Route planning and execution

[fatblokish]

I would like to know if there is any software etc available to meet my rather exacting route planning requirements.

Here they are;
Planning

1. Should be able to plan the route on my windows pc.
2. Should recognise dedicated/shared cycle paths (Cycle streets does, but Bikely and mapmyride both dont).
3. Should be able to put in a destination and it works out the best route (cyclestreets is very good at this). Alternatively should be able to record a turn by turn route according to my selections (both bikely and mapmyride do this, however see 2. above)
4. Should be able to provide an elevation profile and total ascent/descent (Bikley used to do this, but it appears as though this functionality is now limited to a weak looking profile graph)
5. Should be able to export this somehow to my android phone

Route instructions
Whilst I am out on the bike, I'd like

1. To keep my phone in my jersey, not mounted on the bars
2. To keep the screen off and instead just have the phone shout " Turn Left", "Bear right", "Straight on" , "faster you wimp" etc to save battery life.
3. To be able to find out distance remaining.

Am I asking for the impossible, is there a one stop solution, a sequence of programmes? Or do I need to shell out for new hardware.

Help please. Otherwise it's back to carrying bits of rumpled paper and a spirit level.

 

[fatblokish]

OK, perhaps I am asking for too much. What is the next best thing then?

 

[Flying Dodo]

With bikehike and ridewithgps which are my preferred mapping options, you can turn off the follow roads option, so that you can plot a route with sections going on dedicated cycle paths/off road.

 

[HLaB]

The aforementioned RWGPS is my favourite at the moment combined with Memory Map, the latter hasn't great features an is not fast (no auto follow) but it s good for quickly panning around (exploring) and its OS is good for making quick decisions on the state of a road/track.

 

[srw]

The closest you'll get to your rather exacting requirements is to use a Garmin (ono) GPS unit (I have an eTrex, but I gather they've been superceded) on the bike, with a combination of online and Garmin mapping on the PC to prep. Battery life is excellent - about 24 hours of use, with the screen on permanently.

I've never understood the obsession with "do-it-all" gadgets. They never do anything particularly well. I have a small mobile phone, a wi-fi tablet, a laptop and a GPS. Each does its primary job pretty well, and the phone doubles up as an adequate portable FM radio. And it's probably cheaper than a smartphone contract.

 

[dellzeqq]

OK, perhaps I am asking for too much. What is the next best thing then?

buy an ordnance survey map

 

[GrumpyGregry]

The closest you'll get to your rather exacting requirements is to use a Garmin (ono) GPS unit (I have an eTrex, but I gather they've been superceded) on the bike, with a combination of online and Garmin mapping on the PC to prep. Battery life is excellent - about 24 hours of use, with the screen on permanently.

They still make a range of eTrex's srw, they are just a little more bling these days compared with the old skool ones. The supreme benefit of eTrex is, as you say, battery life, and the availability of spare batteries wherever you are.

I do my route planning as follows: road atlas -> PC -> bikehike -> eTrex Vista HCx -> front door -> ride like you stole it.

 

[PpPete]

I plan on Bikehike - which has options to use routing algorithms from Google (Driving or Walking) or Open Street Maps (Driving, Cycling or Walking - Cycling option follwos cycle routes) as well as providing a "window" on the familiar Ordnance survery mapping at all scales, and/or an elevation window with stats.
It can export the "track" directly to my Etrex Legend, but I usually run it via Garmin's Mapsource program on which I can set up named waypoints on junctions and create a "route" from that. Then a little bit of jiggery pokery with the various options and I can follow the track on the screen/ and have it countdown the distance to the next junction / bleep at me and light up the backlight on the screen, and tell me (on screen) which way to turn as I approach.
As mentioned previously battery life is excellent. A 200 mile ride without battery change is perfectly possible, even at my arthritic pace. Would I like a bigger screen ? Of course, but that would hit the battery big time, and I think anything on the market today that gives spoken instructions will struggle to do more than 2 - 3 hours.

 

[srw]

I do my route planning as follows: road atlas -> PC -> bikehike -> eTrex Vista HCx -> front door -> ride like you stole it.

Google maps + google streetview + mapmyride.com + streetmap.co.uk --> Garmin Memory Map route --> eTrex Vista HCx --> front door --> pootle*. Depending on the bike I/we may also have an appropriate map on the handlebars.

*I may be wrong about the pootling - I suspect I/we go a little faster than that really.

 

[emulsifier12]

The software you are looking for OsmAnd, for your Android phone that uses turn by turn navigation from GPX files. This is a copy of the thread I started yesterday, so sorry folks if you have read this, but this might help you Fatblokish if you have an Android based phone. You create a GPX file (custom cycle route) and then it uses your GPS to follow that route with turn by turn navigation by voice and on screen display.

I struggled to find a free program that does voice navigation of GPX files. There are many programs that can record and track your ride and create GPX files from your rides, but none that can use the GPX file to give you turn by turn navigation by voice. It allows you to download the maps and gpx files and use them 'offline'. No need for expensive data costs. Below are some instructions on how to install and configure it. I hope that my instructions below are accurate and will help you. Let me know if I need to add or change anything. I thought I would post this in know how section as it explains how to install and setup the software.


OsmAnd (Open Source Maps for Android) version 0.7.1
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.osmand&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd
or
http://www.appbrain.com/app/osmand/net.osmand
1. Install OsmAnd via Android's Play Store. I also installed 'OsmAnd Voice Import' and 'OsmGpxUploader'
2. Download offline maps. Click on settings, offline data, download and click on europe to expand and then on the UK map, GB england europe (zip) Map 290mb. Set the software to use offline vector maps under settings, map configuration and tick offline vector maps.
3. Download a voice, use the same menu from settings, offline data and click on download and browse the voices. I have used a TomTom voice called 'tim loud' that I downloaded from a 3rd party website. Change the voices under settings, navigation and voice guidance. You can test the voice under settings, general settings and test voice prompts.
4. Register on http://ridewithgps.com/, create a route, make sure that the start and end are near to each other but not the same spot (do not overlap) as the software (OsmAnd) gets confused with looped routes.Save the route and then download the GPS file to your phone.
5. Create a folder in the OsmAnd folder on your SD card under OsmAnd called tracks (sdcard/osmand/tracks.
Copy your 3rd party downloaded voices into the voices folder.
Copy your .GPX file you exported from RidewithGPS into the tracks folder.

Activate / Turn on your phones GPS.

Open OSMAND.
Click on your menu button on the black part of screen, (mine is the one with 4 lines, between home and the back button), this brings up a load of options,
1. click on define view, tick the boxes you want, for me it was GPX track, overlay and underlay map. then back to the top of the screen, click on Map Source... choose offline vector maps. (the ones you downloaded earlier will be used).
Now to navigate.
2.click on menu button again and click on directions, gpx route and choose your gpx file. Click on tick boxes, I chose use current destination and pass along entire track.

Then let it navigate for you.​