Originally Posted by
mschwett
i exclusively use my phone on bike rides short or long, but i rarely ever use mapping or automated routing. i like using ridewithGPS to plan a route based on my experiences, photos, ride reports etc, but only if it’s really complex and unfamiliar will i load it up for the ride. i guess my rides just don’t have enough variety. i wonder if i’d use routing on a tour through unfamiliar territory.
Automated routing for cycling is very hard to do. People have wide differences in opinions about what roads are "good" for cycling. Some cyclists want to avoid cycleways and others strongly prefer them. There are also issues of elevation and grade that cars don't care at all about.
Automated routing tends to favor the shortest/fastest route. Often, cyclists don't want that.
So, planning your routes is going to be a good idea for a long while.
I've used automated routing on a tour (it's a useful tool).