Journal Sites

Look below the table for reviews from the readers of RoadBikeRider.com who submitted these sides.

8 More Ways to Map Your Ride

from RoadBikeRider.com readers

We got lots of e-mail after issue No. 312's note about a course mapping website called runningmap.com. It's not the only site that lets you design routes or measure roads ridden -- not by a long shot -- and it sounds like it may not be the best.

If you're interested in an online way to calculate courses, check these other sites too. We can't vouch for them, but these roadies do:

• http://www.toporoute.com doesn't require clicking multiple times to go around a curve. It has logic to follow the road. For bike paths and shortcuts that aren't roads, it allows you to "not follow the road." It also has an elevation feature. You can even create a link to your route and e-mail it to friends. -- Kurt J. Very easy to use. No registration required.
• http://www.bikely.com uses Google maps. It's got some great features including an elevation chart. I've been using it for years. -- Cory B.
• http://www.mapmyride.com lets riders save their routes and e-mail them to friends or post them on the Map My Ride website for access by the internet community. This could be a good source for finding a decent route when visiting an unfamiliar area. A route can be uploaded to Google Earth to overlay it there. -- Bob B.
• www.mapmyride.com has a "follow roads" option where you don't have to put lots of points around curves to get accurate results. -- Mike E.
• http://veloroutes.org offers GPX and Google Earth export plus auto-routing, a feature that makes the route lines "snap" to the road. -- Matt M., veloroutes creator
• http://www.routeslip.com has many routes mapped out and also includes elevation profiles. -- Tracy G.
• http://www.cyclistnexus.com is very much a work in progress but there are some awesome features. You can track weekly mileage, favorite routes, weekly elevation gain and heart rate info. Plus you can plan out events and group rides. Keep an eye on it. -- Tim A.
• http://maps.google.com. I like Google maps. They can automatically follow the corners for you. Google also gives turn-by-turn written directions for those who are map-reading challenged. Unfortunately the time estimates are off since it assumes you will be traveling at the speed limit. It also doesn't give you an elevation profile. Here's the route of a recent 78.5-km ride: http://tinyurl.com/2exx6b -- Michael N.
• http://www.gmap-pedometer.com can use a hybrid view of satellite with street names. When your trusted Cateye computer is on the fritz then you can count on this site to count your miles. -- Bob S.