archfotos

Upfront let me say I have done some limited searches through the archives as I thought this would of been a popular topic and second I am purposely posting this question in the touring forum verses the electronic/gps because I feel this is the proper forum.

My question is what apps do people find useful when touring, not in the sense of gps tracking or calorie burning that seem to have all the attention? I guess the two areas I am concerned about is both bike maintenance and more importantly camp reservations? I ask about the bike maintenance because I am not confident in all bike repairs on the road and am thinking of taking my parks bike maintenance manual with me (lot of weight) if their is an app that is thoroughly in-depth on repairs out on the road that would be great.

Second and more importantly I am going to a very popular summer area (New England to be precise) and am wondering about camp reservations while on tour I personally won't know until a day before when I might be arriving so I'm wondering if there are apps people use to find campsites and reservations? On a recent trip out in CA (of course) I kept running into full campgrounds and it was a PITA I also know that I can normally get a better deal reserving a motel room from my smart phone while sitting in the hotel lobby verses walking up and asking for a room.

Any insights and suggestions are very appreciated.

Thanks, Jeff

BohicaX

I use google maps just place you finger on any part of the map and info pops up giving you more detail.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...roid.apps.maps

I know this doesn't help you but I also use this program there maybe a similar one for your neck of the woods.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...obot.wikicamps

I also carry a first aid app just to jog my memory.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...firstresponder

I also carry a few survival apps to jog my memory but it's best to find the ones that target your needs.

Can't help with bike repairs.

Ravenhog

What smartphone are you using. Here are a few bike maintenance apps for Android phones. I have no personal experience with either. I would suggest before the tour check out youtube and/or the park tool website. Learn beforehand the most common fixes you would likely encounter on the road that way you don't have to fiddle around with your phone in bad weather.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...kerepair&hl=en

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...keDoctor&hl=en

Machka 

It might not be as popular a topic as you imagined because:

a) Many cycletourists just go ... we load up our bicycles and ride. We don't worry too much about planning routes, booking accommodation, and things like that.

b) Many cycletourists know how to fix their bicycles ... we've taken courses and had quite a bit of hands-on experience.


When I have wanted to look for accommodations, I've used google maps. Type in "Campgrounds near ... ".

Or I've simply googled "[place name] accommodations" and a list of accommodations comes up along with a list of common accommodation websites, like totaltravel, wotif, trip advisor, stayz, booking, etc.. I rarely book through those sorts of websites, but they can provide information about what might be available, prices, website links, etc.

Rowan

I have to smile at this. Someone posted elsewhere on the forums that he didn't need advice on a bike repair because he had learned everything he needed from YouTube. Sounds very Sheldon Cooper-ish, but I'd like to be a fly on the wall when he actually did do the repair.

An app is useless to you if you don't have the right tools and the right parts. If a BB fails, you might be toast anyway, but if a cassette comes loose or a chain breaks, or a cable... they are things that can be fixed fairly quickly if you have the tools and knowledge and, dare I say, experience. Experience comes from practice; until you get experience, it's all theory.

You could adopt what others say: I go on bicycle tours to get away from technology.

jabantik00

i have pretty good success with google maps. just search for "camping", "food", "motel", "supermarket", or whatever and you will probably get some hits, with websites, phone numbers, reviews, etc.

cbike

I don't know about you guys, but when I'm touring I often end up in areas where data connection is bad or non existing. Relying on an app that needs connectivity isn't great in these cases. One solution is to download pdf or other documents to your phone.

On repair: Learn how to fix a flat without having to use any reference material. Everything else you just jury rig it to the best of your abilities until it can be repaired correctly. Even if I had the proper instructions I wouldn't have the tools for complicated stuff.

Camp reservation: Use your phone's browser. There is no unified reservation system for all campgrounds. Google it, try out their online webpage (some aren't mobile friendly), or give them a call. I'd just go by faith that there is a spot free or I can squeeze my tent in somewhere.

Entertainment: Get a trailer with a car battery and a huge solar panel to keep your phone charged. LOL! I actually meet a guy dragging such a rig to campground. He tries to develop it for remote bicycle touring and sell it. 30 lbs on a bob trailer.

Everything else: Again google map, web browser, and the outdated phone feature.

raybo

I'm touring right now and I've been using the couchsurfing and warmshowers apps. I also use yelp a bit. I also like trackmytour and maplets.

SlowAndSlower

I found I used the weather app the most. That was followed by "local" to locate motels and places like Walmart. For camping All Stays lead me astray a couple of times but was generally okay.

Papa Tom

>>>>You could adopt what others say: I go on bicycle tours to get away from technology<<<<

+1 on this. I caught myself, this past week, trying to "force" my iPhone into some type of role in my upcoming trip this weekend. I even downloaded all sorts of offline mapping apps to tell me where I'm going and I ALMOST bought a really expensive clip to mount my phone on the handlebars. Then I looked across my desk and saw the plastic sleeve I've always loaded my paper directions into and said "screw it!" There's been absolutely NOTHING wrong with the way I've toured for the past decade or so. I will use my iPhone to make phone calls and, maybe, as an alarm clock, but that's all. This week, I'm-a-goin' au natural!

RWBlue01

Google Earth
Google maps
OruxMaps
Documents to Go (I make lists in excel)

RWBlue01

No one wants to see a nakid guy on a bicycle.


As far as turning off electronics, I see both sides.
I like my maps paper and electronic.
I like my lists and this is easier electronically.
Beyond that....

LuckySailor

[QUOTE=RWBlue01;15862101]


No one wants to see a nakid guy on a bicycle.




I'll never forget my first bike tour with Vermont Country Cyclists. We checked into the Shorham Inn and we were greeted by this older 60 ish woman. (My age perception might be sqewed here a bit as I was 23 at the time) Anyhow she welcomed us to the inn and we introduced ourselves as Don and John. She couldn't keep it straight as to which one was who. On the way up the stairs were several pictures of naked people riding or posing on bikes! They were black and white photos with men and women naked! You just never know!
Sorry, not sure of the relevance. What was your question again?

Rich Gibson 

[QUOTE=cbike;15861177]I don't know about you guys, but when I'm touring I often end up in areas where data connection is bad or non existing. Relying on an app that needs connectivity isn't great in these cases. One solution is to download pdf or other documents to your phone.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 (Android) and use copilot. It uses the GPS and you download maps of you area pf interest. This way you can place yourself on the map and relate to your surroundings.

Machka 

And how do all these apps etc. work for you when you spend a few days in campgrounds without power or in areas without a signal?

stevepusser

I have an absolutely stunning and logically unassailable answer to your question, but don't have enough battery life left to post it....

RWBlue01

[QUOTE=LuckySailor;15868726]OK, I am wrong. For every weird fetish, I guess there is someone who has it. Then again, I don't understand modern art.

RWBlue01

I have a solar powered AA battery recharger and it will charge the cell phone. For the apps I will be using, no signal shouldn't matter.

SlowAndSlower

[QUOTE=Rich Gibson;15868877]I used CoPilot too but found it just as convenient to store the map segments I wanted to use with Google Maps for offline.

As an aside; trying to find paper road maps is almost like trying to find a phone booth these days.

SlowAndSlower

I can't really answer this question because I don't do multiple days in a campground and my phone (Droid Razr Maxx) will handle a day or to do some power management on my part. As for no signal I turn the phone off and talk to the locals. I found even remote places without cell service tend to have WiFI around someplace.

Bicycle365

First of all let me say hello to everyone.
I have a Nexus 7 (Android 4.2 Jelly Bean) and it lives in the map case on my HB bag. For the no signal areas I have the Locus mapping app , I just make sure I have downloaded the area I'm in ahead of time. I also have all of my Adventure Cycling maps scanned in , panel by panel. The Nexus is in fact my primary map/navigation tool. I do carry the paper maps/compass in the bottom of my panniers just in case.

For power I use a SON28 generator hub that connects to a converter I built to supply USB power to the nexus or to a battery charger.

Now as to the original posters question : I have one homescreen dedicated to the apps I use on tour.

Oh Ranger:
Finds parks and campgrounds

Hostelling International:
Find and book hostels

Warm Showers:
Find alternative accommodations

Priceline, Kayak, Hotels.com, Expedia, Travelocity:
Find and book hotel rooms

Trulia, Zillow:
Real estate apps, if you can find a foreclosed or vacant home often they have flat lawns, fences and outside water faucets that work. Just say'in.

Walmart:
Yeah I know, but they have bathrooms and you can provision up there cheap. We tourists support the small local merchants more than most folks so I don't feel as guilty when I have to use the big W.

Gas Buddy:
I don't care about the gas, (though my MSR stove runs on no-lead). A lot of stations have stores now. Cold drinks, snacks, a microwave, bathrooms etc...

Accuweather, Aviation Weather:
Self explanatory

Skype:
Video chat when wi-fi'd

Google Voice:
Essentially a phone and answering machine.

WiEye
WiFi finder tool.

Google Maps:
Find Libraries, Churches, YMCA etc...

For connectivity ( No cellular connection on Nexus 7) I have a MiFi box that works really well. A 25$ reload card at Walmart lasts me about 2 months. I do not stream music or video on it.

Hope that gives you some ideas...
Joe B

Machka 

Paper maps are located in every tourist information centre, in many service stations, and in bookstores, sporting goods stores, newsagents, etc. etc. etc. They're everywhere!!

I live in a tiny relatively remote town in Australia, and if I wanted a paper map, I'd walk down to my local tourist information centre ... and if they didn't have what I needed, I'd walk up to the sporting goods store, the fishing shop, and/or the newsagents. I know the newsagents has a map selection, and I'm pretty sure the other two would as well.


In Australia and Europe ... just about every town (and particularly ones of any size) has a tourist information centre. In Canada they are a little harder to find because they tend to be on main highways on the outskirts of towns. In the US, they also tend to be located on main highways, but rather than being in a town, they tend to be out in the middle of nowhere at the border crossings.


And we have been in situations where there was no power and no internet connection. On our recent tour around the world a couple small campgrounds in Germany spring to mind. And if you're travelling through the Canadian Rockies, there are long stretches where you aren't going to get a signal, wifi, or anything.

Rowan

Haven't you got the app to find them yet?

Tourist in MSN

I read this thread because I wanted to know what I was missing since I have not used any non-GPS touring Apps, unless you call weather forecasting and weather radar touring apps.

Only one of my tours was after I bought an Android smartphone. Even with having the smartphone, I used my 10 plus year old Garmin Etrex Legend GPS using Mapsource 250k USA Topo maps as this GPS lasts a long time on AA rechargeable batteries. I carry enough batteries so that I can get by without a power outlet to recharge for about six days at a time.

I don't have a data plan or voice plan for my smartphone, I only use it where I have wifi, it is great to get the weather report for temp and windage in the morning and weather radar to see what might be out there. I can use my Android phone like a cell phone without paying for a cell plan where I have wifi, I use the apps Google Voice and Groove IP Lite.

I guess I was not missing anything by not having the right apps.

SlowAndSlower

That is just great and I am happy that you don't have a problem in your neck of the woods. And I don't have your seemly vast and wide touring experience so I can only relate to what I have experienced here in the US doing the TransAm and some trips in the west. But I kindly and strongly disagree with your opinion that "They're everywhere!!." That is simply hyperbole.

The point I was attempted to make, since it escaped you, is that if you need state maps you should get them before you set out on your tour because they can be difficult to find enroute.