Planning a bike route before you ride comes with many benefits. Not only do you maximize the time you spend actually riding, but you also don’t have to worry about how far you are going, or how much time you have once you’re in the saddle. Whether you’re going for an afternoon ride or training for a race, here are the best websites and apps to help you plan out your best ride yet.
If you have time in advance to plan your ride, whether it be a week before, the night before, or the day of, use one of these handy websites and apps to plan your bike route.
1. Strava Routes (Beta)
Recently released, we have been putting this new Strava feature to the test. The app already tracks your rides and measures your progress. The system will now take into account distance, elevation, past performance on previous rides, and spit out a wildly accurate estimate for how long any given ride will take you.
2. Bikemap
Bikemap is also both a website and an app. It doesn’t require registration. It features a large variety of bike routes users and official organizations can create. Whether you’re looking for a trail for a leisurely afternoon ride or a ride across the continental U.S., BikeMap will help you plan the best route.
3. Map My Ride
This website and app is popular for many reasons. The site features more than 120 million bike routes with the option to make your own. In addition to route mapping, Map My Ride features many different tools, such as online training tools, a drawing tool, a sharing tool, and nutrition trackers. The tools allow you to effectively track your progress.
It’s easy to use, handy, and visually pleasing.
4. Bike Hub
If you’re looking for an app where you can find the quickest route possible on the go, consider Bike Hub. Bike Hub uses voice commands to keep you safe on an unknown route.
5. Veloroutes
This website is all about location and elevation. The mapping tool allows you to create, share, and find bicycle routes, all through a connection with Google Earth. Because of this feature, the site gives live weather updates for places you want to go to. It also gives the elevation for any location.
6. BikeBrain
BikeBrain is an app just for the iPhone 4s and newer iPhone models. This free comprehensive app from BioLogic automatically saves your previous rides so you can use them again. Features include GPS mapping, heart rate monitoring, training, and more, and is easily customized.
7. Routeslips
The Routeslips website allows users to create a portfolio of routes they have taken, as well as a journal tracking their progress. The site has a feature that will tell you how many routes are mapped for any given location.
Check out our post on the safest and deadliest bike trails in the world to get some inspiration for your next route.
Images courtesy of camilo g.r., Richard Masoner, and Chase Redmond via Flickr