it and then use the path tool to plot a route linking up the little roads. I tend to use google maps at the same time because i find it easier to see the little country lanes and flip into streetview at various points to check im happy with the roads and junctions, and to look for cycle lanes etc. Also the streetview man avoids private roads like some of those interconnecting farms. If its an unfamiliar area ill also open the sustrans map and see what routes they offer.

Its pretty much just to avoid being forced onto busy roads, which always seems to happen if i cycle without pre-planning a route precisely. I really miss contour lines though and sometimes end up with a zig zag route that goes up and down the same hill as a result.

 

[Ticktockmy]

Once you have a idea of your start and finish points, draw a straight line on a paper map, the online maps are ok all the time you can log into them. Then research places of interest along a the route, maybe allowing up to 50Kms each side of the line so you and move off the line to make your trip more enjoyable. Research your Nights stops, depending on if you are camping or B&B or both check the prevailing wind for the route, because that will give you some idea if you will have to struggle a little harder (mind being fickle the wind works to sod's law and will always be blowing into your face) look at the terrain, sometimes it better to plan to contour around a bloody great hill than go over it. but most importantly plan your trip so it not becoming a ordeal rather than a nice ride from A to B.

 

[seashaker]

Again some more great advice! Many thanks.

I'm glad I have started to think of this so far in advance as I know I'm going to struggle to get the route right but I think I will have some fun doing it!

 

[rvw]

I think accommodation is the crux of the matter - if you are relying on pre-booked accommodation then you have lost a lot of the ability to be flexible with your route - some degree of pre-planning then makes a lot of sense - it really comes down to how much you pre-plan - getting to the detail where I have every road and junction listed/GPS'd and having looked at them on Google Earth to determine their pros and cons is pure anathema to me.

I have to agree - and sticking to hotels rather than camping makes it more complicated. We'd initially thought of booking every third night, and being flexible in between - but when we came to plan the route, even in broad outline, we discovered that a lot of small places had just one hotel (or none at all) so we changed our minds and booked the lot, for safety. As it turned out, in some places we were the only guests (in June) so we could probably have taken the chance, but we didn't know that!

It also had the benefit that it kept us on schedule in grotty weather - there was no discussion about cutting a day short and hoping to catch up later, we just got on with it. Since we were on a fairly tight schedule that ended up being a very good thing.

We did plan in quite a lot of detail, but didn't necessarily stick to the exact route if a better option turned up. We didn't use Google Earth - though I wish we'd known that the tiny little yellow D road into La Rochelle is the favoured route for heavy lorries. 2 miles of sheer terror!

In the end, it's all according to taste, and how much you like winging it.

 

[Bodhbh]

Generally use google maps to get a rough idea of how things will proabably pan out. I take the distance it spits out and multiply it by a factor depending (normally add about 50%). Work out how long it should take factoring in some rest days and that's about it.

Will order a michelin map for the start, and maybe some of the rest, but otherwise will buy maps enroute. The day to day planning is all done in the bar over a hearty meal the night before (and part of the ritual which I really enjoy!).

 

[steveindenmark]

When you have decided on your route go onto Google Street View and look at certain points on the route you have chosen. This gives you an idea of the roads you will be travelling in on. If you have chosen campsites you can see the area they are in and the entrances to the sites.

Often the roads look small and quiet on the map but not in real life. Street view will help you sort that out.

Steve

 

[toroddf]

........although the 3. January storm/hurricane has changed the forests so much that "turn right at these trees" after a session on Google Earth is not reliable. I discovered that myself ten days ago. I was looking for some trees found on Google Earth for the crossroad. The trees was gone though (later confirmed as victims of the hurricane) but I chanced it anyway and got onto the right road. But that was luck.

Building routes...... Here among the islands and fjords; a ferry timetable is essential and good knowledge about the distance you can manage to cover in half an hour to reach a ferry is almost essential skills. I have been waiting for a ferry for five hours before (in Norway back in 1991) because I thought the ferries was more regular. So I did not ride for that ferry. A five hours long, big mistake. The rest is down to maps, maps and more maps = Google Maps/Earth.

Planning is half the joy and like a kid waiting for Christmas.

 

[steveindenmark]

PLanning is half the joy..................

Not planning and just finding out what happens is the other half.............

Overplanning is the curse of all tours............

Steve

 

[toroddf]

Overplanning ? I am not so sure I am with you here. Google Earth is as reliable as the BBC weather forecast. What is a nice gentle ride in Google Earth is in reality a grinding five degree sweat & swear-fest steep hill for several miles.

Neither Google Earth or anything else will prepare you for the rain, the smell, the insects, the thieving magpies, the punctures and the landscape.

Getting the ferries and any other public transportation right is essential. Any back up plans is also essential in case the bike ceases to be.

We bikeriders are in the often brutal hands of the nature and no planning can change that. That is why we do this. And nothing in life is better than a winding piece of tarmac, a racing bike and a sunset.

 

[rollinstok]

I think I can understand where steve is coming from when he mentions overplanning being a curse.
When I find a particularly nice place/person/pub etc, I will usually stick around a little longer. Being tied to a regimented schedule can make the whole touring experience more of a grind than an enjoyable time.
All I need to know is where the camp sites are and I can cut my cloth accordingly on a daily basis. I have sometimes changed my initially planned route mid tour and even altered the destination. I know its cheating but I have occasionally jumped on a train for a leg if I had to be somewhere like a port and was running late.
Always enjoyed myself though.

 

[toroddf]

I agree with everything rollinstok wrote above and I misunderstood steveindenmark. Sorry about that, Steve.

 

[snorri]

I'd be concerned that tour planning with Streetview would lessen that simple excitement of exploring new territory and discovering new vistas, making a tour seem like a rerun of the video I had watched from the comfort of my easy chair.

 

[toroddf]

Google Earth/Streetviewer (also called CyclePorn) is both helpful and misleading at the same time. It is very helpful at crossroads. I take mental notes of this and that landmark. But the 3. January hurricane has done a lot of damage so it is misleading when it comes to trees.
Google Earth/Streetviewer is also an inspiration to go places I would not go. It has opened up a new world and I am getting off my sofa and onto my bike a lot now after first getting the ideas on Google Earth/Streetviewer. In this respect, it is CyclePorn.

When it comes to vistas and that; Google Earth/Streetviewer is barely a 2D tool. "Barely" because it is misleading when it comes to hills and gradients. Flat and easy in Google Earth/Streetviewer more times than I can remember means a 5 degree hill and very hard bikeriding. Bikeriding is very much a 3D reality though with tens of other entities Google Earth/Streetviewer is unable to factor into the scheme.

Only the bikeride itself is real. Google Earth/Streetviewer is just cycle porn.

 

[jay clock]

+1 for that Michelin road atlas ripped up to the relevant pages. The website allows you to zoom in to the same scale so you can look around.

The only weakness of using the "draw a straight line then go roughly parallel on back roads" is that sometimes the main road goes through a valley, and the parallel route is super hilly.

But fun to have the problem of planning a trip like that!