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Ride VeloViewer tiling in Japan

Next head to https://brouter.de/brouter-web. Click "Load" and then "Tracks". Select the KML file you just downloaded from VeloViewer. The map will be overlaid with tiles that are near your max cluster but not IN your max cluster - perfect for planning a ride to expand that cluster. The route planner is pretty nifty and even has features that Strava does not such as colour-coding the route to highlight climbs.
Compared to RideWithGPS the auto-routing seemed pretty funky. It would take me on side roads all the time where it didn't make any sense. If I changed the mode it would reroute everything I had already routed.

But I am sure it will get better over time.
 
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I see plenty of development has gone into rideeverytile.com recently. Interesting (to me) to browse the heat map and see where nobody has been yet.

If you look around Japan and zoom out and zoom in on the heat map, one thing that may be a bit confusing is that when you zoom out, a tile is not a tile: It keeps the display tiles the same, but they are composites of several (4, 16, etc) VeloViewer tiles.

This is also why some of the tiles in that state will be coloured while others only have a coloured outline. For example, an empty tile with a yellow outline is a composite of tiles with no visitor ever (no colour) and tiles with a single visitor (yellow).

Anyway, if you zoom in enough you see the real picture!
 
when you zoom out, a tile is not a tile
Yes. The RideEveryTile.com dev says (in a comment on this post):

'I find it quite tricky to keep the colours displaying something intuitive but also stop the amount of data going crazy - we are close to 1.3 million unique tiles visited now so unfortunately I can't just display "1x1" tiles at every zoom.'
 
My next ride will with luck be on Saturday. It will be colder than last weekend. But after a very constructive chat with 'local' friend Rob of biketourjapan.com, I'm excited about tearing another short strip off Tochigi... and a little bit of Gunma. I had originally planned to go up and down each side, turning around before the ridge. Rob advised that it's totally possible to link the two from the Gunma side. This will be less distance, less climbing, and more tiles.

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The ride begins, continues, and ends in almost the middle of nowhere. It will be a long drive there and back, and no chance of stumbling across a FamilyMart once I start. Must snack up on stocks. I guess around 15 km will be gravel. Stravr estimates three hours, so I'll bank on six.
 
Have I got it right? Looks like an exceptional series of (six?) waterfalls on or just off of the 林道作原沢入線.
 
Have I got it right? Looks like an exceptional series of (six?) waterfalls on or just off of the 林道作原沢入線.
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Yes, some look like they're worth pausing for; especially this one where I can fill up.

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Will have to see how much time I have, and what the road is like, as a couple aren't actually on my route. I was checking some of the Takipedia (or whatever) reviews of a couple of waterfalls on the downward leg: "crappy car park; barbed wire; not much water flow; no taki souvenir shops; I think this is the right one".
 
Went on a ride. Got some tiles. Exploring Himurozan Tochigi Gunma Adventure 59.5 km, 1644 m climbing, +19T

I had planned for 20 tiles, but the final one, on a detour just to snag it, escaped me this time. It's in a critical place for MaxSquare increase, so I'll have to go and collect it another day.

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I could have tramped 200 m through and beyond all that mess, but it was late, getting dark, I was really cold and tired, and excuses.

About 3/4 of the route was paved, but most of it was on closed roads. There must be a lot of money to be made in Japan creating 立入禁止 and 通行止 signs. A post-retirement business opportunity, perhaps.

The spot I'd chosen to park the car - based on satellite view - turned out to be a park/facility with some stone and thatched houses that can be rented to stay in. The janitor was just opening up as I arrived, and offered to let me look around. Coming this far and then having a BBQ and crashing might be a fun group ride one day. Didn't see much evidence of beer, though.

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I set off on the ride, and saw a lot of waterfalls.

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The occasional boat, seemingly abandoned halfway up a mountain

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Some spectacular views. Can you spot Tokyo Skytree?

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And did I mention waterfalls?

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The most challenging part was at 43 km. I knew from my local informant that some portage would be necessary. Actually he suggested it. [Thinks: Perhaps it was a plan to do me in.] From the sometimes-gravel sometimes-paved always-steep rindō I had to scramble up onto the ridge, wander along it a little way, and then drop down the other side to get to the road. I got up on the ridge... eventually.

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Wow!

Getting down involved a lot more scrambling, some (rather fun, if I'm honest) log terraces, and then a very steep staircase (definitely not fun). As I reached the road - the same road, Tochigi prefectural route 200, on which I'd parked the van, 15 km below - I realized it was not the thoroughfare I'd been expecting but a mess of leaves and sharp rocks. One of the rocks quickly ripped a hole in my tyre sidewall. My informant reported later that the same had happened to him. ["You might have mentioned that..."]

So... as is typical, more (mis)adventure than expected. But now I'm warm and fed and home, I think it was probably fun.
 
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So... as is typical, more (mis)adventure than expected. But now I'm warm and fed and home, I think it was probably fun.

These challenges are always more fun in hindsight than in the moment. Looks like it was a tough day. (Nice pics BTW)


Had one of those myself yesterday. Had figured on 4 or 5 hours for my 50km ride. Turned out to be 8. One section of the route was supposed to be road but was not...so hiked about 4km for that tile.
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The other section that I expected to be trail was tough but interesting. It started out reasonably enough, then turned to rocky river bed, then got steep, then got really steep. Slow going. I was hoping that the ridgeline at the top would be an easy hike, but NOOOO! It was a razor thin ridgeline with steep drops on both sides, ropes and scrambling up and down required. Even with a tile on the line, I wasn't going to try it. Given that there was a sign posted that said the trail was damaged and dangerous, (someone had died there), it was late, and I wanted to live...I turned around and headed down. But...I'll be back...(maybe from a different angle next time). Total hiking on that part was about 8km.

Fuji-san never disappoints.
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Do you have some more information about this place you could Share?
It's called 古代生活体験村 (Village for experiencing ancient lifestyle.)


Here's the location: https://goo.gl/maps/s8snGRmAq18A7Xw3A

Not cheap to stay, but the more guests there are to a room the more affordable it gets.

The janitor I met was really friendly and helpful. Some of the thatched houses are now badly in need of repair, but there are so few experts in the construction technique that repairs are very expensive and the owners are disinclined to spend money on them.

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razor thin ridgeline with steep drops on both sides, ropes and scrambling up and down required. Even with a tile on the line, I wasn't going to try it.

Yeah... I feel your pain, especially as it seems you were only two or three hundred meters away. But terrain like this...


Yikes! You win this weekend's Obsessive Nutter award. Chapeau! Kudos! 🏅
 
I picked up another tip from Pete Bartlett, who runs rideeverytile.com - the EveryTile app for Garmin IQ (App Store link) - and installed it to Michiko for yesterday's ride.

It displays a simplified version of my track, and a very clear color change for tiles that have been used on the ride so far. The tile borders are based on the same calculation as VeloViewer, i.e., a 256 x 256 pixel image at zoom level 14 of OpenStreetMap), so if this widget says a tile is collected then VV will too - no danger of a discrepancy between Garmin/phone etc.

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When I passed into a new tile, the display re-centered on that tile, and the squiggle of the track in the previous tile changed to a simple straight line line between points of entry and exit.

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It doesn't store any information on what tiles the user already has; just what's happening on the current ride. I think it's interesting, and potentially time-saving for out-and-back detours when the terrain is very challenging. Live feedback on progress is also nice.

This is the same track as the examples above, from VeloViewer's display after the fact.

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It's called 古代生活体験村 (Village for experiencing ancient lifestyle.)


Here's the location: https://goo.gl/maps/s8snGRmAq18A7Xw3A

Not cheap to stay, but the more guests there are to a room the more affordable it gets.

The janitor I met was really friendly and helpful. Some of the thatched houses are now badly in need of repair, but there are so few experts in the construction technique that repairs are very expensive and the owners are disinclined to spend money on them.

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Thank you for the information.
My phone doesn't want open HP properly. I'll give it a try with my PC Lager.
Anyway, it sounds like an interesting concept.
 
I picked up another tip from Pete Bartlett, who runs rideeverytile.com - the EveryTile app for Garmin IQ (App Store link) - and installed it to Michiko for yesterday's ride.

It displays a simplified version of my track, and a very clear color change for tiles that have been used on the ride so far. The tile borders are based on the same calculation as VeloViewer, i.e., a 256 x 256 pixel image at zoom level 14 of OpenStreetMap), so if this widget says a tile is collected then VV will too - no danger of a discrepancy between Garmin/phone etc.
I looked at the Statshunters.com site and saw that many of the tiles that VV credited to me were not accepted on that site. Has my max square at 20x20 as a result. :eek: So, this will be a good resource for making sure I actually bagged the tile, no questions asked. I'll give it a try.

Thanks for that.
 
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