...the rise of blind tech-dependance is starting to get to me - typically riders on the local lanes haven't a clue where they are, just following the purple line. Ok, rant over.
This is starting to bug me as well. The number of riders asking for GPX links, for audaxes, over on Facebook is ridiculous! I’m a fan of GPX, but can’t they even prepare their own from the route sheet? It’s not hard, and it allows you to review the route on a (virtual) map.
John
To be fair I recently had a crack at using an audax routesheet to create a GPX, and it was a bit of a nightmare. I am not a complete moron and have navigated around using paper maps for a long time, using a London A to Z when I was a wee lad doing work experience in a Kensington estate agents, but the routesheets are frustratingly light on details such as on which road the 'next left' is turning on to. This can be immensely annoying when trying to trace out where you're up to on a map, and really wouldn't be a difficult thing to include in a computer document.
What works best in my experience are the Dutch style numbered route systems. Instead of giving 'turn left' or 'turn right' instructions, they have a number for each road junction, and routes are expressed as travelling between numbers. So you can just express a route as a series of numbers, instead of daft instructions and cryptic punctuation marks like '$' which require referral to a key. Like everything else in cycling the cloggies are streets ahead while we languish sadly in the back.
Have a look: http://www.hollandcyclingroutes.com/online-cycle-route-planner
I will still take the routesheet out with me on my rides but it's not a very good system at all.
Route sheets are very much like a GPX track. They provide plenty of information to follow a track, but in their basic form don't give information about where you actually are or any information about your surroundings. Some orgs add decoration which does give some information. As they are just text it is also easy to add information relating the the current position on the track such as road conditions and controls. I think there is very little difference between the route sheet and the track with respect to knowing where you are. In the old days orgs would quite often recommend OS maps to help re-find the route after an error. That tradition has gone. A number of times I've come across riders relying on the route sheets and no way of validating their current cue line because they have no maps, electronic or otherwise.
I spent 15 years following route sheets and where I have been busy with work and just stuffed the route sheet on my handlebars and followed it have regularly suffered from the not knowing where I am syndrome. To appreciate where I am I need to have studied the route sheet or GPX against a map before the event, or have doe the event many times before. As John says, one of the best ways of understanding the route and knowing where you are is to transcribe a route sheet into a GPX.
I started using GPS in 2012 because I was struggling with route sheets at night due to eyesight. The problem is a combination of being able to focus on the route sheet text without blinding myself with reflected head torch light and being able to read sufficient cues from the surroundings, e.g. sign posts that point in the direction of travel. I don't use the route sheet on the ride anymore unless I have doubt about a control. I do use the route sheet for planning a ride if I find time. I always carry one because they are authoritative, don't rely on batteries/dynamo converters and won't crash unlike a
popular common brand of GPS device. The GPS also allows me to zoom out on a map and see where I am! I will never get stuck if my GPS fails but it could be very slow going though a night - and I'd probably lose the EC points. I also find that not relying an a route sheet gives me more time to enjoy the countryside, worry about dark clouds, marvel at double rainbows and watch the road.
I'm sure a few riders will will just read a route sheet before they leave home and ride from memory. I would fail at turn 3. There are many ways of solving most problems.
Hunting for GPX files is only a problem if it causes work/stress for an organiser. Maybe there needs to be a prominent statement somewhere on the events page stating that routes are defined by route sheets and a GPX may not be available.