How do you plan your ride in an unfamiliar area?

pete1336

When you want to ride in an unfamiliar location, an area you haven't used before, how do you plan your ride? I've found the 'round trip routing' function of the Garmin untrustworthy. I haven't yet used Strava' s route builder but what I like the look of and have only just found is the 'create route' function of the Garmin connect phone app. It allows you to set your desired ride distance and you can chose to travel east, west, north or south or a random direction. Like the Strava option, it's supposed to select routes popular with cyclists.
How do you plan you ride in an unfamiliar area?
Regards,
Pete

super_davo

Strava's route builder, using the "use popularity" switch.

All the other ones I've tried tend to route me down gravel paths that aren't really suited to a road bike e.g. Ride With GPS. Strava's algorythms are really good, so you can just plot point to point, and it routes you on the roads the locals use. Its got masses and masses of data to work with, far more than Garmin; and it years of working with that data so Garmin are really playing catch up here. Only thing to watch out is avoiding large town centres, which will obviously be popular, just not that good to ride on...

PhilipPirrip

To stop Ridewithgps sending you down gravel paths you optimize planning to driving rather than cycling, which you can swap mid-route, and it'll keep you on tarmac roads.

OP, do a search of the forum for route planning threads as the question comes up often. Although I could use my Garmin my own preference these days is just to look at a map, look at elevation changes and for points of interest in the area. I'll check weather and wind direction on the day so I know what to wear and, ideally, head out with a head wind but with offline maps on a phone you can't really get lost.

Vslowpace

I prefer to use the cycle option on rwgps and then drag the google street view man over the route, any bridleways will not be highlighted

milemuncher1

Personally I use Strava’s route builder, and if there are any bits that I’m not sure about, I check that bit on google maps / street view, looking for any obvious ‘show stoppers’ like dead ends, big road works, or unexpected surfaces. I’ll try and reccy the route, before using it, on a group ride or similar, for real. There’s always going to be a degree of ‘winging it’ if the area is totally unfamiliar, I’ll ask around on various sites / forums to see if there’s any local knowledge about any issues as well. A bit of local knowledge is often invaluable.
It’s also fairly common for me to ride the route clockwise, and anti clockwise, on the same day, to see if there’s any advantage to be had by one over the other. Anti clockwise nearly always a better idea, from a safety point of view.

cycleclinic

Just go get lost. It's the best way.

Frank Wilson

Look at a map, for the younger generation these are a paper item which unfolds to show you roads etc in the area you choose. Also available on your "devices"

haydenm

Frank Wilson wrote:

Look at a map, for the younger generation these are a paper item which unfolds to show you roads etc in the area you choose. Also available on your "devices"

For the older generation, strava route builder is a map with a route on it that tells you where most people cycle so you don't end up riding down an HGV route to an industrial park or something. If you want to use OS or road maps on your 'devices' why not put a gpx route on it to help you navigate?

Frank Wilson

HaydenM wrote:

Frank Wilson wrote:

Look at a map, for the younger generation these are a paper item which unfolds to show you roads etc in the area you choose. Also available on your "devices"

For the older generation, strava route builder is a map with a route on it that tells you where most people cycle so you don't end up riding down an HGV route to an industrial park or something. If you want to use OS or road maps on your 'devices' why not put a gpx route on it to help you navigate?

On a more serious note Plotaroute is quite good.

homers_double

I use Strava route builder and have another tab open with google maps as I find it easier to flick in and out on that to see the type of road I'm looking at.

It means if you're looking at unfamiliar roads you can drop the little orange man on the road and see what it's like and make sure you're not on a dual carriageway.

veronese68

thecycleclinic wrote:

Just go get lost. It's the best way.

Indeed, just follow your nose. Use a map or device if you are lost and need to plan your route back.

lostboysaint

A combination of Garmin, google earth and a map (if I can lay my hands on a decent one - we're very, very spoiled in the UK as OS maps are brilliant, it's really not that easy to get that quality elsewhere, even in some bits of mainland Europe) and trial and error.

fat daddy

ridewithgps .. and the oracle of all navigation Google Maps to make sure the roads I am going down are roads and not dirt trails etc etc

keith57

I'll always have a paper map to hand for a good overview.

Strava's heat map option helps show you where most local riders go, very handy for those 'secret' lanes. To finish I'll sometimes check Google Street view to see if there is tarmac on the road surface!

This worked well in Calpe, Spain, last month. One very high and tiny road I'd not ridden on before had sections of steep concrete, but only for short sections, the rest was reasonable tarmac, good to know beforehand! Another road, new to me, showed up on Street view with an old, but reasonable surface, and even had a few Strava segments listed, so I was confident road-bikers used it, not off-roaders!

I got caught out a few years ago though, riding over 2 weeks up the West coast of Scotland. The Mull of Kintyre section looked ok on Street view, but towards the tip on the east coast there were short sections of steep and loose gravel I had to walk up in my cleats, the skinny roads tyres just wouldn't grip at all.... Hadn't spotted these, it wasn't really practical to use Street View to checkout every inch of the road!

Matthewfalle

I just tend to go with the flow - I feel that over planning this stuff takes the fun out of if.

I make a note of certain towns I need to head to and head off following road signs - if I get massively lost I'll stop for a coffee and ask someone.

grenw

fat daddy wrote:

ridewithgps .. and the oracle of all navigation Google Maps to make sure the roads I am going down are roads and not dirt trails etc etc

The same. Google streetview when the lanes start to look a little dicey

Bergwerk

Strava, with heatmap on.

kingstongraham

thecycleclinic wrote:

Just go get lost. It's the best way.

I prefer to know that I'm not going to waste my time riding past a steel works if there's a more scenic route nearby.

handful

fat daddy wrote:

ridewithgps .. and the oracle of all navigation Google Maps to make sure the roads I am going down are roads and not dirt trails etc etc

+1
This is what I do, after planning the route with RWGPS I just drop the little yellow streetview man onto any areas that look like they may not be tarmac and job done. My aging Garmin 800 works well with this method and has allowed me to plan some great routes. I also use sportive routes in the area I'm going, that usually gives some good ideas for decent routes.

term1te

I wouldn't trust Strava’s route builder 100%. I used it to plan a route through the Alpes on holiday earlier this year. Coming down from the Lötschberg tunnel towards Brig the "most popular" route sent me down a small road just before the start of an 8km road tunnel. So I was very glad to go down the smaller road, and ignored the sign that said it was unsuitable for cars. It was a great descent, about 5km of hairpin bends, high narrow bridges over a deep valley, and not a car in sight. I came round one corner and saw some large bollards in the road, which I could have easily cycled around, but fortunately didn't, as they were the only thing protecting you from the next bridge, that wasn't there anymore. I found out later that it had been washed away in a storm several years earlier. I couldn't face cycling back up the mountain, and then going through the road tunnel, so I carried the bike down to the river through a bunch of scrub and small trees. I took off my shoes and socks and waded across the river, then scrambled back up the other side to the road again. If the river was any higher I wouldn't have got across. Thanks Strava. I'm not sure I'd have picked it up with Google maps, without really zooming in, but I will check any further routes a bit better.

drlodge

I use ridewithgps to plan a route, download onto my trusty Garmin 800 and off I go.

cgfw201

Strava is the best of the bunch.

It was better when it was powered by Google Maps and allowed you to use Streetview within the Route Planner.

Find RWGPS antiquated and Garmin (not used since recent facelift admittedly) is just a bit Garmin and rubbish.

Strava's data through segments and heatmaps which you can overlay are priceless for me.

shimanobottombracket

pete1336 wrote:

When you want to ride in an unfamiliar location, an area you haven't used before, how do you plan your ride? I've found the 'round trip routing' function of the Garmin untrustworthy. I haven't yet used Strava' s route builder but what I like the look of and have only just found is the 'create route' function of the Garmin connect phone app. It allows you to set your desired ride distance and you can chose to travel east, west, north or south or a random direction. Like the Strava option, it's supposed to select routes popular with cyclists.
How do you plan you ride in an unfamiliar area?
Regards,
Pete

Similar to how NASA plan to get men on Mars. Send a satellite or 2 there first to have a look around. Fortunately in my case, the satellites are already there. Just load up a little something called "Google Earth" (which also happens to have Mars) and check out the area that way. And realistically you cant fully plan. You need to be flexible because some assole may have come a cropper and your planned route may no longer be open. Or more likely, you didnt get all the details you need from glancing over GE images.

willnewtonclare

Agree, RidewithGPS to create a route, Strava to see where people who know what they're doing go. Wikiloc is good in Europe too.

roger_merriman

I look at a map be that paper or digital and see what looks interesting, I tend to plot a route, though I often alter it on the fly. Really depends I guess!

milemuncher1

thecycleclinic wrote:

Just go get lost. It's the best way.

That’s fun when the weather / seasons allow, not so much fun, if you run out of daylight, if you really don’t know where you are though.

RodWatts

+1 with merriman
Get the OS map of the area, even download the OS app, plan a route and go get lost!

Use the Audax uk routes 100k, 200k upto ....

You can over plan these things!
Rod

robert88

thecycleclinic wrote:

Just go get lost. It's the best way.

That's the beauty of unfamiliar areas. Knowing where you are is so boring.

Mapaputsi

Ride with Gps - I will generally do a search for routes within the area I am travelling to and then pop it and an area map on my Garmin using https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/05/dow ... 00810.html

Has served me pretty well in the past, although during the summer I had a few sketchy moments on my touring bike around Brussels where the routes were bringing me into private parks and housing estates. The Google maps/streetview to double check is a good shout.

charlie_potatoes

I usually do an activity search on Strava. put the town and the desired mileage in and it will show you the rides that the locals have done. You can click on the ride/rider profile and make sure they are a roadie. You can then 'lift' one of these and save it as a map. I've had loads of great rides this way in France and England. Some great routes that I would never have found myself.

www.strava.com/activities/search

clickrumble

The problem with good old fashioned maps is that they aren't very good at showing cycle routes, paths etc. I found cylestreets and a google street view to be quite useful.