So usually I just hit the bike trail, go so far, turn around and come back. No big deal, and I track it with my phone using Endomondo just for the heck of it. But now I am getting into longer distances (just started road biking last year) and can actually travel places. Earlier this week I thought about doing a loop on the country roads. I pulled up google maps which I typically use to navigate, but on my phone I couldn't figure out how to drag the route onto certain roads. Basically google tries to map out the fastest or shortest route between point A and B. I specifically want to take the scenic route across roads of my choice, with the same stop and finish.

I can do that fine on the computer, creating start and stop slightly apart then dragging the route to roads I wanted, then dragging the destination back to the start. But on the phone I have not figured out how, is this possible?

I tried one thing I thought might work, and created the loop on the computer and emailed myself a link, which I opened on my phone in google maps. It opened just as I wanted with a loop. But as soon as I told it to navigate it said destination reached and shut off (since I was starting at the same spot as the destination!). So I went a ways and tried to bring it back up, which it wouldn't unless I turned my data back on, went back into my email, and opened it new again. For some reason at multiple points in the trip it switched from the loop I had planned out to the shortest way back again, and I had to shut it all down and start over from the email link, what a PITA when your just trying to ride.

Any suggestion for future trips? I know I could study a map but often times the roads aren't called the same thing as on the map, or there is no sign at all. I'd just like my phone to announce 'turn left in a quarter mile' as I am approaching an intersection.