Routes
 

How do ya'll plan your routes for long rides(50+)? Ive grown tired of the same old streets and would like a bigger challenge, but wanna avoid highways and roads that I might die on.

Cue sheets from local teams and clubs, usually available online. If they don't have a ride long enough, then I'll look at what roads they use and create my own route.

Method #1: Pick a direction you haven't gone before. Ride 25 miles, noting the turns you make. Turn around. Ride home.

Method #2: Pick someplace you would like to end up. Look at the map and figure out how to get there using up 1/2 your desired distance. Ride there and back.

Try searching MapMyRide.

I say get out there and EXPLORE. Thats what makes roadbiking so much fun. Also try posting in the regional section, there could be other riders there that can help you with some routes :)

http://murl.se/26404

lots of routes

george

Ahhh the best part of living in Ohio Amish country. Head out the door and In 5 minutes I can be on roads where I may not see a car for 3 or 4 miles at a time. Just start making turns and before you know it I can come up with a 50+ ride with no problelm.

I feel like I've answered this question before recently.

However, I have several good quality paper maps ... some you can pick up in the local book store, several are land ordinance maps which have to be ordered. I find the online maps don't show you the difference between paved and gravel roads, and they seem to be created from a map somebody dug out of an attic from about 1972 and therefore don't include all the roads. I know of several places around here where there are roads, and my 1999 land ordinance maps show the roads, but they don't exist on mapmyride, bikely, google, etc. In fact, a river was dammed and a whole new lake was created in one place in about 1982, but on mapmyride, bikely, and google, that lake, the dam, and all the roads etc. around there do not exist. Really current!! So ... get yourself some current maps.

Then, I just think to myself, "Where would I like to go this weekend?". I browse through my maps for good roads there, and go! :)


Today I heard about an area I have never been, but it sounds interesting. From what I can tell, the roads are gravel so that might be a problem ... but maybe some aren't. So ... I might be cycling out that way this weekend. :)

http://www.motionbased.com/ has lot of routes.

Okay, on Long Island we have some limiting factors...traffic, strip malls, the Atlantic Ocean. Nonetheless, there's plenty of variety, but most of it is along the North Shore. The South Shore is flat, and mostly boring, unless you're in the Hamptons where it's flat and scenic. Check out LIBC where you can find links to cue sheets from most of the LI clubs. In Nassau, most of the rides are loops that touch the Gold Coast. In Suffolk, most of the rides are loops in and out of the harbor towns. The North Fork rides are as rural as you can get on the Island and you don't really need a route 'cause you'll hit water sooner or later and then you go in the opposite direction. Then there is the LIE Service Road for straight out-and-back speed work.

routeslip.com to map, microsoft virtual earth to find hills.