NoWhammies

I have a had good luck with Garmin Connect. A search of different regions/areas shows roots people are ridden. Plus I'm able to download the routes to my Garmin for step-by-step directions.

Metieval

if everybody planned via heatmaps, we'd never have new routes!

Troul 

There's a person in my area that claims they put the bike computer in the car & then drives around on non bicycle routes to later upload it to skew the heatmap. When I hear about stuff like that, it deters me from using such apps.

Nachoman

That person has serious daddy issues.

skidder

I get maps from the local chapter of the national auto club, and combine that with info gathered off of Google Maps/Streetview. I sit down with the maps in front of a computer, mark up the maps as necessary, and I'll have a route (with a few options) planned out a route for a few days of touring.

Hypno Toad

"I have this friend ... " said a troul

Many people drive their bike to a place to start/end a ride and forget to turn off (or later edit) their Strava ride. So there's a lot of faint heat map signatures on the highways. That's the joy of Strava heat maps, a forgetful person (or a troul) can't hold a candle against 42 million users.

Since I live in an area with long winters, we have riders that fatbike the lake ice - including me, it's the quickest way to my favorite tap room for a growler refill. Additionally, there are races and group rides on the lake ice, you have a hard time finding them on the heat map without zooming in, and never show as a popular route.

Here's a typical view of Lake Minnetonka -for scale: roughly 12 miles from side-to-side



Zoomed in on Grays Bay (red square in the first image - roughly 1 mile across). This is the max zoom on Strava heat map and these seasonal rides across the lake barely show up, only the channel and the popular entrance at Minnehaha Creek Headwaters park show some 'heat'

Metieval

So basically don't ride 12, 7, or 494, 394, etc... LOL

Hypno Toad

^^^ this ... it's not too complicated, right?!?

Metieval

As far as Minnetonka riding goes. You might be better to map a route based on time of day vs what roads? This coming from my limited knowledge of the place which was back in 2004.


the ice biking is interesting, I was looking at Key Biscayne FL , apparently boaters, kayakers, SUB, etc.... seem to use Strava and A lot!!!

mr_bill

Lots of people forget to turn Strava off after the major charity rides (PMC, BikeMS, H2B, etc...) You can see them returing on ferries from Provincetown to Boston. But also many of the other ferries pop up too along Long Island Sound.



-mr. bill

Caliper

When I opted to pay for Strava Summit, that was the one package I didn't take. I've got other ways of doing the Beacon feature and while the heatmaps seem cool, they didn't seem worth the price to see where I've ridden. The "use popular routes" option on maps always sends me down roads I'd rather not ride.

For my route planning time, I simply check if the road is paved or dirt. It's easy here since there is more dirt than pavement. The cars tend to take the shortest route to the main paved roads and spend as little time on dirt as possible, leaving miles of great roads for biking. If the satellite view is brown, it's a go. All I need.

Troul 

No where did i say it was a friend. I would not tolerate a friend as such.

Picking a route from google maps seems just as effective imo when comparing areas to ride in.

MikeyMK

Strava tries to send me onto roads, so I don't use it. With Google maps I can select walking, though to be fair I'm still sent along a road sometimes!

Hypno Toad

I was just messing with you .... Just thought is was a funny play on you forum handle.

It appears some tools are stronger in some regions than others. Google is part my planning, but not my starting point ... Most of the time.

Now that I type this on my phone, I'm reminded that if I'm looking for a route on my phone, I never use Strava and always work with Google maps. So there's another wrinkle in my theory

Troul 

Could be worse... it could direct ya in to a large body of water.

Hypno Toad

I never knew that turning off the heat map allowed additional zooming, thanks!!

Unrelated - to the people posting that you should just get on the bike and see where it takes you, this is great and preferred ... but my work and personal life keep me on a tight schedule. Therefore, having a route and knowing how long the ride should take is a big help keeping me from missing meetings and appointments. This is not to say that I put the route on my Garmin for turn-by-turn directions, just that I know which route will fit my available time.

Troul 

When time is dictating things & there's no planned route, I'll ride to a set amount of time that'll allow for a prompt return. Basically an on the spot halfway point. So far it's been working out for me.

Hypno Toad

That does work well for the out-and-back routes ... I have an irrational dislike for out-and-back routes. Even when driving the car, I look for a different way back. I guess I also have an irrational like for planning routes [/shrug]

You do you!

Metieval

So I was riding today and thinking about heat maps. Strava has a couple driveways (not my driveway) glowing. I'd rather they not be there, but I don't always pause at the road/driveway.

Then I started thinking about Google/smart phones. Google is tracking people no matter what. If your phone is on your person then you are being tracked. It stands to reason that google would then be King at knowing routes.

just because
strava tracks those who chose to be part of strava.
Google tracks everybody regardless.

diphthong

haven’t used the global strava heatmap to determine rides. have tho, used my personal “all-time” one to remind me of places i should investigate or revisit. not adverse to a certain amount of winging it. specific climbs are generally a little easier to get info on (i guess we’re all moving so slow, there’s plenty o’ time to analyze/memorize details) vs specifics riding in a certain area. i usually try to have a backup ride/area/street(s) in case something is trespassing, closed for whatever reason, too rough for my skinny tires, or if i wimp out.

DrIsotope

I never gave Google permissions for Location Services, so it never knows where I am. That's why when I open up my Chrome Browser in iOS, it thinks I'm in Pasadena CA, or Boise ID, or some other random place.

Just double checked: yep, still no Location Services enabled.

diphthong

if it's an area i've never reconned or looking for excruciating detail, have generally had decent results posting here in the appropriate regional discussions (depending on exactly how active said appropriate regional discussion forum is)
or road cycling or, generally (imho) most helpful, the touring forum.

msu2001la

You can set up an automatic privacy zone within Strava around your home if you're concerned about things like your driveway showing up. It defaults to 1/4 mile radius, but you can modify as needed if you have a really long driveway or something.

As for Google... they don't really know if a user is driving, cycling, walking/running, so while Google probably has a much larger number of user's data and GPS info, it may not be as useful for the specific purpose of finding good bike routes.

Metieval

Re-read my post again. on the Driveways. I'd have to set up Multiple Privacy zones!

cars have a general average mph, so do cyclist, as do walkers.

just saying if you have a walking "pace" it stands to reason you are probably not driving. Over time Google number crunching can figure this out.

msu2001la

If you want to use Strava but are worried about your driveway showing up on the Global heatmap, and you don't want to set up a privacy zone (or zones), you also have the option to opt out of your data being included in Strava's global heatmap entirely. This option can be found within the privacy settings.


As for Google's tracking, it should be noted that apps that use location services aren't typically accessing your phone's GPS. GPS drains the battery quickly, so most apps (like weather apps, or browsers like Chrome, etc) get location information from cell towers or WiFi. This info is good enough to know what Zip Code you're in, but it's not providing info on speed or direction. Google is only getting GPS tracks from people running GPS apps (like Google Maps).


With that in mind, I don't think data from Google Maps would be very useful for generating a global heat map of bike routes. The number of people on bikes using Google Maps (or some other GPS app that Google has access to) seems like it would be much lower than the number of people on bikes using tracking devices that provide data to Strava (or running the Strava app itself). I'm guessing the most popular place to run Google Maps is in a car.