Ordnance survey mapping website

sgc

Hello,
I hope this is not considered spamming. I've created a website that allows you to create and view routes on both the Google and Ordnance Survey maps. The great advantage of the OS maps for mountain bikers is that they show all the footpaths, bridleways and byways in the UK - plus loads of other detail you don't get on Google maps.

It does all the usual stuff:
- upload & download to GPS (Garmin Edge)
- save routes to database
- search for routes
- view distance, elevation
- postcode/place search

The wesite is: www.bikehike.co.uk

Check it out, if you like it you are most welcome to use it. Free to use, no registration, no ads,
Simon

RussAlf

Simon,

Thats really good, very usefull for showing fellow riding chums routes that you have done or routes that you intend on dragging them around. I like the way it shows google maps and the os maps at the same time!

Any chance of getting it to read Tracklog files? thats what all mine are in, though i converted one for a test and it came out good.

Hopefully this should show the test one i just did.

http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=9

Will be book marking it and using it!

Thanks

Russ

gregsd

Simon,

That looks good, especially with the OS maps included. I've only seen one other example that uses the OS OpenSpace API, which I presume you are using? It's a shame the OS impose a limitation on the number of tiles you can serve in a day as you'll find that once your site becomes popular, and it will, it'll exceed the limit quite quickly! This happened to the other site I mentioned and I never actually got to see it with OS maps included.

One point about the supposed 'inaccuracies' of the OS 50k maps in your FAQ. This is more down to the scale of the maps and the fact that you can't represent something at 50k in the same detail as at a larger scale (OS Streetview level). So, as the scale decreases, features are 'generalised' so that they can fit on the map and this means they may well be altered and positional accuracy may suffer, as in your example where the road curvature on the 50k map isn't as pronounced as on the Streetview maps. It's an accepted part of producing smaller-scale maps.

Greg.

sgc

Russ,
Tracklog files shouldn't be too much of a problem. Any chance you could send me a file so I've got the real thing to test with?

Also - is it worthwhile being able to download in a tracklog format? Can you import them into a GPS unit to use for navigation?

ps - that's a pretty savage ride you posted: 2460 ft ascent in 17 miles - or have I just got soft living out here in Essex?

Greg,
I'm concerned about the OS tile limit as well. I understand there are commercial suppliers of the OS maps so I thought that, if the tile limit became a problem, I could look at the viability of using one of them and use ads on the site to cover the costs. I have no idea if this would work out.

Good point about the OS 50k maps. I guess it's easy to easy to believe it's a larger scale map because they provide a zoomed in view of it. I'll add something to this effect to the FAQ.


Thanks both of you for the feedback,
Simon

hickster5000

Simon, you are a genius! Just mapped out yesterday's little jaunt, very useful training aid, especially giving the elevation. I hope it's a great success, I'll definately be using it again.

http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=14

(in case anyone fancies a good Edinburgh route)

ChunkTT

Simon,

Looks good! Has issues on my mac though but once you clear the errors still appears to work,

sgc

Russ,
I've added support for uploading tracklog files. Note - only the later(?) XML type tracklog format is supported, not the older binary format. Still pretty new, let me know if there are any issues.

Chunktt,
I don't have easy access to a mac so it's a bit difficult to test the mac issues. I have spent some time correcting a few errors using a validator. I'd appreciate it if a mac user could let me know if there are still issues.

Simon

ChunkTT

Think its more to do with the browser (safari) than mac or maybe i need to enable something.

The message is as below, get it 3 times when i first go into the map and then ok. Probably work fine if i was using firefox.

Your browser does not support vector rendering. Currently supported renderers are:
SVG
VML

Where are my stabilisers?

:shock: my anti virus/spy thingy just flagged a warning on this....i'm being attacked :shock: :?

sgc

Chunktt,
Thanks for the feedback - I'll look into it. I haven't done any testing on safari - only IE6/7 and FF.

Mr Stabilisers,
I'm suprised to hear about the anti virus/spyware warning. The only slighty spyish thing the site does is store your last position and zoom level as a cookie (so it can start up in the same place next time you go back to the site). Is you anti spy s/w set so sensitive that it reports cookies being stored??

Simon

Where are my stabilisers?

I don't know, i've never seen that warning before but i've only recently gone back to using this anti virus software (bullguard) - it does flag up a lot of stuff mind and i am surprised it did for that :? oh well!

grumsta

Same problem on a Mac with Safari here - no probs on firefox 3

Nice site.

Chris`I

Hi Simon,

I just signed up to the site to say what a fantastic site you have created! I have just re-joined the cycling fraternaty (bought a Rockhopper Comp Disc 08 last night) after quite a few years off and your site will no doubt be a massive help in planning trips!

Keep up the good work

PS Any chance you can add the functionality like Google maps where you can click on the current route (blue line) and drag it to a new point to add it in to the route? Appreciate how hard coding is, this is just a small gripe.

sgc

Hi Chris,
Thanks. I am working on drag editing like the Google maps. There's a few issues with keeping the elevation data consistent and not losing the off road bits of the route that you've created in the OS map - but they're not unsurmountable problems.

Grumsta,
I've had a quick look into the Safari issue. It appears that Safari doesn't support the kind of graphics needed by the OS map. You're lucky it kind of works on a mac, I downloaded the PC version of Safari and it didn't show the route on the OS map at all.

I think (??) Safari are looking at including this graphics support in their next release - but don't quote me on it.
Simon