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Cycle Map Europe – "paved only" routing possible?

ComicSans
1 month ago

Hi,

I'm looking at purchasing a Garmin Edge, which I'd like to use for touring with inline skates. For skating, obviously, two things are important:

  • between cities/villages: cycle tracks only; no long stretches on fast/busy roads, 
  • paved surfaces (short unpaved sections would be fine, if it's just a short walk)

When mapping routes, I usually enter start/finish, and then add points so to go around busy areas like town centres etc

How good is Garmin's Cycle Map Europe? Is it possible to map routes that are 98% paved? 
And how easy is it to map routes (on computer and on-device)?

Many thanks for your help!

  • 0 1 month ago

    The Garmin Edge internal maps are based on OpenStreetMaps https://www.openstreetmap.org/ (OSM), you can review the OSM map and have confidence the same will be used by Garmn. The OSM have a lot of metadata regarding the elements shown on the map, for you the most relevant is the road service. Some route planning sites eg RidewithGPS (RWGPS), free version,  https://ridewithgps.com/ can be setup to base the route planning on OSM maps (rather then Google or other) and will display non-psved routes with a different color etc, The cycle paths are also shown with a different color.. Best to have a quick look at your local area or areas you intend to use so you can get an idea how it might work.

    The x40 Series devices can also be setup to avoid un-paved roads (as well as lots of other things) when a route is being generated

    PS There are also specific OSM Cycle versions

  • 0 1 month ago in reply to L.Rouge

    Thank you!
    Ridewithgps.com looks very similar to Komoot and Outdooractive. So, do they basically all use the same (or at least very similar) dataset for paved/unpaved distinction? I guess that'd make sense, rather than each company doing their own thing...

    I also found map overlays for Google Earth, which will display an OpenCycleMap overlay, including a colour key for National / Regional / Local Cycle Routes: http://ge-map-overlays.appspot.com/

    So what's the benefits of using a Garmin Edge (compared to mobile apps). I guess battery life / waterproof?

  • 0 1 month ago in reply to ComicSans
    ComicSans said:
    I guess battery life / waterproof?

    Yes, my iphone will navigate me for a few hours whereas my Garmin 1040 will last 80-100 hours but it all depends on how long your rides / skates will be, some of mine can be days...

    Yes, most of the planning sites use the OSM data but present it in different ways and implement their own routing algorithms

    I also found this which might be useful for you

    https://little-maps.com/2022/03/05/planning-a-gravel-ride-this-great-map-shows-all-paved-and-unpaved-roads/