NCN 68 north of Haltwhistle

Hi Richard

I'm trying to plot a route along a section of NCN 68, from Haltwhistle to Bellingham, but cycle.travel won't let me! It appears to think there's a gap in the track just north of where the surfaced road ends (north of 'Robin Rock Drift'); any attempt to route north of there results in a huge diversion through Simonburn.

Do you know if there's any reason for this? It's plotted OK on your Pennine Cycleway guide.

Thanks

Chris

OSM updates

Richard, I am wondering how often your routing algorithm updates information from OSM. Some months ago I added a road and a bridge to OSM (both had been in existence for years, but not shown on the map). Now, if I try to use it on cycle.travel, it's impossible (the route takes me 3 miles round to an alternative bridge). It's a really good route for cyclists because it avoids a busy A.30 roundabout.

If I try to route on Viewranger, or MapMyRide, or Google. it lets me use the bridge. It's at 50°07'51.6"N 5°30'26.2"W (Longrock, about 2 miles East of Penzance - see 'missing bridge' route).

Feedback from CTC thread

Hi Richard, as promised I have a couple of points I'd like your comments on:

a) use of 'tracks' for cycle autorouting: you mentioned that autorouting in Spain is difficult because of the underlying OSM data, but it's a problem sometimes in the UK too: e.g if I create a route from Keighley to Ilkley, the suggestion is to go over a big hill and includes a length of track (which OSM suggests is 'dirt') - whereas there is a much less hilly route, on minor roads and an NCN, around the hill. I understand that things marked as 'tracks' can vary quite a bit, but wouldn't it be possible to give the option of avoiding 'tracks' altogether (unless perhaps they are also marked as NCN routes?)

b) detours to avoid main roads: see my route 'porthleven' for an example. I ride to Porthleven from Truro fairly often, and mostly your suggested route is good. But if you look at mile 15 (around Wendron) there's a totally unnecessary loop away from the B3297. The route goes on this road anyway, for a greater distance than the bit it avoids. Is it possible to add an algorithm that allows the use of a bit main road if that road has to be used nearby anyway?

I am a (retired) programmer so know how difficult these things can be! If any of your code is open-sourced I may be able to help....but anyway thanks for what I still think is the best cycling autorouter around.

Best autorouting

I have been trying many autorouting apps for cycling over the past few weeks and this is by far the best. So many others take you on off-road tracks when there is a good alternative on minor roads: no good for road bikes. It's also one  of the easiest sites to use. The addition of photos to see the state of any off-road trails etc.is brilliant.

One request - any plans to extend to Europe?