Blog Tag

A little over two years ago, Strava stopped allowing embedding Strava Route pages on external websites. This added an additional click to our website when Ride Leaders would post Strava Routes to see the route map and additional details. This has been an on-going discussion over at the Strava Customer Support forum as to why they removed this capability which has fallen on deaf ears.

A third-party developer, https://www.doogal.co.uk/StravaRoute.php, created a widget that now allows you to embed Strava Routes on your website. Hopefully it continues to be maintained and developed as I have added it to our website. Now, when you post a Strava Route the map with show automatically, just like Garmin Connect Routes that are posted by our Ride Leaders.

While Strava might be the preferred Route Planner for some, it's definitely not the only one out there to use. We typically recommend using the Strava Route Planner because of the Cue Sheet (ie. turn-by-turn instructions) that is automatically generated and is print-friendly. At a quick glance, it's also easier to interpret the route direction on a Strava Route by hovering across the elevation chart compared to relying on km/mile markers on Garmin Connect Courses, especially when parts of the route overlap. Strava also allows their routes to be downloaded to a wide-range of GPS devices. With that said, our website currently allows Ride Leaders to post routes from Strava, Garmin Connect, and Ride with GPS.

Garmin Routes

Here is a short video that covers creating a Route, also known as a "Course" in Garmin Connect.

Ride with GPS Routes

Ride with GPS has always been a leader for Route Planning Tools. If you have a device with turn-by-turn navigation, the one functionality that sets Ride with GPS apart from many other Route Planning Tools is the ability to add custom cues to routes to help with negotiating upcoming turns and landmarks. If you opt for the paid account, you can also specify how far away from the turn to be notified.

Additional Ride with GPS Resources:

• Advanced Route Planning and Editing Video
• Full Route Planning Demo Video
• Export Routes to Garmin Devices Video
• Basic Route Planning Tutorial
• Advanced Route Planning and Editing Tutorial
• Working with Cues Tutorial

If you have never created a Route (or Course) before, we recommend starting out with Strava's Route Planner. This Blog Post has an excellent video to get you started. If you are accustom to using Garmin Connect or Ride with GPS, continue to do so and keep posting your routes for club members to follow.

Pre-planned routes by our Ride Leaders is a key part of keeping our club members informed of the ride taking place and terrain ahead of them. For those familiar with the area or that download the route ahead of time to their GPS device, it helps them know the upcoming turns to negotiate and landmarks to look for along the route. It also allows some to keep in mind how much they need to save in their gas tank to get themselves home!

Creating a route in Strava is much simpler than one would think. While laying out steps might be helpful for some to follow, a visual tutorial usually doesn't miss any minute detail that will leave you stuck. This 5-minute video covers the basics on creating a route in Strava and will have you developing new routes to try in no time. 

For additional information on Strava Routes, see these helpful links:

• Strava – Get Ready to Plan Your Route
• Supported GPS Devices for a Strava Route

Attention APLVNCC Members! A new page, The Road Map, has been added to the "Cycling" section of the website.

The idea behind "The Road Map" was conceived after running into numerous gravel farm roads and pothole-ridden roads along our routes on group rides. To aid in developing future pre-defined routes and to help in avoiding such hazards like Road Construction, Gravel Surface Roads, and other road avoidance, you can now view markers on the map indicating these dangers.

In addition to showcasing hazards, the map has blossomed to also display other helpful locations that can aid in planning your route.  Other map markers include: Bike Shops, Bike Repair Shops, popular Coffee Stops & Halfway Points, Ferry Services, First-Aid & Hospitals, and other Ride Meet & Meeting locations. It's always a good idea to know your surroundings while on your route in case you run into trouble on your bike.

To make viewing the map easier, you can toggle the "Fullscreen" button in the top-right corner of the map. Below the "Fullscreen" button is another icon that allows you to adjust the "Base Layer" and "Overlays". The "Base Layer" is the map image. By default, it is set to use the Open Street Map (OSM) Cycling Map which when you zoom in shows intricate bike paths. If you prefer another mapping service, Google Maps and MapQuest is also available. The "Overlays" option allows you to toggle between showing and hiding different Marker Types (ie. Avoidances, Bike Repair Shops, Bike Shops, Coffee Shops, etc.) on the map. This feature is extremely useful in de-cluttering the map and narrowing locations by certain marker types. You can also click each marker to bring up a popup that has more detail regarding the marker location.

If you know of any new hazards to avoid or other locations that you think would be useful to show on The Road Map, please feel free to suggest them using the Contact Form. Make sure to select "Website Feedback" for the Category of your contact message. Please provide as much detail as possible, such as, the intersections where the avoidance begins and ends, road surface, construction start and end date/time, etc. If any of the current markers need updating, please let us know.

Attention APLVNCC Ride Leaders! You now have the ability to add your routes created in Strava, Garmin Connect, and Ride With GPS to the website. With the 15-30 minutes it takes to create a route or course, why not spend 15-30 seconds to add it to the APLVNCC website so your fellow riders can download the route/course to their device, print out cue sheets, or simply have an idea of what's to come before the group ride. The "Ride Leader" Documentation has been revised in case you get stuck!