I’ve got premium Strava and looking at the maps with routes. There’s little red flags with what looks like route names but I can’t click them or view them etc. So does anyone have any ideas if they are just there for show or if they are viewable
Tia

They’re a stupid waste of time, not sure what they’re for really. Called ‘start points’ or points of interest, but not sure how you would really use them unless you plan to hang around at popular start points hoping to latch on to other groups

On android, if you click and hold on one of the points of interest it suggest routes that other people have plotted that start/end/go via that point…

On android, if you click and hold on one of the points of interest it suggest routes that other people have plotted that start/end/go via that point…

Ah, I stand corrected, that does sound a bit more useful.

Have they fixed the map layers or is it still horrific for trying to route anything off-road?

It seems to have started showing cafes / garages etc, places where you can get food / drink which is helpful although right now it’s a bit sparse. Always good to know what cafe options you have when planning a route as so many come and go now.

Have they fixed the map layers or is it still horrific for trying to route anything off-road?

I don’t know what it was like before. But I plot off road routes on Strava. It goes wrong some times but i just switch to manual for a bit. I’ll have an os Map on another screen. I certainly haven’t found a better way to generate a gpx file

I certainly haven’t found a better way to generate a gpx file

I subscribe to OS mapping online which allows you to plot a route and export as a GPX, in national parks it also has a handy ‘snap to path’ feature which saves a lot of time.

I haven’t tried Strava but might have a go to compare.

Strava does the snap to path every where but it’s not completely reliable. Hence the need for manual some of the time. But it’s great benefit is that you can see where people actually ride which isn’t necessarily the same line as the right of way on an OS map. Essentially your plotting with the Strava heat map. But the Strava map didn’t show rights of way etc. which is why it’s best to look at the os map as well

I used OS mapping to generate GPX’s until recently when I tried Strava. I was amazed how easy it was to be honest. You can plot the route on a heatmap and it snaps to route as well. Plus all i have to do is then save it to “my routes” and it auto syncs to be Garmin 530.

Really impressed with it.

But the Strava map didn’t show rights of way etc. which is why it’s best to look at the os map as well.

Should generate a flag on your garmin like the segment alerts saying- “You’re on footpath – be 10/10 nice!”

I certainly haven’t found a better way to generate a gpx file

It’s one of those things where various options have differing strengths.

As well as Strava maps, I also use Garmin basecamp, with TalkyToaster maps loaded on my PC and my Garmin.
I usually have streetmmap co.uk open, in another browser window, for reference

After reading the comments above I’ve just given it another try, I’m comparing it to Ride with GPS (RWGPS).

For off-road, I set it to ‘prefer off-road surfaces’ and its routed me along a dotted white line, cross referencing this with RWGPS, its a footpath. Switch from OSM to Satellite layer and its a forgotten footpath across ploughed fields, even strava does not show any heat map activity across it. It seems to have prioritised Dirt surfaces over everything despite there being a quite country lane alternative that has is hugely popular. Last time I tried to create a route in this area it tried to take me down footpaths that are properly forgotten, they go through gardens with no trace on satellite view, and on streetview all the footpath access points are blurred out from one or more over-zealous residents, and when you cycle down there they are all disguised with branches, overgrown hedges and missing signs!

RWGPS does snap to route for walking/cycling/road but I don’t think you can set a preference over longer stretches, however the fact you can see the types of right of way means its still quick and easy to aim for road/gravel/mud.

I raised a ticket with strava regarding this ‘bug’ and also about introducing a layer that shows bridleway v footpaths, as per usual, completely ignored!

I really should just bin off strava and have a permanent subscription to RWGPS (I tend to just pay for a month at a time when I want to do some serious route planning), but I like Strava’s other features, although RWGPS does now have its own heatmap.

Have they fixed the map layers or is it still horrific for trying to route anything off-road?

It’s good, but only if the path exists on the base map which is from Open Streetmap. And being open, if the path is on the ground but not on the map, you can add it!

It’s better than OS in many ways because as we all know there are loads of RoWs that are impassible, and Strava should know they are not popular and not send you down them; but at the very least you should be eyeballing the global heat map yourself so you should see if a track has people riding it or not.

I subscribe to Strava so it displays the heat map on top of the regular map so I can route myself. There’s no way I’d trust it to actually plot a decent MTB route long distance on its own. There are waaaay too many variables for that.

I’m with Molgrips on this. The heat map is massively valuable. But needs to be seen in conjunction with an os map. I could click through on an OS map but the resulting file is less accurate in use than the one from an OS map.

No software I have used can actually create an off read route on its own

Strava routing is a mess around me at the moment. They switched to a different map provider a few months back and since then it is generally crap.

I used to find it worked a treat at plotting routes which were open to cyclists but didn’t exist as a path. I believe it used the heatmap as a source. Nowadays, not so much.

Sure, I can update openstreetmap, but it takes upwards of a week for that to sync to the strava mapping provider. Plus I think we have some local grumpy walkers actively removing cycle access from openstreetmap where access is confirmed as permitted. Solution, I now plot all my routes as hiking. Or use Komoot.

Strava? I’m currently in Costa Adeje on Tenerife, went for a wander today & reckon we’ve walked about 3 miles. Strava says we’ve done 7, the vast majority around the hotel. I did at least 1 mile sitting in a restaurant down the road.
What’s that all about?

Strava? I’m currently in Costa Adeje on Tenerife, went for a wander today & reckon we’ve walked about 3 miles. Strava says we’ve done 7, the vast majority around the hotel. I did at least 1 mile sitting in a restaurant down the road.
What’s that all about?

@esselgruntfuttock what device?
If you sit still indoors with a gps running it looses some satellites so gets less accurate. Whenever it grabs a gps signal accuracy changes and it records that as a movement, some of these can be a few meters, some can be much more. Strava probably looks like a scribble over the restaurant.
Phone in a backpack? Yep, same accuracy issues happen there too.

Strava is an App that logs what your phone gps is saying the phones position.

Motorola G7 Power, Android.
Been ok today, 7 miles again but didn’t stop much.
@seriousrikk that makes sense TBF.

I did at least 1 mile sitting in a restaurant

I’d take that. In fact I could have a go at the KoM.

(Strava sometimes for inspiration; OS maps usually for planning; strava always to see retrospectively what I’ve done. Start points? No interest.)