Route Planning Made Easy Using RideWithGPS

 RideWithGPS is an easy to use online mapping tool that was designed with cyclists in mind.  It allows cyclists to plan and share their routes, find another user's route to follow or analyze their ride performance afterward.  Use it to plan out a ride on a new route, to train for an upcoming ride or race, or plot out a gravel road ride to get you ready for that gravel grinder century. 

Planning out a ride is simple.  RideWithGPS tutorials demonstrating Basic Route Planning and Advanced Route Planning will instruct users on how to use the site's features and avoid common mistakes.

I have been using RideWithGPS for a while now and found the service very user friendly.  I can share my favorite routes via my blog, Facebook, Twitter or with other RideWithGPS users by making my maps Public.  Try other user's routes by selecting the Search button when signed into your account and refine your search by Start Location, Length, Elevation Gain or Keyword.

Once you have found a route or created your own, you can transfer the map to your Garmin Edge device or use the Cue Sheet app for Android to follow your route using an Android smartphone.  See my post "Cue Sheet for Android Will Keep You on Course".  Select the Export tab on the map to download GPX files for use with other apps and devices or print out cue sheets for your ride.  RideWithGPS does not have an Android or iPhone app yet, but is currently developing an Android app which will be used as a reference for an iPhone app.

For those of you not using a Garmin Edge, tracking your ride and uploading it to RideWithGPS can be done with a number of smartphone apps.  Do this to save a route map for later use or to analyze your ride statistics.  For iPhone there is Cyclemeter,  Blackberry has GPSpeedOMeter Pro and for Android you can use My Tracks or Velodroid.  I prefer Velodroid for its accuracy and functions.  It uses Google Maps satellite imagery mapping in real time, has in ride statistics using speech capability, works as a bike computer and keeps track of all of your important ride statistics.  For mapping and post ride analysis, Velodroid  is integrated  with RideWithGPS upload functionality.

For you gravel grinders, RideWithGPS route mapping is a great tool for planning out long distance country gravel road rides.  I use it with the satellite image layer to map out my gravel routes by zooming in and following only upaved roads.  I can create a number of different mileage routes while seeing the elevation and grade changes to aid in training for an upcoming gravel century ride I would like to do.

I enjoy the ease of creating route maps using RideWithGPS and the ability to share them with other cyclists.  If you're tired of the same old rides, sign up for free and start mapping out a new route or search for another user's route in your area.  Soon there will be an Android app and later an iPhone app that will provide even more ease of use.

For more information, vistit the FAQ page.  More tutorial videos can be found on the RideWithGPS You Tube channel.