GPS Ride Planning Sites

chrism_scotland

I know that BikeToaster is a good site for pre-planning rides but are there any others out there? Waiting on my Garmin 705 today and looking to have a play,

Chris

risi

http://www.bikehike.co.uk/

Has the option of displaying OS map + Google map or a map + elevation data. You can click or highlight sections of the elevation to see where it is on the map. I find this better than bikeroutetoaster where the elevation information is not really interactive. If you download a route, it gives you the option of sending it directly to a GPS device. I don't know how well this works with a 705. You used to be able to save routes on the site, but this was disabled a while ago.

http://ridewithgps.com/

Constantly evolving and getting really quite nice, though I don't think it yet does direct to device downloading. You can store routes in your profile on the site though (and share them) and it also allows you to record extra stuff like activity information.

Lots of others - bikely, mapmyride etc - the 2 above are the ones I use mainly.

redddraggon

bikehike
bikeroutetoaster
ridewithgps
GPSies

I prefer bikeroutetoaster

hugo15

I like Bikehike. Just can't get away with Bikeroutetoaster - it never seems to plot the right course when I am returning on a road that I rode out on.

daviesee

Sorry if this is a hijack but I think it may be relevant.

In Bike Route Toaster you can make your routes public.

Fair enough, but how do you find other people's public routes?

Please excuse my ignorance :oops:

risi

daviesee wrote:

Sorry if this is a hijack but I think it may be relevant.

In Bike Route Toaster you can make your routes public.

Fair enough, but how do you find other people's public routes?

Please excuse my ignorance :oops:

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/HelpLoadAndSave.aspx

Particularly:

"If you want to share the course with your riding friends then select the 'Make Public' checkbox before saving the course. When the course is saved a URL will be displayed. You can then email the URL to your friends and when they click on the link your course will be displayed."

So there's no facility to find other peoples routes, but they can inform you of them. You could just take a punt and put in http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=xxx replacing xxx with any number you think of!

chrism_scotland

Cheers guys, received my Garmin 705 today so will give these a go, not sure I'm going to keep it though as I feel my Nokia combined with an Edge 500 might be a better combo, mapping and route when I need it but the Edge 500 to track my rides, speed etc all the time.
I think I might be feeling a little guilty at the cost of it!

risi

Dunno - I have a Nokia and for some long rides have used the mapping. But the mapping website is a pain in the backside if you're trying to create a 'cycling route' to follow (that is, not a route from A to B as one might do in a car).
For tracking, I use sportstracker on the phone, which is good.
But it would be nice to be able to interface something like bikehike to the device like you can with the 705 (allegedly). Plus the 705 goes on the bike, obviously, meaning that when you need directions you don't have to fish around in your pockets.
For those reasons (and more) I wouldn't be feeling any guilt...

daviesee

risi wrote:

daviesee wrote:

Sorry if this is a hijack but I think it may be relevant.

In Bike Route Toaster you can make your routes public.

Fair enough, but how do you find other people's public routes?

Please excuse my ignorance :oops:

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/HelpLoadAndSave.aspx

Particularly:

"If you want to share the course with your riding friends then select the 'Make Public' checkbox before saving the course. When the course is saved a URL will be displayed. You can then email the URL to your friends and when they click on the link your course will be displayed."

So there's no facility to find other peoples routes, but they can inform you of them. You could just take a punt and put in http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=xxx replacing xxx with any number you think of!

Thanks.
I thought I may have been able to find alternative routes in my area bit I guess just being able to share with known others is something.
I will be able to ride, upload them to Garmin Connect and share that way.
Trouble with Garmin connect is that there are too many to trawl through. Or I am impatient

Edit:- with a test route that I may do this weekend.

http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course. ... rse=143894

chrism_scotland

Well I've tried using my Garmin 705 this morning with the Open Street Map Mapping and very impressed with it, I did set the timer to start as the start of my route although I'm not sure if it has saved / tracked my ride to work, impressed but still feel a wee bit guilty about the cost....

daviesee

Go into menu => history and you should see your route's stats as well as a basic map on the unit.

you did remember to stop the timer as well? Newbie mistake. I know :oops:

As I understand it, it saves your route every time you reset a lap or switch the unit off.

The more you use it, the less guilt.
Using it on familiar routes isn't really getting the best out of it though.....