I thought Google Maps was irretrievable broken for Audax purposes. I remembered this thread from when it all went belly up, with all the bemoaning about it being the end of DIY Perms as we knew it.
I'm just in the process of planning my York Summer Dart route, and I've very successfully plotted onto Google Maps what I intend with no trouble at all, and I'm now wondering what all the fuss was about. I have 7 controls (including start and finish) in walking mode, and it's giving me what looks to be a reliable shortest-distance route for over 300km. My actual ride will be more than that of course, but with careful positioning of my controls my actual is within 5% over the minimum which I find quite acceptable.
On re-reading the thread, I see that the problem was that there is now a maximum of 10 controls, which now leaves me quite perplexed. Surely any ride of up to 300km which needs more than 10 controls isn't really an Audax, it's just a bike ride. If it's a 600, then plan it in two separate files of 10 controls each. My own
Pair of Kirtons 600 Perm requires just 12 controls.
We have of course since adopted mandatory routes, something which I'm ambivalent about. I'm unlikely to use for my Perms - I very much prefer to give my rides a sense of adventure, and allow myself to take a different route on the day on a whim (while still reaching all my controls of course so the fewer of those the better).