How to Create a Bike Route in Ridewithgps

Last Updated: September 8, 2021

RideWithGPS is a popular website for viewing and creating bike routes, but creating a bike route for the first time is often challenging. The online help for RideWithGPS is thorough, but it focuses on intermediate and advanced features. This lesson focuses on basic features to make your first bike route in RideWithGPS.

To keep things simple, this lesson uses the web version of RideWithGPS, instead of the phone app. Web windows are larger than a phone screen, and having a larger screen can make it easier to use an online map. Once you’ve learned how to make a bike route on the web version of RideWithGPS, it’ll be easier to make a bike route on the phone app.

Method 1

Method 1 of 5:
Getting RideWithGPS Ready

1
Go to the website at http://ridewithgps.com.
2
Log in. If you have an account, log in now. If you don't, you can create one later.

Advertisement
3
Click "Route Planner" at the top of the webpage.
- If you have logged in to RideWithGPS, you're finished with this method, so you can move on to the next method, Adding 3 locations to a bike route.
- If you have not logged in to RideWithGPS or if you do not have an account, that's Ok. You can do that later, but you will need to complete the next steps.
4
Click "Plan a bike route" in the introductory message that appears.
5
Click the x in the upper-right corner of the welcome message that appears, to close the message. The contents of the welcome message go beyond this lesson.

Advertisement

Method 2

Method 2 of 5:
Adding Locations To a Bike Route

In this method, you will create a bike route using the three locations. You can also use your own locations, but it will probably be easier if you follow along with this method before using your own locations.

1
Search for the first location in your bike route, using the box on the right side of the RideWithGPS Route Planner. This example uses 1887 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN.
2
Click "Start route here" in the question that appears.
3
Search for the second location in your bike route. This example uses Crosby Farm Park.
4
Click "Route to here" in the question that appears.
5
Search for the third location in your bike route. This example uses Grand Ole Creamery.
6
Click "Route to here" in the question that appears.
7
Search for the first location again, to route back to the start. This example uses 1887 Grand Avenue, St. Paul MN.
8
Click the "Zoom Out" button until the entire route appears.
9
Confirm the map appears as you'd expect, considering the locations entered. The map shown here comes from the locations used in this example. On that map, the green "pin symbol" shows the start. Crosby Farm is near mile marker 6, and Grand Ole Creamery is near mile Marker 12.
- If the map does not look how you'd expect, you can press ctrl-z, for undo, until you reach the problem. You can redo an action by pressing ctrl-y. When you've found the problem, try fixing it by adding one or more locations again.
- If the map still looks wrong, you can clear the entire map and start these instructions again, but of course, think carefully before clearing the map since all your work will be lost.
Advertisement

Method 3

Method 3 of 5:
Logging in to RideWithGPS

After making a bike route, you should save it. To do that, you need to log in to RideWithGPS. If you are already logged in, continue below.

1
Log in. If you have a RideWithGPS account, click "Log In" at the top-right and log in as you have before. After logging in, you can continue with Method 4 below.
2
If you do not have a RideWithGPS account, click "Sign Up" at the top-right
3
Create a new account by completing the form that appears.
4
Click the x in the upper-right corner of the welcome message that appears, to close the message. The contents of the welcome message go beyond this lesson.

Advertisement

Method 4

Method 4 of 5:
Saving a Route

1
Click "Save", in the lower-left corner of the web page.
2
Click "Save" again in the form that appears. All the fields are optional in this form.
3
Congratulations! You've now created and saved your first route.

Advertisement