Use Maplocs Cycling Route Planner for Android to Easily Plan Rides

Maplocs Cycling Route Planner is an excellent free app for Android devices to map out rides, check elevation profiles, estimate ride time and export planned routes to gps devices and apps. It's simple to use and very convenient making it my go-to app for planning rides quickly without the use of a desktop computer.

Planning the Route

Planning the route is as easy as tapping the screen to plot your points. Mistaken points can be removed by tapping the undo button and this removes the last point.  Location and distance from the last point appear at the bottom of the screen for each plotted point.  Once the desired route is completed there are numerous options to take it from there by tapping the bicycle button in the lower right-hand corner.

These options allow the user to save the route, show the elevation profile, export a GPX file or send to a connected Garmin or Wahoo device.  The "Show Directions" option will have in-app navigation coming soon but for now Google Maps will not use the route created in Maplocs.

The settings for the app are pretty simple, select the unit of measurement, route type, input your average speed, select map type and Garmin or Wahoo for the connected bike computer.  Feedback and contacting the app developer can also be done from the settings menu.

Exporting Routes 

For those that don't have a Garmin or Wahoo device, Maplocs makes it easy to create a GPX file for export into an app or other gps device.  After tapping the bicycle button in the lower right corner select "Export GPX", enter the name for the file and select "Create".  The gpx file will be saved in the Maplocs folder on your phone for sharing or export.

For Garmin Connect and Wahoo Fitness users it's even easier to get the route on your Garmin or Wahoo gps device.  Tap the bicycle button, select "Send to Garmin" or "Send to Wahoo" and the Garmin Connect or Wahoo Fitness app takes it from there.

Shown above and below are screenshots from the Garmin Connect app once I sent the route to Garmin.  The Garmin Connect app opens up and shows pertinent information about the route and allows for editing of the course name, type and privacy setting.  Selecting the star in the right top corner will put it in your favorites in Garmin Connect.  To get the route on the Garmin device simply select the "Send to Device" option from the drop down menu in the right corner.  Next time the Garmin is turned on it will download the route if connected to wi-fi otherwise it can be synced by connecting via USB cable to a computer using the Garmin Connect desktop app.

I was amazed how easy it was to create a route, save it and send it to my Garmin device for navigation.  No more plotting out a route on my desktop computer, saving and dragging it onto my Garmin Edge.  Now I simply hit the "Send to Garmin" button in the app, edit the course details, "Send to Device" and turn on my Garmin Edge Computer with available wi-fi to download the route automatically.  What could be easier?  Try out the Maplocs Cycling Route Planner today and ride somewhere new.