RBR reader Ian R. of Edmonton, Alberta, tipped us off to a course mapping site called RunningMap.com. It lets you precisely measure any route you've ridden or plan to ride.

Using Yahoo maps, it's accurate to the hundredth of a mile or kilometer. For precision you need to insert measurement points several times around curves or it will give you the shortcut distance from one side to the other.

You'll see what we mean when you start playing with it. Fun & easy. www.runningmap.com

18 octobre 2007

We got lots of e-mail after issue No. 312's note about a course mapping website called runningmap.com. It's not the only site that lets you design routes or measure roads ridden -- not by a long shot -- and it sounds like it may not be the best.

If you're interested in an online way to calculate courses, check these other sites too. We can't vouch for them, but these roadies do :

• www.toporoute.com doesn't require clicking multiple times to go around a curve. It has logic to follow the road. For bike paths and shortcuts that aren't roads, it allows you to "not follow the road." It also has an elevation feature. You can even create a link to your route and e-mail it to friends. -- Kurt J.

• www.bikely.com uses Google maps. It's got some great features including an elevation chart. I've been using it for years. -- Cory B.

• www.mapmyride.com lets riders save their routes and e-mail them to friends or post them on the Map My Ride website for access by the internet community. This could be a good source for finding a decent route when visiting an unfamiliar area. A route can be uploaded to Google Earth to overlay it there. -- Bob B.

• www.mapmyride.com has a "follow roads" option where you don't have to put lots of points around curves to get accurate results. -- Mike E.

• veloroutes.org offers GPX and Google Earth export plus auto-routing, a feature that makes the route lines "snap" to the road. -- Matt M., veloroutes creator

• www.routeslip.com has many routes mapped out and also includes elevation profiles. -- Tracy G.

• www.cyclistnexus.com is very much a work in progress but there are some awesome features. You can track weekly mileage, favorite routes, weekly elevation gain and heart rate info. Plus you can plan out events and group rides. Keep an eye on it. -- Tim A.

• maps.google.com. I like Google maps. They can automatically follow the corners for you. Google also gives turn-by-turn written directions for those who are map-reading challenged. Unfortunately the time estimates are off since it assumes you will be traveling at the speed limit. It also doesn't give you an elevation profile. Here's the route of a recent 78.5-km ride: http://tinyurl.com/2exx6b -- Michael N.

• www.gmap-pedometer.com can use a hybrid view of satellite with street names. When your trusted Cateye computer is on the fritz then you can count on this site to count your miles. -- Bob S.

25 octobre 2007

Add these ride-mapping websites to the eight we gave you last week. These were sent in (with comments) by Rob A. of Webster Groves, Missouri.

• www.2wheeltech.com/biking/gmap.php An application that can be used to save any of kind of running, cycling or other route. The tool is based on the new interface that Google has provided for its Google Maps program.

• www.motionbased.com MotionBased is a web application that translates GPS data into functional analysis and online mapping for athletes. Affiliated with the Garmin GPS company.

• www.allsportgps.com My favorite, with Trimble AllSport GPS. It's designed to run on GPS-enabled cell phones and in web browsers, combining global positioning technology and mobile communications. It's free and works great with my Garmin Forerunner 301. Here's an example ride: a href=http://tinyurl.com/33f3xp target="new">tinyurl.com/33f3xp

We also heard from Fernando M. who says, "I’m surprised no one offered up www.bikeroutetoaster.com as one of the best mapping sites out there. It allows you to download in numerous formats and even saves your rides online.

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