dgodave

Strava Heatmap.

Useful as a supplement to other planning tools. Tells you where local cyclists are choosing to ride

brentlarue

You can't tell the difference on the heatmap on cycling profiles like road vs. MTB vs. commuting vs. road race. I've found this puts me on undesirable roads and unusual routes sometimes. How do you work around this?

jamawani 

Strava and touring are not the same thing.
Commuters want a direct fast route and are willing to put up with more traffic and hassles.
Speedsters want good pavement and a minimal number of stops, often busier roads.
Touring cyclists often are willing to use a more roundabout route and rougher road surface -
if it means a quiet, pleasant ride.

Not to mention that Strava is a data app - only as good as the data going in and its algorithms.
99% of the time it may be right on target, but that other 1% is what matters.

Nearly all states have massive amounts of AADT data online in map format.

dgodave

I can usually tell pavement from trails or gravel just with the satellite view.

Heatmaps is far from a flawless method. But I find that almost all cyclists want to avoid horrible busy roads if possible. Mainly its a starting point. "Where are the cyclists riding?"

brentlarue

Generally agreed. Strava is a really incredible resource. I just wish there was a simpler way to not get sent on singletrack or gravel after a long day on the bike because what seemed like a nice route, was only possible by taking the MTB route from the heatmap. I would happily take a small detour to stay on the less hilly, nicely paved road.