Ride with GPS allows you to record maps and stats for your activities, and create your own routes for navigating future trips. Both activities and routes are saved to your account's library, but they function differently, and it’s helpful to be able to distinguish between the two.
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In a nutshell, it's helpful to think of an activity as a trip taken, and a route as a navigable plan for future outings. Premium and Basic members can access powerful Route Planning tools in our app and on our website, and navigate these on the go in the Ride with GPS app.
What is an Activity?
An activity is a recording of a trip you have already done. When visiting an activity page, you will see the word “trips” in the webpage URL. Every activity you record and save on the Ride with GPS app or record and upload from a GPS device (such as a Garmin), is saved as an activity. If you upload a GPX or TCX file that contains data such as speed or time, you can choose to save it on Ride with GPS as an activity.
Activities include stats from your trip that can be analyzed for training purposes, or just to keep an eye on how you are evolving as a cyclist.
What is a Route?
A route is a plan for a trip. When visiting a route page, you will see the word “routes” in the webpage URL. A route will include a path, an elevation profile, and can include points of interest and a cuesheet. Note: not all routes have cuesheets, but if you see a cuesheet, this indicates that you're viewing a route.
You can create your own routes in the route planner, or find and copy routes that other users have created. If you upload a GPX or TCX file that does not contain data other than GPS data (no speed, time, or other data that indicates the file is a recording of a ride), it will be saved on Ride with GPS as a route.
Routes are used for navigation. With an upgraded subscription of Basic or Premium, you can navigate a route using our app or transfer routes to your GPS device. You'll also be able to print a route map and cuesheet to take along with you on your next trip.
Convert a Route into an Activity
If you want to include a visible map track of your activity that didn't get recorded:
- Log into your account at www.ridewithgps.com.
- Click Route Planner at the top of your screen, and recreate the route you took on your trip.
- Click Save in the lower left corner of the route planner. Then, scroll down and click Show More Options at the bottom of the save dialog box.
- At the bottom of the expanded save form, look for Record this as a Trip and select YES.
Enter additional ride details and metrics. - Click Save at the very bottom of the window to log your activity.
Convert an Activity into a Route
If you see a trip that you want to copy to your Route Library, you can do so with just a couple clicks.
When viewing the activity on our website, click More > Copy to My Routes. From there, you can adjust the new route's name and privacy settings before saving it to your account's Route Library.
Note that if you'd like to use your newly saved route for turn-by-turn navigation, you'll need to use the Trace Tool to retrace the route and generate a cuesheet.
You can learn more about this here: Copy to your Route Library.