Product Suggestion: You show the 2000km cycle touring route for El CID already. Did you know the gravel version is now published by the El CID Camino organisation? It’s pretty handy to harvest both routes to concoct a mixed route (tarmac roads where they are quiet, but diverting to gravel to include beautiful bits or to avoid busier or less attractive road sections). We are doing that as we go but feels like cycle.travel might like to have a look at publishing the gravel route as part of the standard. Keep up the good work …. We just keep discovering more and more about the brilliance of cycle.travel
Comments
Richard, I happen to be in an email dialogue with the organiser of this Camino. Would you like me to ask him for the GPX of the full gravel route ? Rather than you pulling down 8 or so GPX segments?
Peter, I'd like to throw a few ideas into the pot and let them simmer.
Firstly, CT allows two ways of introducing an external gpx: import (subject to adaptation) and trace (allowing us to recreate a route). Therefore the need for an "official" version of a route within CT is minimised.
Of course, there's also the brand new "Route" option where CT can be instructed to follow an "official" route, reducing again the need to import an external route.
The issue with hosting a library of "official" routes has to do with veracity, maintenance and consistency.
In relation to veracity, not all routes are created equally. Some, such as your example, are created by official bodies with clear standards while others are, shall we say, looser. A recent post here is how an EV route is impassable on the Spanish/Portuguese border as just one example.
Then there's maintenance. A route created today may not be valid tomorrow. A change in access, a flood or other natural event will have an impact. A temporary diversion can become permanent. A route created 10 years ago may not be realistic today, especially if the people behind creating it are no longer involved.
Finally, there's consistency. CT covers a lot of countries! Standards of bike routes can vary greatly. Crossing Europe on an official route is a very different experience to crossing the U.S.A.
These add a burden to those wishing to host such "official" routes. Each route must be verified and then monitored to keep it up to date. That's not to mention the time involved in mapping the route in the first place. Having a look at the Camino del Cid there's a lot of viapoints used!
Personally, I think that responsibility is heavier when contemplating gravel routes. Parts of the El Cid route, as just one example, are in quite sparsely populated areas. Add the climbing to the equation and recent extreme weather coming across a blockage in a route can be quite serious. The notion of following an "official" route can foster complacency.
The reality of the situation is that, in this case, you have access to one of the people responsible for this route. You have access to gpx versions of the route. And CT gives you the opportunity to introduce those to the CT platform.
Even without the personal access, the various El Cid options are easily found. https://en.caminodelcid.org/way-cid/gravel-routes-camino-cid/
Personally speaking, I'd rather see the resources of CT spent on development rather than building up a library of routes that are available elsewhere and will require more labour to map and maintain. As users, we can all add a Travelogue that may be useful to others contemplating similar.
Got it. Thank you.
Is it possible for me to import a couple of GPX routes and have them “appear” on my map but not be my route? Ie so I can see them, be aware of them and choose to hug them where I fancy as I create my route?
I think it’s probably more academic interest on this occasion mind you as I’m finding that the El CID “cycle touring” route does appear so I am importing the gravel GPX as my route and then adapting that… snapping to the cycle touring route where I feel the road looks really quiet or the gravel looks lower interest, and also adapting the route to head off-piste and avoid sections of cycle lane that run alongside big roads.
But it does seem like it would be handy to be able to import routes and have them show up without imports having to be “my route”. I’m not sure if that’s possible??
Perhaps a better example for my suggestion above is this: we fancy planning a trip in Mallorca. There are no “official” routes in CT on Mallorca but we can get hold of quite a few GPX files with various named routes. If we could upload them all to be visible (privately… so CT incur no “ownership” of the routes) then we’d have a great starting point for stitching together an overall tour. Hopefully that makes sense…. No doubt it’s been discussed as a feature many times before…. I’m wondering if maybe it’s already in the product and I just haven’t found it yet?
Peter, I'l try to answer as best I can
It is possible to use the Trace feature to display one gpx file and to create a route on or around it. This post may help.
Relatedly, it is possible to place a number of gpx routes into a folder and to see the contents of that folder as one continuos map like here.
I think the display-folder-as-map option is what you are looking for. Either that or the Trace feature.
Using a computer there is a text box (top right) of the screen that allows us to search. Searching "Trace" as an example will show up a previous discussion (after quite a few routes). Alternatively, it is possible to search the site exclusively using Google eg: site:cycle.travel trace
One thing to remember about importing gpx files is that CT may adjust them on import. This does not happen to Trace files.
Just tried that and it’s exactly what I was thinking of…. OMG!!!! Just how many more times is CT going to blow my socks off??