Newbie saying hi with questions!
MrBibble
Posts: 79
Hi all, my name is Barny and ive just done a my first longish ride (18miles)on my new Specialized Allez 16 bought for my birthday from family and friends.
Ive been riding MTBs for the last ten years and im absolutley loving my new road bike!
My questions is, are there any Android aps that instead of just plotting the routes you've done are there any that can direct as well? Like sat nav? We have a few cycle route books but we dont like carrying them on the handle bars so have to resort to a bag or strapping them to ourselves. Since taking on a smart phone i've found several apps relative and have used My Tracks from google to good effect.
Were hoping to go on a 34 mile ride tomorrow and would rather have directions from a satnav device than have to keep stopping for map reading and more than likely getting lost too. garmins are way out of our price range sadly
Ive been riding MTBs for the last ten years and im absolutley loving my new road bike!
My questions is, are there any Android aps that instead of just plotting the routes you've done are there any that can direct as well? Like sat nav? We have a few cycle route books but we dont like carrying them on the handle bars so have to resort to a bag or strapping them to ourselves. Since taking on a smart phone i've found several apps relative and have used My Tracks from google to good effect.
Were hoping to go on a 34 mile ride tomorrow and would rather have directions from a satnav device than have to keep stopping for map reading and more than likely getting lost too. garmins are way out of our price range sadly
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Comments
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Why not look at the map before you go out and remember it ? Or go a route that you know well and won't get lost on ? Using the Mark I Brain and eyeball combination works wonders.
Sorry that this seems sarky, but instead of a satnav determining your ride, just go out and follow a road, get a bit lost and then find your way back ?0 -
if i,m going on a route i havnt been on before i just cut a page out of an old map book and stick it in my back pocket, cheap as chips, and although ive had a garmin 305 for four years, i prefer the old fashioned way to navigate a route.0
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Plot a route on bike toaster or a site like that then screen dump the maps on to word, print them off when the boss isn't looking
That's how I did L2P kind of...0 -
someone asked similar and some nice people replied
http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12719257The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.0 -
I use an app called Viewranger. Its on a Nokia smartphone but they do and iPhone version so I'd be supprised if they didn't have a droid version as well.
Its awesome - You don't get turn by turn navigation but you can plot waypoint based routes that give you an arrow to follow. More than enough at bike speeds.
To all the "map print out and memory" folks, have you tried using a smartphone's GPS. When riding in an unfamiliar area it really is fantastic. Zip tie it to you stem and you'll never have to stop to read a map or miss a turn due to dodgy sign posts. Makes the ride more enjoyable as you can concentrait on everything else without worrying about getting lost.
(if your riding near home it is much easier just to remember the route though!)0 -
i just ride out into the country, turn around when i'm half way through my ride and figure out how i get back. I live in a new area so dont know the lanes yet but always get back easily enough and i do around 25 miles so not much less than you are doing.Riding a Merida FLX Carbon Team D Ultralite Nano from Mike at Ace Ultra Cycles, Wednesfield, Wolverhampton 01902 7254440
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How lost can you get ?
Look up routes on sites like MapMyRide... Bike Route Toaster for instance...
slightly addictive and gets you familiar with the territory you ride in.
Ok, for emergency use and have only done it once... the app on my Nokia is .. 'where the soddin hell am I?' took an interesting looking road that didnt go anywhere... so used the gps to find my way out of what had become a maze of unfamiliar roads.. emergency only as it is too expensive to use all the time.0 -
Some of the sarcastic responses here seem pretty unhelpful! I agree that GPS can be very useful and am on the verge of ordering a Garmin 705. Trying to memorise a 50-70 mile route in unfamiliar territory is verging on impossible unless you have some kind of photographic memory. Stopping every 10 minutes to check a map is a waste of time. When I go out on a ride I don't want to be stopping all the time! Following a memorised route along major A roads and dual carriageways may be possible but for a route through minor roads and villages, unless you know the local area, GPS is fantastic. Ignore the sarcasm and look at the other threads on this subject, there have been a few on the same subject recently...Do not write below this line. Office use only.0
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Another way is to write yourself a little audax style route sheet after plotting the route on maymyride, etc. Here is a good example lifted from the Cotswold Outing:
0.0 0.0 At exit from HQ, L onto Icknield Street
0.2 0.2 L at T sp Weatheroak
0.3 0.5 R sp Kings Norton Golf Club (Brockhill Lane)
1.6 2.1 SO at X sp Beoley
The first column is the stage length, the second is the overall distance (X for crossroads, T for T junction, SO for Straight Over, sp for sign posted). Hence, if you combine a route guide with a simple bike computer, like a Cateye Strada, then it is pretty straightforward.
The route guide can be folded small and then pulled out of your back pocket when needed. Some folks even have little map holders that clip to handle bars (I used one of these on a long audax recently and can recommend them, but not for TT's or racing, eh
)
Hope that helps.0 -
Oh, and a map in your back pocket in case you do get lost and have to flag down two helpful cylclists going in the opposite direction :oops:0
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I write village names on my hand and then follow signs.0
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I write directions on me knob.....never been further than Rhyl.
Dream of Llandudno.The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.0 -
Sorry but reading/checking a map is a waste of time?
Learn to read one properly and it isn't a waste of time. Get some furkin man skills you fairies!
I've never struggled with little more than some place names, some key junctions and road numbers. Even a fall-back route is useful sometimes (usually the way you came). Not hard and doesn't cost anything but a little bit of time. You only need to do it once (maybe twice) too, and you will have learnt the route by then.
Sorry to sound harsh but maps are timeless. GPS' run out of battery. End of.0 -
I write directions on me knob.....never been further than Rhyl.
Dream of Llandudno.
I suppose Llanfair PG is a real pipe dream?0 -
Bobbinogs wrote:Another way is to write yourself a little audax style route sheet after plotting the route on maymyride, etc. Here is a good example lifted from the Cotswold Outing:
0.0 0.0 At exit from HQ, L onto Icknield Street
0.2 0.2 L at T sp Weatheroak
0.3 0.5 R sp Kings Norton Golf Club (Brockhill Lane)
1.6 2.1 SO at X sp Beoley
The first column is the stage length, the second is the overall distance (X for crossroads, T for T junction, SO for Straight Over, sp for sign posted). Hence, if you combine a route guide with a simple bike computer, like a Cateye Strada, then it is pretty straightforward.
The route guide can be folded small and then pulled out of your back pocket when needed. Some folks even have little map holders that clip to handle bars (I used one of these on a long audax recently and can recommend them, but not for TT's or racing, eh )
Hope that helps.
Cotswold Outing?
thats the outer reaches of southBirmingham heading toward Redditch
sorry being pedantic0 -
It's a great ride btw, really friendly folks and a good day out. You might want to consider one of the options next year given your location:
http://www.beaconrcc.org.uk/audax/cotswold/
Sorry, going slightly off topic. If only I knew the way back from here...0 -
Headhuunter wrote:Some of the sarcastic responses here seem pretty unhelpful! I agree that GPS can be very useful and am on the verge of ordering a Garmin 705. Trying to memorise a 50-70 mile route in unfamiliar territory is verging on impossible unless you have some kind of photographic memory. Stopping every 10 minutes to check a map is a waste of time. When I go out on a ride I don't want to be stopping all the time! Following a memorised route along major A roads and dual carriageways may be possible but for a route through minor roads and villages, unless you know the local area, GPS is fantastic. Ignore the sarcasm and look at the other threads on this subject, there have been a few on the same subject recently...
Just sent my 705 back after 2 months as will no longer work, will post the solution upon its return.
Just a small blip as far as im concerned as the unit and all it does is amazing.
I went out with a club last week and without it we would have been f***ed.
Each to there own I think.
When you do 80 miles then upload all the info you realise why you got it.Sirrus Comp 2010 (commuting)
Roubaix Pro SL Sram red (Weekend sportives)
Certini Campagnolo Mirage (Turbo trainer)0 -
Thanks for your replies, helpful or not!
The mentioned ride was aborted, we did a local route mapped using a piece of paper cabletied to te handle bars!
Still looking into the gps route tho, will keep you posted0 -
Hey,
What specifically are you looking for from the app? If it's simply tracking your route with sat nav, your standard Google MAps application can do that, (just set driving directions to avoid highways).0 -
I use a 605 to navigate me round the country roads and lanes, using routes plotted on Bikeley.com. I've been playing with a few GPS apps on my Android phone and the current favourite is MyTracks. I only downloaded it last week so haven't had much chance to play with it but it will display a GPX file so you can see where you are on your route and it does come with a "navigation" app, which I haven't tried it yet.0
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Think of it this way, im reading a book that gives me directions for a nice ride. Its in an location unknown to us and about 40 miles long using backroads, lanes and cycle routes. I want to be able to use my new smartphone as its small light and if its not too windy i should be able to hear its directions. I want to be able to program a satnav device to tell me at each specific point which way to turn.
Just like satnav for your car, but the cycle one will tell me for instance that the overgrown bush i just past was in fact the 23rd waypoint where i should have turned left.
It seems simple to me, its satnav but not for roads?!
Google maps has the walking function, but it'll only do the route it suggests, not the one from the book. My Tracks will plot the route i've travelled and then upload it for others to try. Neither seem able to be specifically programmed for my instance.0 -
Having a snoop round bikely now
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