Route Planning

[Tom B]

Chaps and Chapesses,

What do you use to plan routes out, particularly routes you dont know very well?


I have just been playing with Google maps and it sends be via a route, which okay takes advantage of cycle tracks, but adds about 12 miles to the 70mile journey.

 

[ianrauk]

BikeHike
Ride With GPS
GPSies
Bike Route Toaster
Garmin Connect
ViaMitchelin
Strava

Take your pick, there are loads out there to choose from and everyone has their favourite

 

[martint235]

I plot the stuff on ride with GPS then put it through routeconverter which lets you name each point in a way that is meaningful to you (RAB 2E for example). A side effect is it means you need to look closely on a map at where you are eg a left turn may actually turn out to be a left at a mini roundabout up close. You can also look at streetview for difficult junctions etc.

 

[CopperBrompton]

I've tried a whole bunch of approaches, and ridewithgps.com is now my favourite. Really quick and easy, gives good routes and really easy to modify them by simple drag-and-drop at any point on the route.

 

[PeteXXX]

I use my collection of OS maps... Anyone else remember them? They are like Technology but the battery never goes flat at a critical moment.

 

[ianrauk]

I use my collection of OS maps... Anyone else remember them? They are like Technology but the battery never goes flat at a critical moment.

Good in a torrential downpour

 

[CopperBrompton]

Good in a torrential downpour

And gale force winds ...

 

[Dogtrousers]

I use www.gpxeditor.co.uk it has some nice features, but the must-have for me is that it shows OS maps. You can't actually use the OS maps for planning, for licensing reasons, but you can plan on google/OSM/OCM and flip to OS to check. It also has the nice feature that you can drag and drop the little Google Streetview figure onto the OS map to get the street view.

 

[RedRider]

I use ridewithgps mainly cos of recommendations here and have a paper map alongside for the overview whilst plotting. I'll also do a bit of googling to see if others have ridden sections of a route I can use. I've asked on here for route advice and got good responses about roads to avoid etc. Before satnav I used bits of pages cut from a road atlas with lines drawn on or just circles around the next village/town to head for! I still take these with me on longer rides I'm unfamiliar with.

 

[PeteXXX]

Good in a torrential downpour

And gale force winds ...

Photocopied to an A4 sheet tucked in a waterproof bag solves those problems

 

[CopperBrompton]

Photocopied to an A4 sheet tucked in a waterproof bag solves those problems

B&W map? Ugh!

I don't, incidentally, subscribe to the electronic vs paper map wars. I love both. It's all about the right tool for the job. Paper maps are brilliant for initial planning and getting an overview of a long route, as well as for those occasions when there's a significant change of plan en-route. GPS maps are brilliant for en-route navigation and on-the-fly variations.

 

[PeteXXX]

Photocopies, surprisingly, are also available in colour!!

 

[Ticktockmy]

I use memory map for UK planing and then print off the route, for overseas I tend to plan using google maps and ViaMitchelin then buy maps or use free maps once I am in Country.

 

[Richard Fairhurst]

I'll (rightly) get told off by the mods if I plug it more than once, but I wanted a route-planner that worked the way I liked, so I built one. It's cycle.travel and it has a couple of unusual features, like being able to see photos of the paths/tracks you've planned the route along. But I'll shut up now.

 

[RedRider]

I'll (rightly) get told off by the mods if I plug it more than once, but I wanted a route-planner that worked the way I liked, so I built one. It's cycle.travel and it has a couple of unusual features, like being able to see photos of the paths/tracks you've planned the route along. But I'll shut up now.

I'd forgotten about this. Really good.