Mobile Route Planner

  • Updated

The Mobile Route Planner brings the best of our mapping tools to the palm of your hand. Use it to plan your weekend gravel grinder, or take it with you on the go to find your way around town. Whatever the situation, the Mobile Route Planner lets you keep your plans flexible and make adjustments to your route on the fly.

Be sure to also check out QuickNav to learn how to get quick, easy directions made for you! 

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Download the Ride with GPS mobile app

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Premium and Basic subscribers unlock access to the Mobile Route Planner.

Create a Route

A route is a pre-determined plan for a ride. A route will include a track and an elevation profile, and can also include a cuesheet, points of interest, photos, and more. You can create your own routes or find routes that other users have created. Find out more about the difference between a Route and a Ride.

The Mobile Route Planner is available with a Basic or Premium subscription.

To access the Mobile Route Planner:

  1. Tap More while in the Ride with GPS app
  2. Tap Route Planner.

Or, if you already have an existing route or ride you want to work from, you can view a route or ride from your library, and tap Plan to open it within the route planner.

 

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Choose a Start Point

Tap anywhere to start planning a route from that point. You can also enter an address in the Search box to jump to a specific start location, then tap Start route here, and your route will begin at this address.
  • Jump to Home: If you've set your home location in your profile preferences, tap the Search box and then tap Home to jump to your set home location.
  • Jump to Current Location: Tap Current Location to jump to your current GPS location.
You can edit your start point at any time by tapping on the route options menu in the upper right hand corner, and then selecting Change Start. Read more about Changing the Start Location below.

Build out your Route

Route from Point A to Point B

  • Once you've entered a start point, enter another address or point of interest into the search bar, then tap Route to Here to automatically create a route from point A to point B. 

Chose your Route Track Manually

  • Pan the map, and tap along roads or trails to add to your route manually.
    • White Control Points will appear as you build your route, constraining your route between each point. Control Points ensure that the route will always pass through that location, even if the route line is changed. To delete a Control Point, tap it then select Delete

Move the Route Track

  • To move already established sections of your route:
    1. Tap directly on the route line to open an options menu.
    2. Select Add Control Point and drag the underlying map until the location pin lines up with the new route location.
    3. You'll see the route adjustment as a gray line. Tap on the map to finalize the edit.  
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The elevation profile will update as you plan a route showing elevation gain and loss as well as surface types. Swipe up on the card at the bottom of your screen to view your route's elevation profile. You can also drag your finger along the elevation profile to see elevation specifics along your route.

 

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Undo & Redo

These buttons allow you to undo your last action in the route planner all the way back to when you first created this route. Tap Redo to repeat the action if you hit Undo too many times.
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Additional Route Planner Tools

Additional route planning tools can be accessed within the Mobile Route Planner by tapping the Route Options icon in the upper right hand corner of the Route Planner.

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Change Start and End

Tap on the Change Start or Change End buttons to move the start or end points of your route, respectively. You'll be prompted to tap on the map or search for a location to select a new start/end point, and then select the point where you want to connect to the existing route. Tap Done to update your route, or tap the Undo button to undo your changes.

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Out and Back

Use the Out and Back tool if you're planning to navigate a complete route in both directions of travel. Simply tap Out and Back to automatically generate a second leg of your existing route that takes you right back to the start!

Reverse Route

The Reverse Route tool allows you to easily reverse an existing route. Please note that there may be slight changes to the resulting route, especially if the original route utilizes any one way streets.

Add Point of Interest (POI)

Add Points of Interest to your route to include more information about the scenery, event, or resources available.
Tap the Add Point of Interest button to create a new POI. Enter the name of the POI, as well as any additional information you'd like to include, and select a POI icon from the options shown. Tap Add Point of Interest, and you'll be prompted to pan along the map to pinpoint exactly where you want this POI to appear. Tap Set Location to finish adding your POI.
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Change Route Color

Switch up your route track line color for fun or to designate different sections of a route. Tap Change Route Color and then tap a color option to create your track line using that color moving forward.

To change the color of your route line after you've created it, tap a segment of your route between two control points and select Change Segment Color. From there, you'll be prompted to select a new color for that route segment.

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View Cuesheet

When you create or make adjustments to a route, the cuesheet is automatically generated and updated. Tap View Cuesheet to view the current cues for your route.

  • Scroll and tap on the cues to see their location on the route.

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Clear Map

Tap the Clear Map button to remove your current work and get a clean map to create on. Caution: this action cannot be undone, so be sure to save your edits!

Map Options

Select a Routing Style

Select Walking, Cycling, or Driving as your routing style to adjust how the route planner chooses roads and trails. You can switch between routing styles during a planning session to adjust optimization or get around a route planner limitation. Just tap the bike icon in the bottom left hand corner, and then select a different routing style from the pop-up menu. 

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Read about each routing style below: 

  • Cycling: Prioritizes safety for cycling. Routes will use multi-use and bike paths, but if this infrastructure isn’t available along your route, the route planner will use roads. Note: you may notice the route planner will not let you route along a certain stretch of road, instead, diverting you to a side street. In some cases, this can result in funny loops and u-turns. If you notice this, we recommend switching to Driving mode for that portion of your route planning.
  • Walking: Prioritizes safety for walking. This routing will not be limited by traffic laws such as one-way streets, and will route on multi-use and foot paths. This can be a good option for routing on gravel or trails.
  • Driving: Prioritizes the shortest distance, typically sticking to paved roads or highways. Routes can’t be made using multi-use or bike paths with this style. 
  • Draw Lines: Use Draw Lines to route through shorter areas that lack routable data. This could be a parking lot, unmarked street, unmarked pedestrian cut-throughs or new trails.

    Draw Lines will not create cues and will override routing engine data, so please use this mode sparingly and switch back to another optimization after routing through the trouble spot.     

Change Map Type and Overlays

Tap the map overlay icon to change your map type, enable heatmaps, or enable multiple map overlays while planning a route. 
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  • Overlays
    • Tap to enable or disable a map overlay type. Select multiple overlay options at once.
  • Heatmaps
    • Global Heatmaps show the RWGPS rider community's heatmap and view commonly ridden areas to help influence planning.
    • Personal Heatmaps show your personal ride history as a heatmap to plan for new and old adventures. 
    • The Personal Routes heatmap shows your existing routes, so you can work with your past routes while planning a new one.
  • Map Types
    • Choose a map type that fits your aesthetic and riding style. Changing the map type can also help you leverage different map data and routing prioritization. See Switching Map Types for map keys and more details.
  • Map Layers
    • Map Layers, like the Unpaved Cycling layer, can provide some additional information to inform your planning.

Save your Route

  1. Tap Done at the bottom of your screen. 
  2. Tap Save or select Navigate to navigate the route immediately without saving it first. 
  3. Add route details such as a name, photos, and privacy setting.
  4. Tap Save to finish and add the route to your account. 
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FAQ

  • The route planner keeps routing around the road I want to follow.
    • Is it a one-way road or a road not safe for cyclists? Try switching your routing style to see if you're encountering a routing limitation. If that doesn't resolve the issue, try different Map Types to see if you're encountering a map limitation.
    • Double check to make sure the road you're routing on isn't closed seasonally or for construction.
  • There are more features available in the Web Route Planner.
    • The Mobile Route Planner will perform many of the same tasks as the Web Route Planner, but not quite all. The Web Route Planner will provide the most robust route planning experience in Ride With GPS and the Mobile Route Planner is a great way to supplement that when you're on the go!
  • The POI disappears when I add it to my route.
    • Double check that you have POI enabled as a visible map layer.
  • I can't open my route in the route planner/the route planner freezes when I open it.
    • Generally we recommend keeping routes under 500 miles/800kms for optimal app performance. If the route planner doesn't load your route properly, double check that it doesn't drastically exceed this suggested distance limit.

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