Apps and maps for your phone and computer
Bradford District has so many places to explore that even if you’ve lived here a long time, you won’t know all the great routes. Whilst we’ve collated some well loved rides for you here, no doubt you’ll still want to plan your own journeys and routes. These resources will help you find quiet roads, flat or hilly routes, scenic or urban, road trial vistas or off-road mountain bike trails.
The obvious place to start is Google Maps, but there are many other solutions which have advantages over this, depending on your needs. Google Maps may not be as effective for guiding your ride as, say, a Garmin GPS. Most people have a smart phone these days however and these can offer a range of free or low cost solutions to your navigation needs.
Bradford District Cycle Map
The Bradford Cycle map is available as a free hard copy map. Copies are available from tourist information centres, council buildings, libraries, bike shops, travel centres and leisure centres and other outlets around the district.
https://www.bradford.gov.uk/media/4397/bradfordcyclemap.pdf
Bike Hub Cycle Journey Planner App
This app is a sat-nav for cyclists. It will plot a route from start and finish points using both roads (omitting dual carriageways and motorways), cycle paths and permitted paths. The app uses mapping from cyclestreets.net. You can choose a range of routing options from quickest route to quietest route, and it will avoid hills ‘where possible’. There’s also a function to find bike shops in the locality.
Web: http://routes.bikehub.co.uk (Search for Bradford)
iPhone: Yes| Android: Yes | Windows Phone: No
Best For: Cycling sat-nav, avoiding hills
Bike Route Toaster
BikeRouteToaster.com is a course creation application primarily aimed at Garmin Edge/Forerunner owners although other users without a GPS may also find it useful for planning rides.
Web: http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com (Search for Bradford)
iPhone: No | Android: No | Windows Phone: No
Best For: Off-road route creator
Bikely
A free bicycle route mapping and sharing website created by cyclists for cyclists. You have to use it via a web browser but can download GPX files or print/store the maps.
Bradford Web Page: http://goo.gl/uwFzkj
iPhone: No | Android: No | Windows: No
Best For: Mapping and sharing, exporting GPX files
Cycle Streets
Useful UK wide tool for planning cycle journeys. It allows start and stop points and gives suggested routes with occasional photos. The Open Cycle Maps system on which it is based contains things like park paths which are sometimes omitted from Google Maps.
Web: http://www.cyclestreets.net
Bradford Web Page: https://bradford.cyclestreets.net/
iPhone: Yes | Android: Yes | Windows Phone: Yes
Best For: Planning commutes
CycleMaps: Cycling Route Planner & Navigator
A Smart looking app which makes use of routes from a range of data sources. It is rated highly in the iTunes store and recommended by Cycling Weekly magazine.
Web: http://cyclema.ps
iPhone: No | Android: Yes | Windows Phone: Yes
Best for: General route planning
Garmin Connect
Garmin’s Connect course creator is useful. The cycle route planner is free to use, even if you don’t own a Garmin but you must sign up for an account. You can choose Google or OpenStreetMap, click to set a start and end point. The best cycle route will be calculated and can be adjusted manually.
Web: https://connect.garmin.com
iPhone: Yes | Android: Yes | Windows Phone: Yes
Best for: Course creation and route planing
Google Maps
Google Maps is the obvious place to start when planning a route. You may well be familiar with it from planning a car journey or getting walking directions. Type a location, “get directions,” then select your mode of transport (cycling) from the menu. The maps include elevation and avoid routes on which bikes are not allowed.
Bradford Web Page: https://goo.gl/7NZ2L6
iPhone: Yes | Android: Yes | Windows Phone: Yes
Best for: Getting an overview of routes and planning road journeys
GPSies
With GPSies you can view and download tracks which have been recorded by a GPS device.
Whether you are searching for running courses or Mountain Bike Tracks, with GPSies you can see which tracks others have recorded. And you can download all the tracks and put them onto your GPS device so you won’t lose your way.
iPhone: Yes | Android: Yes | Windows Phone: No
Best for: Recording and viewing routes esp. off-road
Map My Ride
MapMyRide is a fitness application and also a popular way of plotting routes or seeing the routes that other cyclists have taken in your area. Like Strava, it doesn’t necessarily show you quiet traffic routes but can be helpful in getting ideas about what’s popular.
Bradford Web Page: http://www.mapmyride.com/gb/bradford-eng
iPhone: Yes | Android: Yes | Windows Phone: No
Best for: Fitness application but good for viewing and creating cycling routes
Open Cycle Map
An excellent mapping service that has lots of cycle specific information on it. Generally these are much more detailed than Google Maps, which for instance omits much park path data. These maps are used as a basis for many of the other services described in this page.
Web: http://www.opencyclemap.org
Bradford Web Page: http://goo.gl/jlHSKS
Mobile App: Web browser based only although many other mobile apps make use of its maps
Best for: Underlying mapping system – general route planning
Strava
Very popular GPS app that offers ride logging functions which are then shared to your Strava profile. It tracks your riding stats as you go, including location, speed, time and distance. When planning it ride you can use this to see clearly which routes are most popular with other Strava users, so it gives an impression of how much a certain route is cycled.
Bradford Web Page: Once you have registered you can view “segments” in your area. These are recorded ride sections from other Strava users so its really useful to find new routes and trails.
iPhone: Yes | Android: Yes | Windows Phone: No
Best for: Popular fitness app, see and share rides and timings
AllTrails
AllTrails is a fitness and travel mobile app used in outdoor recreational activities. AllTrails is commonly used for outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain biking, climbing and snow sports. The service allows users to access a database of trail maps, which includes crowdsourced reviews and images.
Web: https://www.alltrails.com/en-gb/
iPhone: Yes | Android: Yes