Hi Richard, I've just noticed something and thought I'd bring it to your attention.
On the "my Journeys" page if I wish to download the GPX/TCX file I normally use the Download icon, then select "More Download Options"and choose the option I want. However, now I see that two options are "greyed out" (GPX route, small file etc. & TCX course).
If I open the map and try to download from the map then all options are open to me.
Strangely, I don't have this issue with older files - it seems (and I may be wrong) to only affect newer routes. Checking a route created in December (22) can be downloaded as "normal" but a route created in January (23) has the greyed out options.
This applies to my android phone and Chromebook, both running Chrome.
This is not a big deal for me because I can still download my preferred option (TCX course) from the map screen but it may be confusing or frustrating for some users.
As always, my gratitude for such a great tool
Comments
Well spotted! A bit of background:
In the past few years, as part of the work on the app, I’ve been improving cycle.travel’s turn-by-turn instructions to make them more reliable to follow – particularly in the case of tricksy little junctions with cycleways hopping back and forth. Inevitably, this means generating the turn-by-turn instructions is slower (=takes more server time).
So to keep the site feeling snappy and to minimise load on the server, cycle.travel now doesn’t generate the turn-by-turn instructions for longer routes unless you explicitly ask it to (with the green button that says “Show turn-by-turn instructions”). After all, if you’re sketching out a route from San Francisco to NYC in one go, you probably don’t want all 1672 turn instructions quite yet.
The corollary of this is that for these longer routes, the instructions aren’t saved to the server when you save your route. So when it comes to downloading a TCX course or a GPX route, both of which include turn-by-turn instructions, it’s not able to do so without regenerating the route. The map page knows how to regenerate the route, but the journeys page doesn’t.
It’s one of those things that’s on the list to look at but not really too near the top! Saving elevation with the route is more of a priority, I think.
Thanks for the quick and detailed reply. I'm a little bit proud of myself that I understood it! :-) I understand the priority status, my only concern being for those less familiar with CT than myself.
I've come to love the TCX route option for the ability to add notes to myself that pop up during the course of the day and recommend it frequently. I'll make sure to mention the "download from the map screen" in any future recommendations.
Many thanks