Goring Gap Cycling

GPS

 GPS, the Global Positioning System (GPS), is a satellite-based radio navigation system owned by the United States Space Force. The GPS acronym has become shorthand for a hand-held electronic navigation device (eg Garmin bike computer) or a smartphone app. The GPS system itself tells your device where in the world you are, and the software app enables you to follow a preset route.

As well as using a pre-planned route, a smartphone with a GPS app can also record your route as you go along. Nearly all the routes on the goringgapcycling.co.uk website were recorded this way, which is why you can have confidence in their accuracy.

GPS Devices and Apps

There are lots of GPS devices and navigation apps, all with their own pros, cons and proponents. This list is not exhaustive. Some of these suggest routes that have been uploaded by other users. Use these with care. Another person’s idea of “great for any fitness level” may be different from yours, as may their ideas of which roads are too busy or too bumpy.

Many of the apps and devices have an automatic route generation option. These do not always fully understand UK Rights of Way, so need to be used with caution. As an example Google Maps frequently suggests bike routes that use footpaths containing stiles, or busy A roads, even for the “Cycle” option.

It’s possible to spend hundreds of pounds on a dedicated GPS device. Although most of the mobile apps have a free-to-use option, it’s generally necessary to pay for the maps they use, on either a one-off or subscription basis. Some apps allow you to buy Ordnance Survey mapping at 1:50,000 and/or 1:25,000 scales, others have their own proprietary mapping. Some give the option to use open-source mapping such as OpenStreetMap, or OpenCycleMap which are free. both have the advantage of allowing you to zoom right into street-level mapping, which is helpful for navigating urban areas. Free versions of apps may also have limited functionality.

GPX

The route you follow can be planned directly on the handheld device, or can be downloaded from your computer or a website, often in the form of a GPX file. GPX is the name given to GPX Exchange Format. Think of it as a breadcrumb trail that defines your route on a map as a series of Latitude and Longitude points, rather like a child’s join-the-dots picture. These days it’s a very widely-used standard, and it’s not necessary to understand its inner workings in order to be able to use it.

When you record a route you can usually save it as a GPX file, which you can then share with others via email or social media.

gpx.studio

Sometimes you may need to edit out “glitches” in the route, such places where you took a wrong turn, or to hide the last quarter-mile to your house (to avoid giving burglars ideas on where to find bikes.  The best way to do this is by using the gpx.studio website. This displays the route on a map and allows you to add and remove waypoints along it. You can use it to create a route from scratch. Like cycle.travel it will automatically follow roads and bridleways (and for walking, footpaths). It can also be used to merge or split routes.