Making bike routes

This blog will be a set of possibly interesting routes around my locale (Cambridge) but the ability to create them, if you wish, will be passed on here.

I got a Garmin Edge 500 a year ago. Although I've not REALLY got into the courses, it's about time that I did.

When I started, I created my routes in Google Maps and then, through some convoluted magic I got them on my Garmin.

Then I found that there are a lot of routes already out there, in Google Earth format (*.kml) which often go where I want but don't always start where I want. So here's the deal.

There are some limitations in Google Maps format, notably that there appears to be a limit of 25 entries. Compared to a simple 30 mile KML file which may have 400 points. You WILL have to edit your routes.

So here's the plan. You'll need to be able to run python. It's not that tricky, and I haven't included any wacky modules. I'm using python 2.6. I'll add the file in the next post.

Downloading a KML file from MapMyRide

1. Go you your purveyor of kml files. A good one is Map My Ride or
   gpsvisualizer
2. Find some routes that look interesting and select Export
3. Click on Download KML 
4. Run the python script to generate a .txt file
5. The data in the .txt file is then copied into google maps as shown below. A route will be generated which is now editable. Remember to set the route to walking (or bike) as some routes aren't generatable
6. Use the convoluted magic to generate first a gpx then a crs
7. To generate the route profiles I've used gpsvisualizer to generate profiles from the KML 

 

I've found a new resource. Not had a proper play yet but this seems to let you edit gpx files