Route finder website

ketsbaia

Anyone got a link to that route finder website that plots a course along mostly side roads in London?

Am trying to get someone to commute by bike and she's nearly convinced, but she's not all that confident on main roads.

Alternatively, if anyone's got a good route from Clapham Park to Fitzrovia, that'd be nice.

Thanks.

gbsahne001

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/

ketsbaia

That wasn't the one I was thinking of, but cheers.

Ideally, I need one you just input a start point and an end point and it tells you which way to go.

Stu T

http://www.cyclestreets.net/

ketsbaia

That's the one. Cheers, Stu.

gbsahne001

Not seen that one before but I would question it's timings; for instance for my commute it shows a time of 1:35, whereas I do the 14.5 miles (usually) under 55mins (dependent upon traffic etc).

It also says I go through 4 traffic lights; if only that were the case, the real figure is nearer 40+.

Bassjunkieuk

gbsahne wrote:

Not seen that one before but I would question it's timings; for instance for my commute it shows a time of 1:35, whereas I do the 14.5 miles (usually) under 55mins (dependent upon traffic etc).

It also says I go through 4 traffic lights; if only that were the case, the real figure is nearer 40+.

Did you forget to tick the box that says "I actually stop for the reds" ;-) Cyclestreets is what I was going to recommend. Also I think if they have an iPhone or android device they should checkout Bikehub - does route planning on the device.

gbsahne001

I do stop for reds; a lot of them are ped crossings and usually green but occassionally I get snarled up with them, on the whole though I guess I usually stop at 10 -12 sets.

ketsbaia

gbsahne wrote:

Not seen that one before but I would question it's timings; for instance for my commute it shows a time of 1:35, whereas I do the 14.5 miles (usually) under 55mins (dependent upon traffic etc).

It also says I go through 4 traffic lights; if only that were the case, the real figure is nearer 40+.

I'm guessing the timings are for mere mortals and not the uber-SCRers like ourselves.

deptfordmarmoset

The default speed is 12 mph. You can change that to 15mph

il_principe

I went through this process with the missus. We concluded that bigger roads = safer as there is more room. Small roads are often full of parked cars, so traffic squeezes past cyclists/you get doored etc etc.

pshore

In addition to CycleStreets there is also another OpenStreetMap based one with a bike option with options for type of bike and safest route.:

http://openrouteservice.org/

In my experiments it does come up with different routes to CycleStreets. Both are good in different ways.

The CycleStreets web interface is slicker and its nice to see three route options on the same map.

The OpenRouteService options really make quite a difference - eg The racer option for example avoids slow pedestrian type paths in a way that is good for your skinny tyres. The MTB option maximises offroad time.