How to find routes to (road) ride

[fmradio516]

For mountain biking theres tons of apps that will show your location on a map and let you know all the trails around you that people ride.

Is there an app like that for road riding? Maybe something that will show more popular routes, and how much climbing there is.

Im going to be moving to Orange, CT and while theres tons of country roads around, a lot of them dont have shoulders. I just want to look ahead and see if i'll be able to go on rides directly from my house, or if ill have to drive(!!!) somewhere, park, then go ride.

[unterhausen]

I think there are, but I have only looked at Strava heat maps. I hear about Kamoot and another app from cycle tourists. Not sure how well they use ride information. I think ride with gps will tell you the routes people use when they plan rides.

[htwoopup]

https://ridewithgps.com/find#search/0/search%5Boffset%5D=0&search%5Bstart_distance%5D=1&search%5Bstart_location%5D=ORANGE%2C+CT&search%5Bkeywords%5D=&search%5Blength_min%5D=0&search%5Blength_max%5D=500&search%5Belevation_min%5D=0&search%5Belevation_max%5D=10000&search%5Bsort_by%5D=

You could redo the search for your exact address and put in how many miles away to start and then sort the results by “nearest”.

ridewithgps is just one of many.

People use it to plan, post after etc.

You can plan your own and download to a wahoo or garmin etc so you don’t get lost.

If you can put up with their awful privacy policy Strava and their heat maps (I can’t give a link bc I refuse to use them).


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[Black Dog]

You can just go out and explore on your bike or get in your car and go drive some of the roads that you are considering. Also, any local clubs may have routes posted on their web sites.

[IJWS]

Strava has a “route builder” function (https://www.strava.com/routes) that works pretty well. The unique feature is that it will suggest routes that are popular among its users so it helps you see where other people are riding. My gf has used it here in town and also a couple of times when. We were traveling with bikes and it is pretty useful. Check that out.

[madsciencenow]

Heat maps, apps, or go on some local rides and see which roads get used. In addition, some shops/riding groups will post rides and in some cases maps and/or cue sheets are available for download. My strategy has been a combination of the aforementioned and trial and error. There are roads I ride with a shoulder that make me want to sh#@ myself because of the way traffic flows and other roads with no shoulder where I get along relatively well.


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[Mzilliox]

i just get on strava and start building routes from my house or wherever. i have rides ive built on the map but haven't gone on yet

[tctyres]

Also, look at the strava segments and see who is on the leaderboards. Dive into their files to see what they are riding. It will give you some ideas.

[Alan]

I get routes all of the time when I am visiting new areas with Ridewithgps. The routes sync w my Wahoo Bolt with one click on the site and I am off. It is a great resource. With the search capabilities you can find routes that you are interested in and if you wish you can modify.

I don't build that many routes but it is probably the best site for building as well.

Alan

[fmradio516]

thanks all. Looks like ridewithgps is what im looking for with the exception of a "sort by popularity" function, but this is a great start. thanks again

[pinoymamba]

I ride the main roads and when I see something that looks interesting I’ll let Jesus take the bars and start pedaling that way.

[Kyle h]

For mountain biking theres tons of apps that will show your location on a map and let you know all the trails around you that people ride.

Is there an app like that for road riding? Maybe something that will show more popular routes, and how much climbing there is.

Im going to be moving to Orange, CT and while theres tons of country roads around, a lot of them dont have shoulders. I just want to look ahead and see if i'll be able to go on rides directly from my house, or if ill have to drive(!!!) somewhere, park, then go ride.

I’ve always found that a little Strava stalking is a good way. Find a segment you want to ride, look at the top few KOM/QOM and see routes they ride to get an idea of what roads are probably safe to use. I’m also a big fan of the ride, turn when you see something interesting and explore that way.

[ScottW]

Easiest method I've used is to search for local cycling clubs and check their websites for group ride routes. This is especially good if you're looking at back country roads with 35-50 mph speed limits. The clubs will generally pick safely rideable roads, and there's at least some chance that the local drivers might be used to seeing cyclists on those roads.

Also had success with searching ridewithgps for routes starting near a particular place.

Strava heat maps are good too.

If unfamiliar with the area I'll do some online scouting using satellite views or google's street level view to get a better idea of the type of road, if there's a shoulder, etc.

If a road looks potentially hairy from the satellite views I'll scout it in my car. Only had to do this a couple of times but I have eliminated a few stretches of road that way.

[FlashUNC]

Komoot is pretty good for road recommendations as well, though I know their main schtick is linking up gravel routes.

[smontanaro]

Maybe cycle.travel (https://cycle.travel/)? It allows you to build "random" routes of varying distances between two points or round trip.