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Anyone use this website "Japan Cycling"

adventurous cyclist

turtle speed cyclist
May 16, 2019
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Just came across this site: https://www.mapmyride.com/jp/ (thanks Mike) Is it free? Basically how does it work?

It's kinda free; some advanced features you have to pay for. I don't use it any more because the mapping tools annoy me.

What's it for? Planning and sharing routes using online maps. A planned or copied route can then be used as a guide on the road - either with a smartphone or a standalone GPS unit like a Garmin Edge or a Wahoo Elmnt. Some of these GPS units include maps that you can follow, just like sat-nav in a car. Others are more basic and will just tell you where to turn.

A similar site with better mapping tools is RideWithGPS. .

Yet another site - with accompanying smartphone app - that you may have heard about is Strava. This is the 'Facebook' of cycling, where millions of people share their rides and other activities adventures by recording them and then posting for friends to see. Then we give each other kudos (a thumbs-up) as encouragement, or make comments on the activity.

Even if you are not planning to use a GPS unit, a useful byproduct of Strava for planning adventures is the Strava Global Heatmap. It's a map overlay showing the aggregated tracks of where people are actually cycling (or running, or whatever). So if you're looking at a map and wondering whether a road is rideable, the global heatmap can give you a clue whether and how much other people are riding and recording there. The best detail on the heatmap is only available to Strava members, but membership is free. (Again, some features are only available to paying members, but you're unlikely to need those.)

Taking a look at sunny Yamaguchi...

SafariScreenSnapz001.png

...the brighter the line, the more the road is ridden by Strava members.

The Strava website has a route builder, which is not perfect but crucially allows an overlay of the heatmap data. So when I'm planning new routes, I can see exactly which roads other people are using, or not. If no one rides there, there's probably a reason why...

SafariScreenSnapz001.png
 
It's kinda free; some advanced features you have to pay for. I don't use it any more because the mapping tools annoy me.

What's it for? Planning and sharing routes using online maps. A planned or copied route can then be used as a guide on the road - either with a smartphone or a standalone GPS unit like a Garmin Edge or a Wahoo Elmnt. Some of these GPS units include maps that you can follow, just like sat-nav in a car. Others are more basic and will just tell you where to turn.

A similar site with better mapping tools is RideWithGPS. .

Yet another site - with accompanying smartphone app - that you may have heard about is Strava. This is the 'Facebook' of cycling, where millions of people share their rides and other activities adventures by recording them and then posting for friends to see. Then we give each other kudos (a thumbs-up) as encouragement, or make comments on the activity.

Even if you are not planning to use a GPS unit, a useful byproduct of Strava for planning adventures is the Strava Global Heatmap. It's a map overlay showing the aggregated tracks of where people are actually cycling (or running, or whatever). So if you're looking at a map and wondering whether a road is rideable, the global heatmap can give you a clue whether and how much other people are riding and recording there. The best detail on the heatmap is only available to Strava members, but membership is free. (Again, some features are only available to paying members, but you're unlikely to need those.)

Taking a look at sunny Yamaguchi...

View attachment 17934

...the brighter the line, the more the road is ridden by Strava members.

The Strava website has a route builder, which is not perfect but crucially allows an overlay of the heatmap data. So when I'm planning new routes, I can see exactly which roads other people are using, or not. If no one rides there, there's probably a reason why...

View attachment 17935


Thanks Mike.
Something I'll have to check into when I'm ready. And like you say its free. Cool.
 
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