Sorry Android users, this is just a quick public service announcement to iPhone users…

Here’s Why MapOut Is King For Navigation

1. The maps are offline – you just download the tiles you need (only a few megabytes each) and you can roam anywhere.
2. Contour lines and hiking trails are shown.
3. You can choose A and B locations, and MapOut will create a route based on walking, cycling, road size and elevation gain.
4. You can draw routes with your finger and see the distance, elevation profile and vertical metres gained in real-time.
5. You can adjust routes with your finger too, just trace from your existing route to the roads you want to use.
6. Analyse specific sections of your route by adjusting the A and B points.
7. 3D tilt allows you to see what the terrain looks like!
8. Instant point-to-point elevation profiles by holding two fingers on the screen.
9. Easily import GPX routes that you’ve created or downloaded from elsewhere.
10. Easily export GPX routes that you’ve created or modified in the app.

What Are The New Features?

When you click on a segment of your route:
– It will tell you the elevation gain and loss for the section between your A and B points (you can adjust them).
– It shows the maximum gradient up and down.
– It gives both estimated walking and riding times (riding time is without much luggage).

You Can Get MapOut In The App Store For $4.99, No Subscription And Free Map Tiles For The Entire World!

The post MapOut, The Best Smartphone Mapping App – Just Got Updated! appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

At the time there was an online bike route planner called Cycle Route that I used to calculate all my climbing, descending and average gradients along the way. Everything was shown on both a map and as an elevation profile. It was perfect for my needs and so simple that anyone could use it.

Unfortunately, Cycle Route no longer works, but I’ve just discovered an online mapping app called Bike Roll that does all the same stuff and more. BikeRoll seems to me to be the quickest, easiest bike routing software with usable elevation data.

Let’s take a closer look.

What Tasks Can BikeRoll Perform?

– Create a route between two points with elevation profile
– Check the length and amount of climbing on the route
– Choose between on-road and off-road routes
– Quickly gauge the difficulty of the ride
– Check the weather forecast for the ride
– Save the route
– PDF summary with key information, turn-by-turn cues, elevation profile
– Export the route as a GPX file

How To Create A Route Using BikeRoll

There are two ways to start making your route. You can either type an address, suburb or city in the ‘origin’ field OR you can right-click with your mouse on the map where you’d like to begin the route, and ‘Set Origin’. I’ve found that typing the location in can be a bit hit and miss, especially for places you’ve never been before.

You can modify/move the start point around by clicking on and dragging the ‘A’.

Next, you can set your destination by right-clicking ‘Set Destination’ with your mouse. You will now have generated a route from start to finish.

You will then have three different routing options: Google Bike, MTB and Road Bike. You can find these options in the middle of the upper menu. The mapping software can either use as much of the Google Bike network as possible, use all trails including off-road paths, or sticks to the fastest way on the road. I normally check all three options to see how the routes differ.

Modifying A Route With BikeRoll

Ok, so creating the route wasn’t too hard. But how can we modify it? That’s easy. It’s all about midpoints. Simply right click your mouse to add them at the locations you’d like to pass through. But take note: I hit a midpoint limit at 24. If you need to modify the route more than that, then you’ll need to look into software like RideWithGPS which allows you to modify your route almost infinitely.

Again, you can move the midpoint locations to ‘pull’ the route where you’d like it to go.

Made a mistake? Just right click and ‘undo’ or ‘redo’.

Understanding The Elevation Profile

You’ll have noticed that BikeRoll provides an elevation profile below the map. This gives you with the key information about the distance and elevation gained/lost over your route.

You’ll also see the gradient data is colour-coded. This has been designed in a way to determine how hard your route will be from a quick glance. If the whole route is blue for example, you will not encounter a climb over 5.9%, and therefore your ride will mostly be flat/undulating. Routes that show red are going to be really tough, so make sure you have the appropriate bike gearing!

Green: Greater than 20% gradient descent
Blue: Between -20% and +6% gradients
Yellow: Between +6% and +12% gradient ascent
Red: Between +12% and +48% gradient ascent
Black: Greater than 48% gradient ascent

You can hover your mouse over sections of the elevation profile to see the exact slope, distance and elevation data, along with where that climb/descent is located on the map.

Save and Export With BikeRoll

It’s easy to save your routes to view them later. You can either use Facebook or your Gmail account to do this. The saved routes appear in a list from the top-right menu for later.

If you’re happy with your route, you can export it as a GPX file. Just click the three horizontal lines on the left-top corner and hit ‘Download GPX Track’. It will automatically download from here. You can then use your file in many smartphone apps or on your dedicated GPS device.

There’s an option to get a PDF summary of your route. This includes printable turn-by-turn cues with distance intervals, as well as the elevation profile and total distance.

Other Things To Note

– You can use BikeRoll on your smartphone in your internet browser. There is full functionality and no app download required.
– The distance units can be changed between miles and kilometres in the settings.
– There’s a weather forecast in the elevation profile to pick a suitable day to ride your route.
– You can choose a suitable language in the top-right corner.

Click HERE For A Tutorial On RideWithGPS: The More Advanced Online Route Planner

The post BikeRoll Is The Easiest To Use Online Bike Route Planner appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

I recently set myself the challenge to create a year-long bike tour around the USA that is optimised around the perfect cycling temperatures. I ended up spending way too much time geeking out on all of the details here, but what I’ve managed to create is pretty bloody cool (or rather, mild).

My ‘perfect’ cycling temperature is around 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees C). This is a temperature that allows me to wear light clothing while I ride with zero risk of overheating. I can also typically pack a bit lighter, and get comfortable overnight sleeps in my tent too.

It’s worth noting that this map is designed around the average maximum temperature per day, so you’ll find the overnight temperatures will still drop below 30 degrees F (-1 C) in many of the mountain and desert regions.

The 12,679mi (20,286km) USA Bike Tour With Perfect Weather

This route traverses 27 different states and averages:
– 72 degrees F / 22 degrees C with minimal fluctuation
– 244mi (390km) per week
– 49mi (78km) per day over 5 days of cycling
– 61mi (98km) per day over 4 days of cycling

The 27 states that you will tick off:
California-Arizona-New Mexico-Texas-Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama-Florida-Georgia-South Carolina-North Carolina-Virginia-Maryland-Pennsylvania-Ohio-Indiana-Michigan-Wisconsin-Minnesota-North Dakota-Montana-Washington-Oregon-Idaho-Wyoming-Colorado-Utah

How Did I Create The Perfect Weather Cycling Route?

We have so many amazing tools at our fingertips which help us determine everything from road surfaces to average weather conditions. The aim of this exercise was to show you what kind of travel planning is possible with the resources we have on hand.

I started by analysing the Adventure Cycling Association Interactive Network Map. For the last 40 years, ACA has been inspiring and empowering people to travel by bicycle. They now have dozens of long-distance bike routes, complete with detailed bike touring maps that you can purchase which cover every mile. That takes the majority of the guesswork out of your trip planning.

I then used Holiday Weather to get a general idea of the monthly average high temperatures in multiple locations on one map. You can select any month of the year and it will show you the average temperatures for multiple locations across a continent.

To check the average high temperatures at really specific locations, I used US Climate Data. This website has the resources available to get weather data for most cities and towns along the way. You can read my guide on weather planning HERE.

There were two or three very short sections on this route that I mapped on Google Maps using bicycle routeing. This is because there wasn’t an ACA route for all of the places I required this map to go.

Monthly Itinerary

January

Southern Tier Route
San Diego, California (18C/64F) – Tempe, Arizona (27C/81F) – Fort Davis, Texas (23C/73F)
Total: ~1160mi / ~1856km

The year-long USA bike tour route has you heading out of San Diego at the start of January. You will be travelling east along the Southern Tier Route up into the mountains topping 3800ft (1158m), before dropping into desert country. The route takes you below-sea-level through the Imperial Valley, then you’ll split the dry Algodones Dunes Wilderness Area in half. This sparsely-populated region of the USA will make every town a welcome sight – don’t forget to top up your water supplies while you’re there. Stop in Silver City for a nice coffee, and at the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument to appreciate some of the best-preserved Mogollon cliff dwellings around.

February

Southern Tier Route
Fort Davis, Texas (24C/75F) – Navasota, Texas (24C/75F) – New Roads, Louisiana (24C/75F)
Total: ~1045mi / ~1672km

Texas takes up one-third of the Southern Tier Route, and luckily for us, this section is best tackled in February. You’ll head through the Davis Mountains where some of the friendliest folk on the route reside. At the McDonald Observatory on Mt Locke, you can observe the night sky on one of their evening tours. Texas gets a little more desolate after this, with sagebrush and tumbleweeds rolling about all the way to the ‘hill country’ region of the state. In Austin, spend a bit of time listening to the diverse live music that the city is famous for.

March

Southern Tier Route
New Roads, Louisiana (24C/75F) – Mobile, Alabama (24C/75F) – St Augustine, Florida (25C/77F)
Total: ~853mi / ~1365km

The history, culture and food in Louisiana are different from all other states. You’ll be heading right through Cajun country where English is spoken, but you’ll need to focus as it’ll be a little harder to understand the words. Also, try to catch some lively Cajun music if you can. It’s rural riding all the way into Alabama where the route crosses to Dauphin Island. A ferry ride across Mobile Bay will take you to some of the whitest beaches in the world. The scenery is rather varied all the way across Florida to St Augustine.

April

Atlantic Coast Route
St Augustine, Florida (25C/77F) – Wilmington, North Carolina (21C/70F) – Washington DC (19C/66F)
Total: ~1184mi / ~1895km

Welcome to the Atlantic Ocean! It’s beach riding all the way up Florida from the oldest European settlement in the United States (St Augustine) right up to Jacksonville. In Georgia, it’s farm and swamp country; the best swamp of them all is at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. It’s one of the largest swamps remaining in the nation where you can go on boat rides and boardwalks over the marshes where you’ll see alligators of all sizes. The winds can be strong through Virginia which may be the reason the Wright Brothers flew their first plane there. You’ll soon pass Mount Vernon, George Washington’s residence from 1754 until his death, before riding a series of beautiful bike paths towards Washington DC.

May

Custom + Chicago to NY + UGRR Pittsburgh Spur + Northern Tier + Northern Lakes Route
Washington DC (19C/66F) – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (22C/72F) – Ludington, Michigan (25C/77F)
Total: ~1144mi / ~1830km

It’s a short section away from the ACA touring network from Washington DC, but you’ll soon hit the Chicago to NY Route. Heading into the Eastern Continental Divide you’ll need some lights as there are a series of unlit tunnels ranging from 849 to 3294 feet (1000m) in length, as the trail utilises much of the existing rail infrastructure. You’ll travel along the historic Mason-Dixon Line on the Pennsylvania and Maryland border which was known as the symbolic divide between the Northern and Southern states during the Civil War. Near Ohiopyle State Park you can expect significant bicycle and pedestrian traffic. This is a popular white water rafting and outdoor recreation destination, especially approaching summer.

The Underground Railroad Bicycle Route (UGRR) from Pittsburgh memorialises the secret network of routes that African freedom seekers used to escape slavery before and during the Civil War. The UGRR finishes at Lake Erie where you’ll head west on the Northern Tier Route, passing the prairie farms of Ohio and Indiana. You’ll soon be at the Lake Michigan where you can follow small rural roads along the lakeshore.

June

Northern Lakes + Northern Tier Route
Ludington, Michigan (25C/77F) – Fargo, North Dakota (26C/79F) – Saco, Montana (26C/79F)
Total: ~1290mi / ~2064km

You’ll cross Lake Michigan by ferry from Ludington to Manitowoc. Wisconsin and Minnesota stand out as some of the greenest and lushest states along this northern sector. You’ll pass through hardwood forests and dairy farmland before connecting back up to the Northern Tier Route which is all hills, forests, lakes and rivers. The birthplace of the Mississippi River is at Lake Itasca State Park on the way to North Dakota. The river flows for 2552 miles (4107km) into the Gulf of Mexico! The route follows the I-94 corridor, alternating between the freeway and parallel county roads all the way to Montana.

July

Northern Tier Route
Saco, Montana (26C/79F) – Libby, Montana (32C/90F) – Anacortes, Washington (23C/73F)
Total: ~1176mi / ~1882km

The Great Plains of Montana are soon met with the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains at Cut Bank. The Northern Tier Route will take you into the mountains, where you’ll find the valleys run in a north-south direction, and because the route travels east-west, you’ll be working your way up and over the ponderosa pine passes. There are endless towns, rivers, lakes, mountains and forests towards the Cascade Mountains where you’ll need to tackle two more passes: Rainy Pass and Washington Pass. You’ll finally hit the Pacific Ocean at Anacortes, seven months since you last saw it.

August

Pacific Coast + Lewis and Clark Trail + Trans Am Route
Anacortes, Washington (23C/73F) – Lewiston, Idaho (31C/88F) – Missoula, Montana (26C/79F)
Total: ~910mi / ~1456km

The Pacific Coast Route takes you from Anacortes over to Whidbey Island and down the Olympic Peninsula. You can actually catch a ferry all the way into Seattle from here. At Castle Rock, a five-mile side trip leads to the Mount St. Helens Visitor Centre, which tells the tale of the volcano’s eruption in 1981. It’s logging country down towards Portland where you’ll now join the Lewis and Clark Trail. There are a few closed-to-cars sections of the Historic Columbia River Highway which lead you to some small, serene communities that barely earn a dot on the map. From Lewiston, you’ll head into the Nez Perce Indian Reservation and onto Highway 12 and the Trans Am Route. The route follows the Lochsa River for the longest gradual ascent of the Trans Am of 70 miles (112km) up to Lolo Pass and down to Missoula. You’ll be able to visit the Adventure Cycling headquarters and their “cyclist’s lounge” in Missoula! Beautiful panoramas, wide valleys and mountain passes await you in this part of Montana.

September

Trans Am + Great Parks South Route
Missoula, Montana (26C/79F) – Lander, Wyoming (23C/73F) – Ridgway, Colorado (18C/64F)
Total: ~1105mi / ~1768km

The Trans Am Route leads you to the amazing views of Yellowstone National Park and of the Grand Teton Range. Make sure to spend a few days exploring what these two national parks have to offer. The towns of Dubois and Lander present historic architecture and western-style cooking. In the Great Divide Basin, you’ll find Lamont which can serve up a great bowl of chilli. The scenery then changes from dry desert to the alpine region as you cross into Colorado. You’ll begin the long climb to crest Hoosier Pass at 11,542ft (3518m) before taking the Great Parks South Route through old mining country across to Ridgway, Colorado.

October

Great Parks South + Western Express + Grand Canyon Connector + Bicycle Route 66
Ridgway, Colorado (18C/64F) – Kanab, Utah (22C/72F) – Amboy, California (21C/70F)
Total: ~1177mi / ~1883km

The Great Parks South Route takes you on smooth tourist roads out of the Rockies and into some of the USA’s most spectacular scenic wonders. Along the Western Express Route, you’ll explore many national parks that feature all kinds of natural sculptures, spires, buttes and canyons. You’ll then travel through Zion National Park and across to the north rim of the mind-blowingly large World Heritage Site that is the Grand Canyon. These national parks are bicycle-friendly, meaning you’ll get to ride along popular sections where visitors in cars must use shuttle buses. Given the time of year, there should be less tourist traffic and milder weather conditions than peak season. The Bicycle Route 66 will take you across Arizona to California, but be warned this is a long desert stretch with very limited services.

November

Bicycle Route 66 + Sierra Cascades Route
Amboy, California (21C/70F) – Lemon Cove, California (20C/68F) – Sorensens, California (9C/48F)
Total: ~800mi / ~1280km

Heading west along Bicycle Route 66 you’ll be heading for the Pacific Ocean, but it will still be a month before you actually see waves. This route takes you up the Sierra Cascades from the San Gabriel Mountains just outside Los Angeles, all the way up to Lake Tahoe which is east of San Francisco. Along the way, you’ll discover the Trail of a Hundred Giants at Sequoia National Forest, as well as the lakes and mountains of Kings Canyon NP. There’s a chance that Tioga Pass just out of Yosemite NP will close mid-November if it’s a heavy snow year, so make sure to keep up to date with the conditions. Alternatively, you might need to follow the western Sierra Nevada foothills towards Sacramento.

December

Western Express + Pacific Coast Route
Sorensens, California (9C/48F) – San Francisco, California (16C/61F) – Imperial Beach, California (20C/68F)
Total: ~833mi / ~1333km

It’s now time to depart the Sierra Nevada by jumping on the Western Express Route that cuts through the agricultural valleys down to San Francisco. You’ll get the opportunity to ride over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco, then you’ll follow the western edge of the city to the numerous state beaches. It’s almost elephant seal mating season at Ano Nuevo State Reserve; it’s a sight not to be missed. The Pacific Coast south of Carmel is the most spectacular sector for many cyclists. The winding road high above the ocean offers incredible views, and because you’re heading south you’ll be on the right side of the road! It’s fertile farming land as you approach Santa Barbara, and seaside trophy homes as you approach the Los Angeles megapolis. Bike paths will take you through LA before rejoining the Pacific Coast Highway south of the city. There’s a mix of highways, bike paths and shore roads to the Coronado ferry in San Diego where you will finish your year-long USA tour at the Mexican border.

Is There A Way To Make This USA Bike Tour Even Better? I’d Love To Hear.

The post The Year-Long, 12,679 Mile USA Bike Tour With Perfect Weather Every Day appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

MapOut (US $4.99) saves the day by using a simple interface to draw routes and check out elevation profiles.

Unfortunately, this app is only available for Apple phones and tablets (iOS), but I hope some of this functionality is imitated across other navigation apps soon. I’d love to know if you use a similar app on Android which can draw and amend routes (bonus points for a simple and easy-to-use interface).

It’s worth noting that this mapping app isn’t a complete mapping solution. At the moment I’m using three apps when I travel. I can’t fault Maps.Me for navigating in cities, and Komoot for super-detailed routing capability.

Let’s take a closer look at the features of MapOut.

MapOut Offline Maps

MapOut uses the most recent version of OpenStreetMaps, which is also known as the “Wikipedia of maps”. This open-source data is continually improving as anyone can add streets and modify the maps as need be.

You only download the tiles you need, which work out to be a couple of megabytes each. Once you’ve got your maps, you will no longer be requiring a cellular network. The GPS chip in your phone will find the satellites all by itself.

Topographic Maps for Backcountry Cycling

The MapOut app is perfect for backcountry navigation because it shows both contour lines and hiking trails. At maximum zoom, the app shows 10-metre contour increments, but as you zoom out that lifts to 50-metres. In the settings menu, you can, of course, switch everything across to miles/feet.

You also have a raft of overlay options that you can turn on and off, including bicycle networks, hiking routes, MTB routes and public transport networks.

Route Drawing: Snap to Road Network

It’s very easy to draw a route. You’ll first need to select ‘draw new tour’. Double-tap to create a starting location ‘A’ and the app will provide the elevation of the site. Zoom out and find your end location. Single tap to create an end location ‘B’. You will now see an elevation profile and the straight line distance between A and B.

You can then ‘Snap to Road Network’. This will pick one of the more direct routes for you to follow. You’ll see an amended elevation profile with distance markers the whole way.

Route Drawing: Using Your Finger

You can manually draw routes too. This is probably the best part about the MapOut app – it’s so intuitive!

Once you’ve plotted the start of your route, drag your finger along the roads that you’d like to follow and it will automatically ‘snap to road network’. Don’t worry if you make a mistake – you can backtrack and then follow the correct road.

Route Drawing: Making Adjustments With Your Finger

You can amend both the ‘snap to road network’ and the finger-drawn routes.

The only clincher is that you will need to follow your amended route long enough to connect it back to the original route. I’ve found it’s sometimes easier to draw a rough route through a particular section and amend it in smaller, more precise sections.

New: Elevation Lost and Gained

You can see the elevation lost and gained just above the elevation profile, along with the distance, approximate travel times and maximum gradients both up and down.

Analyse Specific Sections Of Your Route

With your saved routes you can analyse specific sections both before you leave or while you’re cycling.

You can drag the ‘A’ and ‘B’ to the particular section and it will give you the elevation profile and distance markers. Alternatively, you can zoom into a particular route section and click on the route itself. The ‘A’ and ‘B’ will now be located within the bounds of your smartphone screen.

If you’re cycling on the route, you’ll see a blue dot on both the elevation profile and map with your exact position.

3D Tilt

One of the ‘wow’ features of MapOut is the 3D tilt. The tilt gives you an instant understanding of the terrain, almost like you’re viewing from an aeroplane. I regularly use this feature to make sure I get the flattest possible route.

Instant Elevation Profiles and Distance

A less known feature in MapOut is the ability to measure both point-to-point distances as well as create instant elevation profiles. These can be useful when determining how far it is to the next town, or how hilly a detour may be.

To see the instant profile, you just need to hold two fingers on the screen at once. An elevation profile will appear with moveable black dots on either end.

Import GPX and KML Routes

You can easily import routes that you’ve created in RideWithGPS or Google Maps (or any other software).

You’ll need to create a MapOut profile which sets up a personal MapOut email. Then it’s simply a case of emailing your MapOut account with the GPX file. It will automatically appear in your ‘Tours’ within minutes.

Alternatively, you can open the GPX file directly into the MapOut app which will save the route to your ‘Tours’ instantly.

Snap To Road Network – GPX Files

With GPX files that have been recorded with a GPS device, the route is never precisely on the roads. With MapOut you can use the ‘snap to road network’ feature to tidy up existing GPX files that you have. By tidying everything up it gives a more accurate distance and elevation profile.

Take a look at the images below. Once I had snapped the route to the road network, I added almost a full kilometre to my route within the first 44km.

Export GPX Routes

Not only can you import your RideWithGPS, Google Maps and Google Earth routes, but you can share the routes you create in the MapOut app too.

The process is simple. After saving the route you’ve drawn, head to the ‘Tours’ section. In the top-right corner, you’ll see a speech bubble which will give you the option to ‘share’ your file. You can then mail/message/open the route in any other software.

Click HERE to See The 20 Best Offline GPS Apps For Smartphone Navigation

The post Is MapOut The Best Smartphone Mapping App For Route Drawing and Elevation? appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

You’ll first need to sign up to the website in order to use the planning software. Just an email and password will do.

Next, you want to click on PLAN, found on the top menubar on the website. That will take you to your current location if you’ve given the website permission, otherwise, you can manually find the start location for your route. Just tap your mouse on the precise location you’d like to start and a green marker with an arrow will appear.

You can also type in a start address for your route. Don’t forget to hit ‘Optimise For Cycling’ on the right-side menu.

Once the start point is dropped, you can start to click on the map to create your route. You can drop points in small increments to map precisely where you’d like to go, or larger increments which will use the software to create the best route. Just below the map is both UNDO and REDO buttons if you’ve made any mistakes.

You can also drop your marker at your final destination and the software will create the entire route for you. Make sure to review the route though, as it can sometimes take you along roads you might want to avoid.

If you’re wanting to go out to a location and back, you can click ‘EDIT’ -> ‘Out and back’ and the routing software will create points back to the start, including turn-by-turn instructions.

Another option other than manually marking the map is to enter a location in the address bar. Again, sometimes the routing software will take you for a bit of a ride so make sure to review the route closely! You can enter as many locations as you’d like to build a complete route.

If you hover your mouse over your route you can make small amendments. A blue dot will appear at the point you’d like to change.

You can have even more control over your amendments by using the control points. Simply click ADD/REMOVE CONTROL POINTS in the right-side menu to lock off the portion of your route before and after your control points. You’re now able to manipulate the route between your control points specifically.

Once you’re happy with your route, click SAVE on the lefthand side. Name it something that makes sense to you.

Next, you’ll want to click ‘View your route’ so that you can get it ready for exporting. This will take you out of the ‘EDIT’ section.

On the right-side menu, you’ll now have EXPORT as an option. Click on it and choose the file type you require. TCX or GPX is great for turn-by-turn devices and apps, KML is excellent if you would just like the line of your route to appear on your map. By clicking the file titles you should automatically download the files.

There you go, you’re now able to make some custom maps using the excellent RideWithGPS software!

Other Navigation Resources

Smartphone Navigation: Import KML Routes into the Maps.me App
The Best Apps for GPS Navigation on a Smartphone
The Best Bike Smartphone Cases & Mounts for Cycling
GPS Navigation: Bike Touring or Cycling With A Smartphone
How to put 100% Free GPS Maps on your Garmin

The post RideWithGPS: How to Create and Export Custom Routes For a Smartphone / Garmin appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

GPS Navigation: Bike Touring or Cycling With a Smartphone
The Best Apps for GPS Navigation on a Smartphone
The Best Bike Smartphone Cases & Mounts for Cycling

My go-to app for navigation with my Apple iPhone 5S is Maps.me. It’s maps are used with no Internet connection, it’s super straight forward, it includes points of interest and even has offline routing.

In order to save my battery, I never use turn-by-turn navigation or leave the screen on for long periods of time. I like to use KML files which show my routes as lines on maps. I tend to use my smartphone more like a paper map, switching it on/off whenever I need to check if I’m still en route and heading the right way. I can sometimes go for days without a battery charge if I use it in this manner!

I design my routes in various ways (HERE is my tutorial using RideWithGPS), then go about the following process to get the routes into the app.

1. Email the KML/KMX file that I’ve created to myself. 

2. Press and hold the KML file for one second, until I can choose which app to launch it from. I select Maps.me.

3. Maps.me opens up and the bookmark loads. 

4. I can now view my KML route in my app. 

5. If I need to turn the KML route layer on or off, I click the star at the bottom of the screen and that takes me to my bookmarks. This is where my routes live. 

The post Smartphone Navigation: Import KML Routes into the Maps.me App appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

The thing these apps all have in common is that you can download the mapping information and use it without internet access. That’s right, you won’t need wifi or a sim card. Just ride, map and navigate.

For more on navigating with a smartphone, check out:

GPS Navigation: How To Go Bicycle Touring with a Smartphone
The Best Bike Smartphone Cases & Mounts for Cycling

Offline GPS Apps

*Ratings collected in June 2018

MapOut (iOS)

This relatively new app seems to offer everything! To create a route, you can trace with your finger and snap it to the road network. There are interactive elevation profiles, downloadable map tiles, topo/terrain maps, GPX/KML importing and 3D tilt to see the topography of the region. For everything other than services (restaurant, hotel etc), this is as it gets for bicycle touring! Head HERE to read my usage guide.

App Store Rating: 4.8/5

Galileo Pro (iOS/Android)

One of the most powerful offline mapping apps for iOS has recently had a big update. There’s now millions of POIs, ability to record routes and navigate offline. With this app, you can also upload your own custom maps in a number of formats for easy navigation.

App Store Rating: 4.8/5

Locus Map Pro (Android)

Locus is the highest-rated navigation app for Android users. It has access to huge quantities of different maps (inc. terrain, cycling, hiking, skiing), either while you use data, or as in-app purchases for offline use. You can import custom maps, enjoy turn-by-turn voice navigation or understand places with the incorporated Wikipedia information. This app is really powerful!

Play Store Rating: 4.7/5

OruxMaps Offline Maps (Android)

Orux is generally considered the best Android mapping app because it is free and has an incredible raft of features. It will take you some time to familiarise yourself with these features because the user interface isn’t exactly polished, but essentially you can upload all kinds of maps and tiles including GPX, routing, have different user profiles and even track your route (live tracking with an internet connection).

Play Store Rating: 4.7/5

Alpine Quest GPS (Android)

This backcountry app allows you to create, display and save an unlimited number of waypoints, routes, areas and tracks. You can set up multiple maps in layers, with per-map opacity control. You’ll also have access to many map formats including Nokia maps, Yahoo maps, local topo maps etc.

Play Store Rating: 4.7/5

Google Maps (iOS/Android)

Easily the most elegant and up-to-date of all smartphone maps, however, they are best used with data. It’s possible to save the Google Maps in the cache (to view it offline). While you have an internet connection, zoom in on a part of a map that you want to save. Type “OK Maps” (minus the quotes) and hit Search and you can save highly detailed maps out at 15km if you need.  Google Maps also allows you to view larger regions offline, by caching any areas you view; just remember to zoom into any areas you’ll need to view in more detail later. The turn-by-turn directions even work offline if you search for them while you’re connected to wifi and continue travelling without.

App Store Rating: 4.7/5

City Maps 2Go Offline Maps (iOS/Android)

For a couple of dollars, you can download maps for all countries in the world which are stored on your device. The map data is provided by OpenStreetMap which is a collaborative open source database with information provided by hundreds and thousands of people. This app has inbuilt Wikipedia and WikiTravel information which can be found at landmarks on the maps.

App Store Rating: 4.6/5

Maps.Me Offline Maps (iOS/Android)

Maps.Me isn’t as powerful as other apps, or as beautiful as Google Maps, but the user interface is great and it packs in a lot of searchable travel information on restaurants, hotels, campgrounds, hospitals, police stations etc. The map data is provided by OpenStreetMap (OSM) which is a collaborative open source database with information provided by hundreds and thousands of people. It’s easy to get maps, simply download the countries you need in the app (usually 5-500mb per country) when you have a good internet connection. Using the cycling navigation option, you will even find elevation profiles. Here’s a resource on how to import a custom KML route into the app.

App Store Rating: 4.5/5

Komoot (iOS/Android)

Komoot uses one of the most impressive map data sets I’ve used for routing – I don’t think there is a better app for planning a route. You can choose various types of road surface to match the capabilities of your bike. The app will even show you the distance break-down of each surface. The turn-by-turn voice navigation is perfect. The biggest downside is that the offline maps take up a LOT of storage space. Even if you decide not to use this app, you can plan your routes on a computer and export them to other apps HERE.

Play Store Rating: 4.5/5

MotionX GPS HD (iOS)

This is another top iOS app for a backcountry use. Download the maps within the app and enjoy travelling on back roads and hiking trails with detailed topo maps. Super easy to plan, track and store your exploits.

App Store Rating: 4.5/5

Backcountry Navigator Topo GPS (Andoid)

This top-selling backcountry app has OpenStreetMap and OpenCycleMap information available for download, so it’s not just good off the beaten path. It’s also super easy to import GPX/KML information / GPS coordinate information – here’s a great guide to using it.

Play Store Rating: 4.5/5

Sygic (iOS)

Sygic is the world’s most downloaded offline navigation app. It employs high-quality car based maps from TomTom and other providers which are stored on your smartphone allowing you to navigate without an internet connection. The navigation is voice-guided, provides alternative routes and drag and drop routing. The app is free, but you will have to purchase the maps (you can even download the world maps for 111 countries for $30).

App Store Rating: 4.5/5

Pocket Earth PRO Offline Maps (iOS)

This highly rated and powerful iOS app allows you to import and export GPX files, download maps (cities, regions, countries) for offline use, route, turn-by-turn navigate and track your trip. It incorporates 500,000 Wikipedia entries which are incredibly useful for finding points of interest while travelling.

App Store Rating: 4.3/5

Gaia GPS Topo and Trails (iOS/Android)

This backcountry focused app is highly rated by bike tourers who spend time off the beaten track. With Gaia, you have access to a whole raft of worldwide mapping layers. These topographic, road or aerial ’tiles’ can be downloaded to different levels of detail, resulting in different file sizes. If you’re a ‘pro’ user you’ll be able to layer multiple maps at once. You can of course import/export your own GPX/KML files by web browser, DropBox and email. The app isn’t as cheap as other options (US $20) but once you’ve invested, all map downloads are free within the app.

Play Store Rating: 4.3/5

Soviet Military Maps Free (Android)

These downloadable world topo maps (100k-500k) are former Soviet military (mostly from 1980’s), and for many countries in Africa and Asia are still the best topo maps available!

Play Store Rating: 4.3/5

OsmAnd Offline Maps (Android)

As the name suggests, this app has access to OpenStreetMap data which can be downloaded to your phone through the app for offline use. If you don’t want to store maps, you can also use mobile data to access maps. A great feature of this app is the cycling and walking routes. This app includes navigation features such as voice guidance and re-routing. You can also search for addresses and find GPS coordinates.

Play Store Rating: 4.2/5

CoPilot GPS (iOS/Android)

This app is free and has lots of offline maps available. For iOS users, this is one of the better apps for offline searching and routing. You’ll need to purchase features such as turn-by-turn and voice navigation for a modest amount.

App Store Rating: 4.2/5

Ride With GPS (iOS/Android)

Ride With GPS is more of a cycle computer that has inbuilt navigation and live tracking. It even supports Bluetooth accessories for adding heart rate, cadence and speed data. There is seamless GPX importing from the Ride With GPS website but you will have to pre-download the individual map tiles.

Play Store Rating: 4.1/5

HERE WeGo (iOS/Android)

The HERE maps are going from strength to strength currently. The mapping interface is really simple, clean and easy to use. HERE features GPS turn-by-turn navigation with elevation profiling and the elevation gained/lost. There are lots of waypoints available from restaurants to Wikipedia entries. You can download entire continents if you have the storage, or alternatively download each country. The best bit? It’s free!

App Store Rating: 4.1/5

Navmii Offline Navigation Maps (iOS/Android)

This highly popular OSM app has great features including offline mapping, routing, re-routing, turn-by-turn navigation, Google street view and more.

Play Store Rating: 3.3/5

Take A Look At…

GPS Navigation: How To GO Bike Touring with a Smartphone
The Best Bike Smartphone Cases & Mounts for Cycling

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