Route planning
Surf-Matt
Posts: 5,952
Another daft question but being a lifelong MTBer, I'm used to finding stuff off road. Now we have a road bike in our ever expanding collection, things are a bit different.
A couple of rides on the road bike (2010 Allez Elite) have revealed how tricky potholes and drain covers can be (usually bunny hop over them!), how dangerous national speed limit roads can be but how nice and smooth they usually are.
Any pointers for planning trips? A whole new world from the usual MTB search for woodland/bridlletracks/etc!
And I don't mean "look at a map, find some roads." - what sort of roads tend to be ideal?
A couple of rides on the road bike (2010 Allez Elite) have revealed how tricky potholes and drain covers can be (usually bunny hop over them!), how dangerous national speed limit roads can be but how nice and smooth they usually are.
Any pointers for planning trips? A whole new world from the usual MTB search for woodland/bridlletracks/etc!
And I don't mean "look at a map, find some roads." - what sort of roads tend to be ideal?
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I tend to use unclassified roads and a few 'B' roads. Just watch out for maniacs in 4*4s who think they are motorways. Just decide where you want to head towards and get the map out. It is much the same as looking for bridleways but you mainly want the yellow ones. You soon get a list of cafe stops and various ways of getting between them. The OS 1:50000 is your friend.0
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Cheers John. We have almost every 1:25000 OS map of Cornwall (we live nr Truro) so that's a start. My very limited exploration has shown that urban riding can be tricky due to the amount of holes/dips/drains near the side of the road.
All obvious stuff to roadies but it's all pretty new to me!
I'm being ultra cautious with traffic - riding as "defensively" (I'm an IAM and Police trained driver so am sort of applying the techniques to riding) as I can for now. Nice to let rip though - a lovely sweeping downhiller near us. Derestricted for cars but plenty wide enough and soooo smooth - got my all time record speed on a bike last night. It wasn't very fast but to me it felt like I was flying!0 -
@ Surf-Matt
M8 I started by starting at my house and using Google Maps, just started riding normally as said above, the less busy roads to start. I see by looking at Truro on Google Maps you have lots of options for routes.0 -
matt... Use mapmyride.com
I've finding it great to find local routes! just got back from a 17.7mile ride that I planned this afternoon in work
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My normal routes were either too bumpy (big stones used with the tarmac) or really busy so wondered where else I could go...
So far, the best roads I've found out of Kendal have been the National/Local Cycle Network routes. Defo worth a try...
Oh, and Kirkstone Pass!0 -
We like mapmyride.com thanks for that Benj 0
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@ redddraggon
m8 like it like it a lot, not so much for the road routes but for the OS map view, that is more than useful. 0 -
Great links - cheers!0
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Have to say that the gradient option on evelation is far better than map my ride too0
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Hi,
Have you had a look at www.mapmyride.com ?
It's a route planning site which is easy to use and there's a free version. Plan your route out on which evr roads you choose and it'll give you the distance and elevation profile. It's pretty good and you can tie it in with training programs etc, should you wish.
Give it a go.
Cheers.......... MattScience adjusts it’s beliefs based on what’s observed.
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved0 -
Hi Matt ,
I use bikely.com a fair bit as i can print the maps off and stick them in plastic "polly pockets "
think its the one that Bikeradar features
Link for example: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Tr ... th-Circuit
similar use to map my ride and easy to navigate/plot although it doesnt have loads of things like shops etc etc on it, just straight forward mapping0
