Originally Posted by
njkayaker
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).
now that I think about it, for utility rides, if I discover I need to go somewhere I don’t go often within the city, I often follow google’s route advice for cycling. it gives decent choices with regard to hills and rarely picks a terrible route. checking a few full crosstown routes, it picks exactly what I’d do and knows about slow streets, car free streets, and MUPs.
so it’s getting there - can’t speak for garmin but I imagine it’s far worse.