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Apps for Bicycle Directions

jakecoppinger.blog

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Re: Apps for Bicycle Directions

#101

Post by yunusabd »

lmm wrote: post #96
yunusabd wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see, I'll play around with it a little more then. The thing is that the OSMAnd route looked way worse, and from using it on shorter routes occasionally I didn't really trust it.

Yeah, OSMAnd's built-in routing isn't great. But anything based around exporting a GPX from one app and using it in another is going to have the problem you describe; the only way to avoid it is to find an all-in-one app that's good enough on all fronts (or possibly use a fancier format like TCX).

TCX sounds cool, and apparently it's going to be supported in the next release of openrouteservice [1]. Looking forward to that, since the route itself was pretty solid.

[1] https://github.com/GIScience/openrouteservice-app/pull/323

Re: Apps for Bicycle Directions

#102

Post by ben_w »

lmm wrote: post #93
ben_w wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was trying to do the EuroVelo 15 route just over two years ago, it was really obvious Google Maps thought I could maintain sprint speeds all day long. It also didn’t understand the impact of hills, which is why I cut the attempt short (1080 km) after it redirected me up a Swiss hill instead of keeping me close to the Rhine. I would’ve preferred a GPX to follow, but I couldn’t find any of that route.

Two years ago there were definitely GPXes for that route on RideWithGPS - I don't know if https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13794818 (2016) was the one I followed or not, but it looks like it would work. (Also, it's well-signposted, and in any case the whole point of the route is to follow the biggest river in Europe, you don't need a lot of navigational aids).

Thanks, I’ll use that if I get a chance to do the reminder of the route.

I took a wrong turn in Eiken, which isn’t directly next to the river, and didn’t notice my mistake until I’d already exhausted myself. The nice scenery was a pleasant but unfortunate distraction.

Re: Apps for Bicycle Directions

#103

Post by cf »

davito88 wrote: post #41
cf wrote: post #31

I'm curious is there something like OSM but for directions using public transit? Some public repository of bus and train times.

General Transit Feed Specification is a format for public transit agencies to publish this information. There are a few repositories like https://transitfeeds.com .

This looks really cool! I gotta figure out a way to contribute to this. Is this what OsmAnd uses to pull in transit information?

Re: Apps for Bicycle Directions

#104

Post by osdiab »

Unfortunately I haven’t found any good cycling mapping apps for Tokyo. Most apps try to take you down tiny streets but here those can be pretty dangerous and slow - lots of blind corners and super complicated routes. Best I’ve found is NAVITIME’s 自転車 app but honestly it’s pretty crappy. I end up just eyeballing medium-sized streets on Google Maps and navigate myself; really wish there was something better for here!

Re: Apps for Bicycle Directions

#105

Post by seaerkin »

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #68
seaerkin wrote: post #62

Any app that the majority of cyclists are using will win this battle. It's easy to map known bike trails, what's difficult is mapping a good road to bike on. There's so many factors that go into this, but the best and easiest way to get this data seems to be tracking what roads most cyclists are riding. This is exactly why strava heat map is the best for route planning IMHO. You can travel to any area and look at the…

Strava is often unideal for touring, because its recommended routes are where all the local sports cyclists are forced to go due to their thin little tires and lust for speed. Tourers might have thicker tires and so be comfortabke with less smooth roads if it means avoiding cars.

That is a good point. I have seen Strava prefer a higher traffic road near me and I then manually adjust that portion. It would be cool if Strava could provide some sort of "Avoid vehicle traffic" preference when route building.

Re: Apps for Bicycle Directions

#106

Post by kohlerm »

FYI komoot switched to vector maps a while ago. I generally like it for routing(MTB mostly) but lately they switched to a new (monthly) pricing model for some features I would like to have (difficulty). :-(

Re: Apps for Bicycle Directions

#107

Post by neves »

Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #51
BattyMilk wrote: post #22

For the most part, city riding is pretty well served by Google maps IMO. A few years ago, following Google maps cycling directions me and a couple of friends on road bikes were led through muddy forest trails, old rail road tracks and green lanes on a London -> Paris The difficulty with cycling directions is that there's not a 1 size fits all solution, a roadie needs smooth road but would prefer it quiet and scenic,…

> A few years ago, following Google maps cycling directions me and a couple of friends on road bikes were led through muddy forest trails, old rail road tracks and green lanes on a London -> Paris Yep. It's clear that Google Maps optimises for city riding and that's cool, but it does fall down badly on longer tours. To a large degree this is inevitable - only OSM actually has the level of surface quality information…

Nice. When I'm on vacation I always want a leisure rote, with the best views, not the fastest as the GPS usually gives me. Hope someone makes one of these for cars.

Re: Apps for Bicycle Directions

#108

Post by petre »

Naac wrote: post #25
BattyMilk wrote: post #22

For the most part, city riding is pretty well served by Google maps IMO. A few years ago, following Google maps cycling directions me and a couple of friends on road bikes were led through muddy forest trails, old rail road tracks and green lanes on a London -> Paris The difficulty with cycling directions is that there's not a 1 size fits all solution, a roadie needs smooth road but would prefer it quiet and scenic,…

But generally what you want from these bikes apps is a recording of your run. So that you can see a speed/elevation graph, maybe overlaid on a power graph. These apps should also let you export/import gps data, which Google does not do. For simple directions around town I agree that Google Maps is good enough, but as soon as you're beyond riding just to get from point A to B, it's nice to have something more.

Get a cheap Garmin Edge 130. It's great for that. Phones are too big and drain the battery like there's no tomorrow.

Re: Apps for Bicycle Directions

#109

Post by mistersquid »

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #67
mistersquid wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Maps consistently provides cycling directions that go the wrong way on one-way streets. This is unacceptable given that cycling the wrong way is illegal and dangerous.

What country? In many countries cycling again traffic on one-way roads is actually legal.

> What country?

The US in San Francisco, where cycling against traffic is illegal.

Re: Apps for Bicycle Directions

#110

Post by SmellTheGlove »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #27
SmellTheGlove wrote: post #16

Since moving to SF, I've _really_ wanted to take the plunge and start biking to work (COVID notwithstanding). I haven't done it yet, though, because I'm not super confident on routes that prefer protected lanes and minimize hills. This post was super helpful. Citymapper wasn't even on my radar, but now I want to go grab a bike rental and give it a shot.

For SF in particular, you could consider an ebike, given the number of hills in the city.

Yeah, pretty sure I will. I've cultivated enough mass to probably need one to start :)
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