Author Topic: Recommendations for route planning on the PC  (Read 4480 times)

Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« on: 20 July, 2020, 10:11:55 pm »
I've got Locus maps on my Android and love it though there is a learning curve with it. I can if I chose plan routes on the phone but would really prefer to plan a route on the PC and just export the resulting gpx file back to Locus on my phone. So my question is what software would you recommend for creating the gpx on the PC and preferably free options please.


Tim Hall

  • Victoria is my queen
Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #1 on: 20 July, 2020, 10:15:54 pm »
Free ones I've used include:

bikehike, cycle.travel, ridewithgps

All allow export of gpx files to squirt into your device of choice.
There are two ways you can get exercise out of a bicycle: you can
"overhaul" it, or you can ride it.  (Jerome K Jerome)

Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #2 on: 20 July, 2020, 11:54:07 pm »
It's cycle.travel for me, there's been a lot of new enhancements over the past few months which have made it even better :thumbsup:
Most of the stuff I say is true because I saw it in a dream and I don't have the presence of mind to make up lies when I'm asleep.   Bryan Andreas

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #3 on: 21 July, 2020, 12:19:37 am »
That all the 'on the PC' suggestions are for web sites is making me feel old...

To the above I'd add Strava, which isn't free any more, but has the double-edged sword of heatmap-based routing - handy for knowing whether a given path is passable by bike or not.  (And a plugin for spotting veloviewer tiles.)  RideWithGPS seems to be the best all-rounder.

I do still use Basecamp on the PC to create Routes, because it's the only way to use the eTrex's auto-routing without certain doom.  This isn't a recommendation; the UI is annoying bordering on pathological.

Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #4 on: 21 July, 2020, 12:28:33 am »
That all the 'on the PC' suggestions are for web sites is making me feel old...

To the above I'd add Strava, which isn't free any more, but has the double-edged sword of heatmap-based routing - handy for knowing whether a given path is passable by bike or not.  (And a plugin for spotting veloviewer tiles.)  RideWithGPS seems to be the best all-rounder.

I do still use Basecamp on the PC to create Routes, because it's the only way to use the eTrex's auto-routing without certain doom.  This isn't a recommendation; the UI is annoying bordering on pathological.


I gave up on Garmin years ago for their outrageous pricing and lack of innovation and features. They seemed to charge so much for doing/offering so little. Though I still have a Garmin Etrex and intend on using it when I hate myself enough  :demon:

Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #5 on: 21 July, 2020, 01:07:55 am »
Thanks folks cycle.travel is looking good. Whilst not as powerful as ridewithgps I find it easier to use and the fact it suggests a cycle route which you can edit is great. Will try it for my next planned ride and see how I get on.

Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #6 on: 21 July, 2020, 07:06:21 am »
I use Komoot and cycle.travel. I only ever use Strava route planner for chasing Veloviewer tiles as I don't like the UI. Google Streetmaps for an on-the-ground view (always check the date the image was taken shown on screen).

frankly frankie

  • I kid you not
    • Fuchsiaphile
Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #7 on: 21 July, 2020, 08:50:19 am »
That all the 'on the PC' suggestions are for web sites is making me feel old...
...

I do still use Basecamp on the PC to create Routes, because it's the only way to use the eTrex's auto-routing without certain doom.  This isn't a recommendation; the UI is annoying bordering on pathological.

I still use Mapsource.  The connectedness aspect of Basecamp is far too modern for me.

And RideWithGPS raises every hackle I've got.  Any website that greets me with a photo-heavy front page loses me straight away.
when you're dead you're done, so let the good times roll

ppg

Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #8 on: 21 July, 2020, 09:54:54 am »
I still use Mapsource.  The connectedness aspect of Basecamp is far too modern for me.
+1
I usually start with cycle.travel before uploading to Mapsource and/or MemoryMap
WinGDB3 for gpx<>gdb conversions (amongst others)
Plotaroute.com or OSmaps to check on elevations (they all disagree!)

Pingu

  • Put away those fiery biscuits!
  • Mrs Pingu's domestique
    • the Igloo
Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #9 on: 21 July, 2020, 10:18:18 am »
RideWithGPS, VeloViewer, Basecamp and Google Streetview are what I use most frequently.

fuaran

  • rothair gasta
Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #10 on: 21 July, 2020, 10:25:42 am »
On the Go Map. Nice and quick and easy. https://onthegomap.com/

Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #11 on: 21 July, 2020, 10:55:30 am »
Ride with GPS.  I like the ability of this site to switch between different maps as not all maps have useful information about shops etc.  You can also very easily (in classic mode) drop into street view to check out junctions, traffic volumes and other useful things.

Genosse Brymbo

  • Ostalgist
Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #12 on: 21 July, 2020, 11:15:39 am »
RideWithGPS, which appears to be the best all-rounder in the cloud.  Basecamp on the PC (I'm pretty sure it works without having to be connected to the internet).
The present is a foreign country: they do things differently here.

Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #13 on: 21 July, 2020, 01:00:24 pm »
RWGPS is good only if you want to micromanage routes. It seems to have no particular philosophy for kind of route it wants to give you (on the dual carriageway - silly sustrans MTBing spectrum) if left to its own devices.

Strava and cycle.travel are a bit more predictable.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #14 on: 21 July, 2020, 01:18:27 pm »
RWGPS if planning a DIY audax or for checking other people's audax routes.
Cycle.travel for everything else.
On the Go Map is something I discovered recently when I'm been for a run and wanted to know, post facto, how far I'd been. I haven't yet used it for cycling.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #15 on: 21 July, 2020, 01:36:04 pm »
RWGPS is good only if you want to micromanage routes. It seems to have no particular philosophy for kind of route it wants to give you (on the dual carriageway - silly sustrans MTBing spectrum) if left to its own devices.

Strava and cycle.travel are a bit more predictable.

If I don't want to micromanage, I use google maps.

Strava is utter shite as a route planner. Apart from anything else, it really struggles with anything longer than about 30km.

Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #16 on: 21 July, 2020, 02:29:11 pm »
On the Go Map. Nice and quick and easy. https://onthegomap.com/

Love the simplicity of OTGM   :thumbsup:

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #17 on: 21 July, 2020, 04:19:08 pm »
RWGPS is good only if you want to micromanage routes.

This it precisely what makes it good for creating gpx files for audax use.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #18 on: 21 July, 2020, 04:22:16 pm »
That all the 'on the PC' suggestions are for web sites is making me feel old...

It’s doesn’t seem so very long ago that audax organisers were advised to use MS Autoroute for working or shortest distances.

Quote
I do still use Basecamp on the PC to create Routes, because it's the only way to use the eTrex's auto-routing without certain doom.  This isn't a recommendation; the UI is annoying bordering on pathological.

Not just me then? I like the idea of Basecamp, but I’ve never had the patience to learn how to penetrate its inscrutable UI (I would persist if there weren’t far easier options readily available).
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Pingu

  • Put away those fiery biscuits!
  • Mrs Pingu's domestique
    • the Igloo
Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #19 on: 21 July, 2020, 04:48:25 pm »
RWGPS is good only if you want to micromanage routes.

This it precisely what makes it good for creating gpx files for audax use.

This.

pdm

  • Sheffield hills? Nah... Just potholes.
Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #20 on: 21 July, 2020, 05:09:22 pm »
Is it just me or does the Strava route planner take you the wrong way around roundabouts as if we a right side driving country??

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #21 on: 21 July, 2020, 10:04:22 pm »
Is it just me or does the Strava route planner take you the wrong way around roundabouts as if we a right side driving country??

It doesn't seem to understand one-way systems, either.  And what fboab said about it b0rking on longer routes.

TBH, its redeeming features are the heatmap and the veloviewer plug-in.

telstarbox

  • Loving the lanes
Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #22 on: 21 July, 2020, 10:41:16 pm »
AIUI that depends on the quality of OpenStreetMap data which underpins the route planner.
2019 🏅 R1000 and B1000

Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #23 on: 21 July, 2020, 11:25:25 pm »
I still use Basecamp for planning off-road routes and I'd say it's worthwhile spending the time to get to grips with its UI.  But the uninitiated should be aware that its routing algorithms are dependent on the map that is being used and that the routing preferences in Basecamp need to be configured as recommended by the compiler of of the chosen mapset.
Most of the stuff I say is true because I saw it in a dream and I don't have the presence of mind to make up lies when I'm asleep.   Bryan Andreas

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Recommendations for route planning on the PC
« Reply #24 on: 22 July, 2020, 12:38:19 am »
I still use Basecamp for planning off-road routes and I'd say it's worthwhile spending the time to get to grips with its UI.  But the uninitiated should be aware that its routing algorithms are dependent on the map that is being used and that the routing preferences in Basecamp need to be configured as recommended by the compiler of of the chosen mapset.

What they really need is to be *exactly the same* as on the GPS device you're planning to follow the route with.  That the importance of this somehow didn't occur to Garmin was probably their greatest act of shortsightedness.  (They got halfway there, in that Basecamp can use the map from the device itself, but Basecamp's routing algorithms are different, so they still end up doing different things.)