[Closed] Best way to plot a route?

Only way i do it is with my GPS and waypoints or waymarks, i might check something like Strava for the segment to make sure i'm on the actual route, but i tend to focus on those areas that could cause confusion and put a waypoint down and use the GPS to understand i need to go N/E/S/W of that waypoint.

As per your bit, any time i try to make a GPX or follow one, i end up too focused on it that it gets annoying, or my GPS is just a pain to me trying to follow it.

Oh yeah, i tend to do the waymarking via bing.com/maps and change to OS view, then zoom in and check the route, then do any waypoints after understanding the route and area, and the reasoning for picking that waypoint. Can be a bit of time prior to a ride, but also makes you think about checking areas and so on.

Try bikehike.co.uk lets you use a combination of Google and OS maps and you can export the entire thing to a GPS.

Just found Ride with GPS and that has OS Outdoors mapping that you can plot a route straight onto which looks excellent.

I will try that.

Thanks.

Strava route builder with the heatmap overlay is handy for plotting routes alone where people actually go, rather than where the paths on the maps are.

I plot everything in OS maps then export, either to Garmin Etrex or to follow via Komoot on 'phone. Plotting on OS maps dead easy. Transferring px to my Etrex is hit and miss though.

I currently use:

https://www.plotaroute.com

I'm with qwerty
It's free and easy to use.
For my neck of the woods it is particularly useful as there are roads marked that don't exist which i can cut out, and there are roads marked as dead ends that go through, and i can draw over the map to connect points. I save as gpx then upload to a Wahoo through the app.

I couldn't get Komoot to work as easily. YMMV 😛

In what way "shyte"? What are you expecting from the unit and the loaded file?

I use bikehike.co.uk but all the mapping/routing sites have their foibles and it's usually a case of finding one that matches how you work.

As for being crap with navigation - maybe a book and some practice? A GPS doesn't take away the need to use your brain - I say this as someone who regularly has to deal with drivers following their satnav past a no-through road sign and wondering where that lovely tarmac has gone.

I find Garmin Connect on a PC is the best for road routes, because it follows the roads. Off road I use OS maps and export the GPX from there.

Strava with heat maps, works well for me. I think you need a premium sub to use it though.

Strava for me. used plenty of others to try them but tend to revert back to it after i find them a bit fiddly.

Heatmaps is a good addition which does help see where the path actually goes rather than what it shows on a map. When i do it though i tend to have 2 or 3 tabs open (one is the online OS maps, the other usually google sattelite) just to cross reference.

Save to strava, then download the strava app for my 520plus and run it from there rather than exporting to GPX.

I’ve been looking at building routes on Komoot myself

It's not the best tool for it, TBH, Komoot want you just to choose a start and finish point and fill in the blanks itself. It will let you build a route, but it really isn't designed for it, and doesn't really want to be used like that. Which is why it's a very frustrating user experience.

If I'm building a route for a Garmin, I use their own Connect software.

In what way “shyte”? What are you expecting from the unit and the loaded file?

This.
You need to understand the route that you put into the GPS and the settings on the GPS itself (was it set to auto-reroute if you go off course, is it set to "road" rather than "MTB" (or vice versa)...?

A gpx file is a collection of waypoints, all it's doing is guiding you from A to B. If the unit settings are on (say) road) and you have an offroad route from A to B, don't be surprised if the unit decides to replot your course to what it wants. You need to check the unit settings.

Personally, I use Strava route plotter, tweak the course to what I want (which sometimes requires use of a LOT of waypoints to force the route along a certain path rather than where the "route by popularity" algorithm wants to take you) and then upload to Garmin. Mine is set to accept whatever it is given and to ask before rerouting. Even then it will still come up with a few anomalies and some of the nav is a bit esoteric. It will quite often warn me multiple times of a bend in the road where there is literally no other direction option - get to a roundabout or major junction in town though when early notification of the correct exit would be really useful and it'll be silent!

Komoot for me but that's because I've put a lot of time into learning it and not dipped in and out.

If you're expecting amazing rotes with no effort then you'll be disappointed with them all.

No plotting service will be perfect, just pick one and work with it.

As others have suggested, it's just a case of choosing a route building tool and sticking with it.
Personally I use RideWithGPS , but only because a riding partner had a bunch of routes in there already.
I think they all need you to get used to using them, there is a bit of experience and learning involved, but once you've got it sussed it'll be fine.
I've now come to enjoy the route plotting thing, it's quite calm; I might take a few minutes everyday to plot and refine a route to ride at the weekend, maybe based on a previous ride, or somewhere completely new to me; but never try to make a route on the same day as riding

Ride with GPS works well for me too. I like the ability to change map styles from OS to open cycle and satellite views, it's easy to find your way around it which also helps. I found it far easier to use than Komoot.

I use Strava to plan routes, and then use the Strava widget on my Garmin to automatically sync the routes from Strava. By far the easiest way I've done it. I'm fairly sure there'll be a widget for Komoot that does this too.

Re the iPad, I can imagine it'd be tricky to plot routes with you finger - it's been nearly impossible every time I've tried. Much much easier with a mouse.

I think all the online route planning apps have their foibles. One of the main issues I've found is that mapping and crucially routing come from Open Street Maps which is maintained by anyone who cares to contribute. A lot of people who do so often don't understand the implications of their contributions to routing.

I tend to use cycle.travel and I agree Strava heat maps can be a useful tool too.

I use the Strava tool. As above the heatmap tool is so useful for seeing where people actually ride vs. theoretical rights of way marked on the OS map. I always have an OS map up as well though to cross-reference. Strava then nicely syncs across to Garmin Connect so there's no manual steps needed to get it on the Garmin device.

I use Komoot, partly as my lezyne gps links with it. But as above, some of the routing is a bit sus. Some routes looks good on a road bike are certainly not. Some paths good for mtb are not accessible as they are historic paths.

I'm using thr Garmin connect app to plan all my rides now. Tried all sorts of free ones but this is by far the best for me.

Select road, gravel or mtb. Brings up a heat map (different shades of purple)

Either click start and end and let it plot a route for you or design it turn by turn. When plotting a road route it keeps your route on the roads so you don't have to be accurate.

Save the route. Download as gpx file and send to my wahoo. Really easy to use and free.

For the route you are after I would be tempted to download the SDW double gpx and edit it to your needs. That's what I started with for the Winchester to Eastbourne gpx I used last time.

Having said no planner is perfect I'm currently trying to build a gpx just north of Betws-y-coed and have OS, OSM, Strava, Google street map and Google earth open as none of them seem to match.

bikehike for me, as I can have OS and OSM maps side by side. OS maps are good for showing the rights of way accurately. Open Street Map is more likely to get the trail in the right place, as it's mostly made from GPS tracks.

sorry, slight hijack... does anyone know where to find a map key for OSM (not OS) maps? what do the various coloured, dotted or dashed, thick or thin, etc etc lines mean?

Depends. OSM is just the data, and the data can be rendered by whoever, in various styles.

In opencyclemap there's a link called "Key and more info" at the bottom right, and in openstreetmap,there's an "i" button on the right that shows a key, for most layers/styles.

TBF it's only a summary, not exhaustive key.

As for the GPX, it also depends on whether the "route" is a route or a track. One is designed for telling you where to go and the other is designed for recording where you have been. But since a route typically has a limited number of allowed points, and a track is a massive limit, many site use tracks as a "route", but really it's more like following a breadcrumb trail. GPX is just a container... can contain waypoint, routes or tracks, or any combination of those.

Strava route builder here. I have two monitors so put Strava website on one, and google maps on the other. Plot the route using Strava, sometimes with heatmaps, and then check on google maps satellite view to make sure I'm plotting a narrow country lane rather than a farmers track. Works very well. Then sync to Wahoo Elemnt Roam for turn by turn navigation.