want to plot a route and then download it to my etrex 30,ill be riding the trail myself at the weekend but im a novice at this kind of thing but want to learn how to do it,whats the best website to use.thanks matt

bikehike, gpxeditor or ridewithgps all seem to work ok, though there are others. Plot your route, save as a track, copy to the GPX folder on your etrex, then follow the line on screen.

I use bikehike Matt. I find it the easiest to use - just plot the route, save as a gpx TRACK then either to desktop or gps.

... and Chris got there first

thanks

There's also plotaroute.com. I've just started using it and it supports all the GPX file types.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a site that works on mobile for plotting routes? My laptop has gone kaput and I like tweaking rides when I've got the paper maps out, which is a bit tricky in the office.

AndyTheBikeGuy wrote:Does anyone have any recommendations for a site that works on mobile for plotting routes? My laptop has gone kaput and I like tweaking rides when I've got the paper maps out, which is a bit tricky in the office.

You can do it on the Viewranger app but I find it incredibly fiddly and annoying. I suspect most mouse-less route plotting will be similar tbh.

chris n wrote:bikehike, gpxeditor or ridewithgps all seem to work ok, though there are others. Plot your route, save as a track, copy to the GPX folder on your etrex, then follow the line on screen.

Bearbonesnorm wrote:I use bikehike Matt. I find it the easiest to use - just plot the route, save as a gpx trail then either to desktop or gps.

... and Chris got there first

There's a subtle difference between saving as track and trail, as my problems from a previous post show.
Sorry to contradict Stu, but for etrex all my problems disappeared when I saved gpx as TRACK.

http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB ... 30#p140662

Indeed. I chose my words very carefully.

There's a subtle difference between saving as track and trail, as my problems from a previous post show.
Sorry to contradict Stu, but for etrex all my problems disappeared when I saved gpx as TRACK.

Sorry, I meant to write track (I'm a nob), I shall edit my post so as not to cause any confusion.

plotted my first route for the 3 day weekend,works out to be 119 miles,got most of the bridleways from guide books but the rest will be pot luck,how do you tell from a map if the bridleway is rideable

how do you tell from a map if the bridleway is rideable

It's difficult and often impossible. However, if there's black dashes shown below the green RoW dashes (1:25k maps) then it indicates that as well as a RoW, there is also a physical track present. No black dashes and there's a very good chance that nothing exists that in any way would be described as rideable or even pushable Some areas of the country are much worse than others, with the National Parks tending to fair better.

You can't! There's a few online tools you can use:

Strava heat maps - the brighter the line the more use it's seen. https://www.strava.com/heatmap

Geograph.org.uk - it tries to have a photo from every OS grid square but there's no guarantee that it's of the path/track, contributors often prefer old farm machinery. The main interface is a pain to use but there's a scrollable map that's much more intuitive - http://www.geograph.org.uk/browser/#!/d ... gesize=100

Bearbonesnorm wrote:

how do you tell from a map if the bridleway is rideable

It's difficult and often impossible. However, if there's black dashes shown below the green RoW dashes (1:25k maps) then it indicates that as well as a RoW, there is also a physical track present. No black dashes and there's a very good chance that nothing exists that in any way would be described as rideable or even pushable.

Maps can give a lot of clues, especially OS maps. Like Stu says, the black dashes can give an indication of an actual track. Other things to look out for are buildings; if a bridleway leads to a building, even a derelict building, there is a better chance of a trail on the ground (although it may only be true as far as the building and not beyond!).
Look at watercourses, especially the blue vein networks of small ones leading to bigger ones, in association with contours. If hill tops in Wales have wider spread contours and a network of small blue tributaries then chances are it will be boggy up there. Equally, if the valley is wide and flattish with lots of those blue veins then that too is likely to be boggy. If the contours are tighter and the ground rockier on high ground it's likely to be less boggy but more technically challenging.
Forestry plantations are mostly on land unsuitable for farming and bridleways through them can sometimes seem impenetrable but nine times out of ten there will be a forestry track that will meander its way to the same destination as an alternative.
Bridleways connecting villages and churches usually have some basis of a firm track as do old drovers routes between villages.
Bridleways on farmland are likely to have lots of gates!

I love maps...

thanks for the help

so this is whats happened managed to plot the route,saved it to my desk top,downloaded it to my garmin and sent it as a attachment to my email address.

how do i get it on to viewranger,feeling acomplished