Cancelling your supporter status

If you’ve been a cycle.travel supporter and you’d like to cancel this, here’s how to do it. (And thank you for having been a supporter!)

There are different ways to cancel depending whether you signed up on the website, on the iPhone app, or the Android app. Please note that cycle.travel doesn’t take your payments directly so we can’t cancel your supporter status for you.

If you signed up on the web

cycle.travel’s supporter scheme is provided by Patreon.com. You can cancel from their website.

• Go to Patreon.com
• Locate and click cycle.travel under the Memberships header on the left navigation
• Click the Membership tab
• Click the Edit button for your current tier
• Click Cancel membership
• Click the Confirm cancellation button

If you signed up in the iPhone app

• Open the cycle.travel app on your phone
• Tap the Settings icon at the bottom right
• Tap Account status
• Tap Manage your supporter status
• You can cancel from there

If you signed up in the Android app

• Open the cycle.travel iPhone app
• Tap the Settings icon at the bottom right
• Tap Account status
• Tap Manage your subscription
• You can cancel from there

What will change

You’ll no longer have access to supporter features such as extra maps, PDF downloads, the cycle.travel newsletter and additional app features.

Trouble-shooting the app

If you’re having difficulties with the mobile app, here are some things you can try.

Android issues, summer 2025

Unfortunately an obscure Android issue is causing problems with the app on some phones. These issues include the app not giving turn-by-turn directions, and not rotating the map for your current direction.

As of 24 August, we’re currently waiting for Google to approve the latest version of the app, which contains fixes. This will be version 1.7.6 and we anticipate it will be made available later this week. You can make sure you’re using the current version by going to the Play Store and updating. (Check the version you have installed by long-pressing on the app icon, choosing ‘Get info’, and scrolling to the bottom.)

If you’re still having problems, please post to the help forum or email info@cycle.travel, naming your phone model and the version of Android you’re running.

Thanks for your patience and sorry for the hassle.

More help

If you’re still stuck, the best place to get help is on the cycle.travel forum. Here you can post questions and browse previous threads.

You can also email info@cycle.travel, but please do bear in mind that cycle.travel is a small operation (essentially a one-man band) and it might take a while to get to your query – please do use the site forum if you can.

Mapping

cycle.travel’s mapping is purpose-designed for cyclists. It shows minor roads earlier than other maps, and highlights safe infrastructure and waymarked cycle routes.

Reading the map

You can see a map key, or legend, by clicking Key at the top right of the map.

On the mobile app, click the map symbol at the top right then choose Key/legend.

Cycle routes

Signposted/waymarked cycle routes are shown by coloured dots, plus a numeric or letter code.

The numbers or letters usually relate to what you’ll see on the signs. To find the name of the route, just plan a route using that section, and click on it. The popup that appears will show the route name.

Extra mapping

By becoming a cycle.travel supporter, you can choose to view different maps. These include satellite images, OpenCycleMap, and national mapping such as Ordnance Survey (UK) or IGN (France).

Map updates

Our maps and routing are updated approximately once a month. While the map is being updated (usually overnight, European time), the map you see on cycle.travel will temporarily switch to the default OpenStreetMap cartography, which doesn’t show bike routes. This only lasts a few hours.

Editing OpenStreetMap

Anyone can sign up to edit OpenStreetMap. Once you’re there, navigate the map to the area you want to fix, zoom in, and click Edit. You’ll be given a walkthrough tutorial showing you how it works.

There are two crucial rules to remember:

• All edits must be factual, not opinionated. “Bikes are allowed along here” is a fact. “The surface is rough gravel” is a fact. But “I don’t think this is suitable for bikes” is an opinion.
• Don’t copy from other maps – whether Google Maps, Ordnance Survey, or whatever.

How cycle.travel interprets OSM data

OSM data can be ambiguous at times. cycle.travel deliberately interprets it cautiously, to minimise the risk of sending you on an unsuitable track. Here are some tips to get the best from your edits.

(A “tag” is the way you describe something in OSM. It has two parts, so highway=secondary means ‘this is a secondary road’. If you’re using the map editor on the OpenStreetMap website, you will set these tags with menus and checkboxes.)

• Always add a surface tag to paths and tracks, so cycle.travel knows whether it’s paved or unpaved, smooth or rough.
• If a path or trail is built to cyclable standards, tag it as a cycleway (highway=cycleway), not a path (highway=path).
• If you’re mapping something as a path (highway=path), a track (highway=track), or a service road (highway=service), make sure to expressly tag it as ‘bicycles allowed’ (bicycle=yes) – assuming, of course, that they are! Otherwise a track might be private, or a path might be for pedestrians only.
• In the rural US, limitations of OpenStreetMap data mean that many unpaved roads are currently missing a tag to say that they’re unpaved. cycle.travel is deliberately cautious in these areas. Adding surface tags to minor roads in the rural US is always useful.

If you’re a novice, be careful making widespread changes in OSM. The project has been running for 20 years, and if you find something that you think is systematically wrong, it’s just as possible there’s a less-than-obvious nuance that you haven’t noticed. You can ask for advice on the OpenStreetMap help forum.