Cycle Travel Question

[Richard Fairhurst]

Ah - looks like OSM didn't have the road marked as a double carriageway, so cycle.travel thought it could just turn right onto a single carriageway. I've just fixed it and it should be ok as of the next map update.

[gloomyandy]

Yep that sounds like the problem! Thanks for taking a look at it and for all of the effort in providing the tool!

Since I have your attention When you come to turns etc. you will get a notification to turn left/right etc. Is there any way to get this notification sooner? With my Edge 520 I often don't get the notification until after I have actually turned the corner or whatever. This may be down to my edge lagging a little when following a course, but if there was a way to get the information earlier I'd probably use it.

Thanks again!

[Richard Fairhurst]

Hm - just googled that (my own Garmin is an ancient eTrex so no help!). It looks like the Edge only announces the notifications at the actual turn itself, rather than "looking ahead"; so to get advance notification, I'd have to shift the notification in the .tcx file to 30m or so earlier.

Any Garmin experts able to confirm this? It looks like RideWithGPS offers this as a premium option ("Notify Before Turn"), and I'm not averse to adding stuff to cycle.travel for free which is paid-for on other sites.

[Bicycler]

I'm not sure about the cycling GPSs, but IIRC the outdoor models (etrex etc.) have a setting for adjusting the amount of pre-warning under the bizarre heading of "off road transitions" in the routing menu.

[mjr]

Slightly random semi-related question: does anyone know how to find the total length of cycle tracks in the UK from OSM?

[Richard Fairhurst]

New feature time!

I've just added a "Suggest a ride" button to the route-planner. Enter a start place, click the button, and it'll suggest two or three circular rides you can try. Drag the slider if you want a shorter/longer route, then click the one you want.

It usually comes up with enjoyable routes, especially in rural areas and for longer distances. There's a couple of things I still need to iron out (it sometimes chooses routes that aren't really circular, more like two out-and-back rides) but it's generally fun and fast.

I've also tweaked the placename entry on the route-planner so it autocompletes your typing.

[Paulatic]

New feature doesn't appear to load.
Using IPad iOS 9.3.2


I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my iPad using hovercraft full of eels.

[kolb]

Cycle.travel new feature works fine on my iPad mini; iOS 9.3.1.

[Heltor Chasca]

All ok on my iPad. Richard: One day we are all going to bully Queeny into giving you a well deserved knighthood for exemplary services to dreamy, cycle tourists. You are nearing 'David Attenborough' status in my opinion.

Thank you for at least the 17th time [emoji106]

[matt_twam_asi]

New feature doesn't appear to load.
Using IPad iOS 9.3.2

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my iPad using hovercraft full of eels.

Have you tried clearing your browser's cache? Just a guess.

Excellent new feature Richard. I'm not sure if it's a bug or a feature (I suspect the latter), but is it supposed to suggest a different set of routes if you click the button more than once?

[mark a.]

That looks fan-blimmin-tastic. Thanks Richard!

[Bicycler]

I'm not sure if it's a bug or a feature (I suspect the latter), but is it supposed to suggest a different set of routes if you click the button more than once?

I'd hope so, it's a nice feature but a bit inconsistent (which might not be it's fault - how is it meant to know the difference between a paved cycleway alongside a dual carriageway and one through lovely countryside). It definitely helps to be able to tell it to calculate another if its first attempt isn't what you want.

Richard - as these circular rides are for leisure, not transport, could urban routes be given a penalty so that there is less propensity for it to generate routes into big towns and cities?

[mjr]

It's quite nice to go take a look at a big city on two wheels, isn't it?

[Richard Fairhurst]

Glad people like it! Clicking it twice for new routes is 100% intentional. Broadly speaking, it works by choosing a bearing (e.g. due north), and looking for a route around that bearing. Clicking the button again chooses a new random bearing.

The urban issue is interesting. cycle.travel already has a slight overall penalty for routes in cities, mostly to stop long-distance routes gratuitously swerving into cities where there are lots of traffic-free routes (e.g. Birmingham on LEJOG). Ultimately I'd like to "paint" each route with some sort of attractiveness score - so the Regent's Canal towpath, for example, is more attractive than the roadside path along the A4 in West London. But doing that with standard database queries is really slow. I think I know how I can do it, but it'll require some pretty complex coding. Would be fun though...

[PRL]

We used it last month for cycling station-station through Paris and for routes out of Poitiers. Very pleased with the suggested routes and with the accommodation that we also selected ,and booked, through the site.

Presumably the hotels are aware that they are advertising on a site used by cycle tourists and so are not too surprised when guests turn up with bicycles to accommodate ?