How to plan a DIY ?

[MSeries]

...So now it's down to guess work.

Wherever I've rejected routes it's been obvious, looking at the map, that there's a dog-leg.  It should only be a question of visually assessing whether each section is a straight line. All the mapping programs seem to do odd things now and again; a bit of human intervention is still sometimes necessary.

It's due to the different options in the different versions of Autoroute used and hence the variance in what is the 'minimum' distance. The AUK instructions for 2004 were  to calculate the fastest but set to slow speeds for roads that we'd not ride on, i.e. motorways. 

[Greenbank]

And Autoroute on "Shortest" doesn't even give the absolute shortest route. It still tries to keep turns to a relative minimum.

This is an example of a section of route on shortest:-



It's blindingly obvious that it's not the absolute shortest route.

[mattc]

Prices for payment by post or in person: £3.00 per card, £15.00 for six cards.
...

We should all be the same,

Merci buckets.

[αdαmsκι]

I'm trying to plan my first DIY, which'll be from Nottingham to London. As this will mostly be through the Midlands, I assume Danial Webb is the guy I need to submit the details to?

Also, would someone be kind enough to check my distances for me before I submit the route? I've run it through Via Michelin, but I'm aware the Autoroute may give slightly different distances. TIA. The controls I have in mind are:

NG2 3AQ (Nottingham train station)
LE16 7NN (HSBC, High St. Market Harborough)
MK46 4YY (NatWest, Olney)
MK45 1LX (Tesco in Flitwick)
NW1 2ST (HSBC opposite St. Panacras station, London)

[MSeries]

It's always been my understanding that you submit the entry to the DIY Org who looks after the are where you live.

[αdαmsκι]

It's always been my understanding that you submit the entry to the DIY Org who looks after the are where you live.

OK, ta. I did wonder how it worked if your route covered two (or more) regions.

[Chris S]

NG2 3AQ (Nottingham train station)
LE16 7NN (HSBC, High St. Market Harborough) 64
MK46 4YY (NatWest, Olney) 46
MK45 1LX (Tesco in Flitwick) 27
NW1 2ST (HSBC opposite St. Panacras station, London) 67

ViaMichelin (byBike) distances in red. Total 204.

(But I am not your DIY Organiser)

[mattc]

If I do a DIY entirely in, say,  Wales (despite living in the SE area), IIRC I can enter with the Welsh representative. Is that right? It has an element of common sense to it ...

p.s. if ViaMichelin and Google Maps both give sufficient kilometrage (and look like the shortest-ish route) I'd go for it.

[MSeries]

If I do a DIY entirely in, say,  Wales (despite living in the SE area), IIRC I can enter with the Welsh representative. Is that right? It has an element of common sense to it ...

It seems to be OK to do either. Lucy once said so. And I agree it seems to have an element of common sense though local knowledge isn't required to use ViaMichelin and/or Autoroute. I don't expect Joe Applegarth has a detailed knowledge of deepest West Yorks since he lives about 100 miles away in my ancestral homeland. Well maybe now he has a knowledge after process all the cards from us !!

 However, I buy my cards in advance from Joe Applegarth, it would be wrong to expect another DIY Org to use Joe's card and receive no money for the work they do for me in agreeing the route and processing the card.

[Ian H]

If I do a DIY entirely in, say,  Wales (despite living in the SE area), IIRC I can enter with the Welsh representative. Is that right? It has an element of common sense to it ...

Common-sense is to be encouraged. One thing I strive for in AUK is to have no more rules than necessary.

[Manotea]

And Autoroute on "Shortest" doesn't even give the absolute shortest route. It still tries to keep turns to a relative minimum.

This is an example of a section of route on shortest:-



It's blindingly obvious that it's not the absolute shortest route.

Shurely shome mishtake? On Mappoint2004 (AR+datamapping) I get 183km for Bridgewater-Bugle on your route as quickest and 171km (without the Exeter detour) for shortest but if I want to stay off the M5 then quickest with mway speed set to 0km gives me 175km.

[Greenbank]

And Autoroute on "Shortest" doesn't even give the absolute shortest route. It still tries to keep turns to a relative minimum.

This is an example of a section of route on shortest:-



It's blindingly obvious that it's not the absolute shortest route.

Shurely shome mishtake? On Mappoint2004 (AR+datamapping) I get 183km for Bridgewater-Bugle on your route as quickest and 171km (without the Exeter detour) for shortest but if I want to stay off the M5 then quickest with mway speed set to 0km gives me 175km.

No mistake, but the key was the term "section of route". I get the same as you (no Exeter detour) if I do "Sennen to Bridgwater".

What does your setup give for that section if you do "Sennen to Wick, Scotland" on Shortest?

My point is that AR on "Shortest" is still doing something other than shortest in order to keep the journey relatively simple.

[Manotea]

Well vanilla quickest is 1374, shortest 1318

Taking the traditional quickest plus 0,0,20,20,20 speed profile gives 1108 but that involves taking the ferry from liverpool to Troon via Belfast. Adding Carlisle as a stop keeps us on the mainland for 1395.

Not sure what this proves except that the (any?) system is not perfect....

[Greenbank]

I meant, what route through Devon does it give you when you do "Sennen to Wick, Scotland" on shortest?

(I'm guessing that unless there's been a big change since AR2001 it'll give you a similar route via Exeter.)

Put it another way, even on "shortest", it'll give you different routes for:-

"A to B that just so happens to go via C" than it does for "A to C" directly. And they'll be more and more odd the further away B is from A.

[simonp]

I wonder if it's more down to the heuristics used to limit the search complexity.  i.e. if the route is longer then less effort is put into searching for locally optimal routes.

[Greenbank]

I wonder if it's more down to the heuristics used to limit the search complexity.  i.e. if the route is longer then less effort is put into searching for locally optimal routes.

Yes, hence:-

My point is that AR on "Shortest" is still doing something other than shortest in order to keep the journey relatively simple.