Planning your route

[WilliamT]

When I go riding on a route that I've never done before, I go through the route on google maps and take screenshots of any spots that may get lost on.

Each screenshot is pasted into an editor as I move through the route.

When I'm done, I print out the entire trip making notes by hand on any points of interest in the screen.

All the pages are stapled and carried along with me.

Q) I was wondering if there was an easier way to plan a new route. I tried google maps but it always reroute to the shortest distance even if you don't want it to because its not safe.

I even logged into some app called Strava because there is suppose to be a trip planner. That was difficult to use and didn't always line up.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Try Ride With GPS. Not too bad of a learning curve, turn by turn directions on any route you plan. I’ve been keeping track of every mile for a couple of years using it.

 

[WilliamT]

I'll probably end up getting a GPS device and hopefully software that can handle trails. Google maps is terrible in terms of displaying your routes because it changes the route even if you don't want it to. It tries to find the shortest distance even if that route is far more dangerous.

 

[OrTrek]

Gaiagps is another option.

 

[webcurl]

Try Ride With GPS. Not too bad of a learning curve, turn by turn directions on any route you plan. I’ve been keeping track of every mile for a couple of years using it.

+1 & AlpineQuest for offline maps

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I use a combination of Google Maps, Ridewithgps, and Garmin Connect to plan routes. I also use American Cycling Association maps and routes sometimes, as well TrailLink (Rails-to-trails conservancy) for route information.

I also like guidebooks if they are available for the area, in particular the Cycling Sojourner series for Oregon and Washington by Ellee Thalheimer are very good.

Ride Oregon Ride is a great resource for planning trips on Oregon's most excellent cycling routes and their network of scenic bikeways.

I typically download cue sheets and routes to my Garmin Edge and copy those cue sheets to my phone.

It is also a good idea to spend a fair amount of time on the phone researching my planned routes. I tend to follow a lot of back roads and "roads" that aren't even roads, and all of Google Maps, Ridewithgps, and Garmin Connect have given me broken directions over the years, so it is wise if you do so to double-check with land management agencies whether a road is actually open (or even exists) -- nothing is a bigger bummer than to be confronted with a monster impassable washout ten miles from town and no way to get around it but to backtrack many dozens of miles. It is also a good idea to contact any campgrounds you will be staying at to make sure usable outlets are available, and to make sure you get a ground floor room if you stay at a hotel.

 

[webcurl]

I keep forgetting this is a USA only forum
Depends on where you're going.
Here in Australia you sometimes have to go through Google Satellite view, zoom in just to determine if it's a sealed or dirt road
What i find useful here is with AlpineQuest you can cache on your phone tiles of an area with Nokia satellite imagery.
With no real way of determining the quality of a dirt road at all, could be smooth & hard, could be corrugated to heck or could by sandy as.
+1 to the last part of what Mr. Coffee said above.

 

[webcurl]

I'll probably end up getting a GPS device and hopefully software that can handle trails. Google maps is terrible in terms of displaying your routes because it changes the route even if you don't want it to. It tries to find the shortest distance even if that route is far more dangerous.

We're all talking about other options here where you plan a route first, whilst riding along that route they don't do much re-routing.
Google doesn't have an option to "dial-in" the original route so it's constantly re-routing to get to the destination.

 

[Hectors Ghost]

Try Ride With GPS. Not too bad of a learning curve, turn by turn directions on any route you plan. I’ve been keeping track of every mile for a couple of years using it.

I ride for as much at 12 hours at a time and a GPS and phone both suck power horribly. I carry a 27,000mAh back-up in the bar-bag just to compensate. I just ride. If I get lost I locate where I am and then ride some more. The less time I have to play with electronics and the more time I am on the bike works for me, one of the advantages of having 100+ mile range and lots of time.