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Better map service for cycling than Google Maps?



 
 
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  #11  
Old March 22nd 18, 12:36 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Roger Merriman[_4_]
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Posts: 385
Default Better map service for cycling than Google Maps?

Joerg wrote:
The only Google service I used until recently was Googe maps. However,
now they have made the font so small that it has become almost
unreadable and to me, therefore, useless on any of my computers. From
what I read in online searches that cannot be corrected by the user
because it is supposedly rendered as graphics.

Open Street Map is lacking a lot of information. For example, the whole
long El Dorado Trail singletrack is missing. Yeah, one can edit that as
a user but I don't want to re-invent the wheel.

Mapquest isn't great either anymore. It auto-fills nonsensical stuff
into the search field and so on.

Those among you not using GPS, what do thee consult for cycling maps
outside these three main ones?


Uk so I use Strava which gives a idea where folks a ridden, for more
details stuff, then I use Ordnance Survey maps mostly paper but sometimes
digital.

Roger Merriman

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  #12  
Old March 22nd 18, 01:44 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Duane[_2_]
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Posts: 401
Default Better map service for cycling than Google Maps?

On 22/03/2018 7:36 AM, Roger Merriman wrote:
Joerg wrote:
The only Google service I used until recently was Googe maps. However,
now they have made the font so small that it has become almost
unreadable and to me, therefore, useless on any of my computers. From
what I read in online searches that cannot be corrected by the user
because it is supposedly rendered as graphics.

Open Street Map is lacking a lot of information. For example, the whole
long El Dorado Trail singletrack is missing. Yeah, one can edit that as
a user but I don't want to re-invent the wheel.

Mapquest isn't great either anymore. It auto-fills nonsensical stuff
into the search field and so on.

Those among you not using GPS, what do thee consult for cycling maps
outside these three main ones?


Uk so I use Strava which gives a idea where folks a ridden, for more
details stuff, then I use Ordnance Survey maps mostly paper but sometimes
digital.


Strava, MapMyRide, RideWithGPS all have the ability to find routes as
well as map out your own routes. On a phone you can use them to
navigate. For my bike club our routes are on RideWithGPS. Comparing
RideWithGPS to my Garmin Edge 800, the maps were pretty well done.

I know that bike paths show up on all 3 of these apps. Not sure about
single track mountain lion infested back country paths. But I have used
all three of these apps to record hiking trails with decent results so I
imagine that's possible.
  #13  
Old March 22nd 18, 02:37 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Radey Shouman
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Posts: 1,747
Default Better map service for cycling than Google Maps?

Frank Krygowski writes:

On 3/20/2018 10:57 AM, Joerg wrote:
The only Google service I used until recently was Googe
maps. However, now they have made the font so small that it has
become almost unreadable and to me, therefore, useless on any of my
computers. From what I read in online searches that cannot be
corrected by the user because it is supposedly rendered as graphics.

Open Street Map is lacking a lot of information. For example, the
whole long El Dorado Trail singletrack is missing. Yeah, one can
edit that as a user but I don't want to re-invent the wheel.

Mapquest isn't great either anymore. It auto-fills nonsensical stuff
into the search field and so on.

Those among you not using GPS, what do thee consult for cycling maps
outside these three main ones?


Well, my favorite map is a map.

I'm lucky that AAA issues a special "Northeast Ohio" map. It's at a
relatively large scale (1" = 3.5 miles or so) and shows almost all
roads, down to the gravel lanes in Amish country to the north.

I've also got two ancient sets of the bicycle maps put out by the
state back in the 1980s. These are on waterproof paper and show a
recommended road every five miles or so, sort of a rough grid of
recommendations for touring cyclists. I knew the DOT official in
charge of generating these maps back then. She just hired college
students for the summer and had them search data bases showing traffic
count and road width for paved roads. IOW there was little or no
on-the-ground testing; but I've found they still work pretty well.

I have collections of county maps. If I'm heading out on a long ride,
I'll throw the appropriate ones into my bike bag. The three above maps
cover most of my long-distance day ride explorations.

I led a team that produced a bike map for our two county area. We did
do a lot of on-the-road ride testing. The idea was to rate the
well-known or major roads, and to hopefully find nice "beginner"
streets and roads on a roughly one mile grid. I sometimes throw that
in my bike bag for rides to unfamiliar parts of the city.

A few years ago, I planned a cross-Ohio tour for my wife and I plus a
friend by using one of these books:
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/575993 It worked well.

I've also referred to USGS maps to plan rides and tours. The 1:24000
series is so detailed it shows individual buildings in less dense
areas. It also shows things like fence lines, railroads, etc. and are
quite beautiful, IMO. I have four of them that cover territory
surrounding our house mounted on a wall for reference or inspiration
for local rides. And I've used the 1:250,000 series to choose roads
for rides out of the area. I appreciate the contour information,
especially if I'm going to try a long ride into a hilly area, like to
Pittsburgh.

Trouble is, I think USGS maps are no longer available in paper. I
treasure the ones I have.


The USGS no longer sells printed maps, but does make the pdfs available
to anyone. These guys offer to print and ship them to you:

http://www.mytopo.com/

http://www.omnimap.com/catalog/usgs3.htm

I haven't tried either one.


If you're setting out on a long tour, the Adventure Cycling maps are
good, as long as you're willing to stick to their routes. We ran into
complications on one tour when we deviated from the route and had a
hard time finding anything more detailed than a state map.

Of course, I'm talking about riding on (shudder!) roads! With CARS!! ;-)

I'm lucky to live in a part of the country that was settled long
before there were cars. Because of that, we have a wonderful network
of country roads. And I'm pretty good at telling, from a map, which
roads will have less traffic (which I prefer). I also use clues like
streams and railroads to find less hilly routes (which I also prefer).


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