Map Creator » Ride Free Bike Maps

Update: Whoop Whoop!

I got a route database working!!! I’m super excited about this. Currently I have a grand total of, two, routes in the database. The first was the tester I already posted and the second is a portion of the Oregon Coast Bike Route between the Ft. George Brewery in Astoria and the Rogue Brewery is Newport. Both are excellent breweries and excellent places to start/end a ride.

As for some under the hood specifics, I’ve really only got a basic database functionality working. This update was more to show the progress that has been made than a new ‘version’ of the software. The scripts work by querying the database for a hard coded route id. In the future I want to make something more flexible but this works for now. I have the route published as a wordpress post because that allows comments on the route. I don’t like the idea of adding every single route as a post because that would get overwhelming if I open up the route creation to the public. For now if I open it up or post routes that aren’t super neat I’ll publish them silently without the ability to comment and create some kind of database index page.

Routes that do get their own post and section for comments will be a ‘featured route.’ I’m thinking about putting the US bike route system in as featured routes or ride maps that bike clubs organize. If you are part of a club and want your rides posted on the site give me a holler! I’d love to add your routes.

My next objective is to write a route creation page that will insert routes into the database. Hopefully that should go smoothly. I think figuring out the interface for that will be the hardest part.

Progress on saved routes!

I’ve been doing some research on how I want to move the bike map creator app forward. I know that I want to tackle the ‘saved routes’ feature next. I’ve been avoiding doing any real work on the problem because it is new territory for me and I just didn’t know how I should move proceed.

Today I decided to sit down and whip out a rough draft of what is to come. My goal was to code a simple route in a kml file and load it into the the map creator app. After a few hours of tinkering and researching I did it! I’d love to hear your feedback on this so don’t be afraid to blow up the comments on the article page.

Below is the bike map creator app with a custom initialization script that loads a route saved on the server and plots the way points onto the map. The route I chose is one of my favorite local rides, Bellingham, WA to Deception Pass State Park. You can use the bike map creator below just like the official one. The only difference is the preloaded way points. To jump to the route just press the “Route” button and the route will be created and centered in the map.

Click on the map to add way-points. When you are finished click Plot Route.

Total Distance:

Plot your route, divide it into pages pages, then print!

Click on the map to create way-points. When finished click ‘Find Route.’
Divide the route into pages by panning and zooming to a viewpoint that provides a good level of detail. Then click ‘+ Panel.’ Repeat until all of the route is represented in a page.
Click the print button to move to print mode. Click the printer icon or user your browser’s print function to print the pages.

Update: Doubleclick bug fix

The other day a gentleman named Rich pointed out a bug to me. Google maps has a built in feature which zooms and centers the map when it is double clicked. My program was registering the double click as two single clicks as well which caused a pair of way points to be created and caused the map to zoom.

After a bit of research and a quick edit to the code I’ve fixed the bug. The solution I found was created by a man named Marcelo. It is a common solution to this problem which is present in all Google map programs which utilize single clicks. The solution involves setting a timer to the clicks to wait for a possible double click event. Unfortunately this makes the way point creation hang for a few milliseconds. It’s not a big deal but it irks me just the same.

Thanks again to Rich for finding the bug!

Update: Interface Shift

Well I finally got around to implementing some of the interface changes that needed to happen. The goal was to make it more intuitive and streamlined. To make that happen I made the following changes:

Plot mode is now ‘Route.’
Panel mode is now ‘Divide.’
Print mode is the same.

I’ve also started calling the ‘panels’ ‘pages.’ Which I think more people understand. I’ve also updated the print-out so that each page gets it’s own sheet of paper. I’ve also removed the ‘Font Size’ button. Now the font is always set to small. I think that size is easily readable and shouldn’t need to be adjusted. Along with that I’ve removed the text directions from all the modes but print. This removes the unnecessary clutter that they produce. Lastly I scrapped the old print mode and made a new one. When you move into print mode the main map recenters on the entire route and each page you have created gets it’s own map which is displayed below the main map. The text directions associated with each page are displayed alongside. Since all the pages are displayed you only need to print once!

The only new functionality I added was the ‘- Route’ button. This button takes a route which has been plotted and turns it back into waypoints. So if you wanted to adjust the route without having to start over you can click this button; move your waypoints; and plot the route again. I had actually created it a while ago but held off in releasing it because I didn’t think it was really necessary. I’m still not sold on it so if you like it give me some feedback.

I’ll be working toward making some way of loading/saving routes to a database after this. I’m guessing this will take a while so don’t think this site has died if nothing changes for a while.

Lack of Updates

You may have noticed a lack of activity on the site recently. It started with the Thanksgiving holiday and will continue through the new year. I have been doing some work to the bike map creator but I don’t have anything to show for it. A lot of what I’m doing is conceptual right now.

I had planned to focus on making some kind hardwired way to save/load routes but I realized that the interface (always) needs work. After talking to my roommate who isn’t a cyclist about the program I decided that I need to cut out some of the bloat in the program. You can expect to see the split function disappear along with a redesign of the plot and print modes.

In fact all of the modes are getting renamed. Plot, panel, and print is great for alliteration but I think it isn’t very clear what the purpose of each mode is. Right now the program is overly flexible. I think this makes designing the bike maps harder because the things that happen during each mode aren’t intuitive. Here are some of the areas I’m looking at:

Text directions (they should show up sooner)
Font size button should show up with the text directions
Print mode is a mess, you really should only have to hit print once, not for every panel
What the hell is a panel anyway? I think I might be the only one who knows
The split function is slow and doesn’t really have a huge benefit considering that printing your own pages is cheap.
Route editing could use some attention. What happens if you want to add a way-point in the middle of the route? Or you want to edit the route after it has been plotted?
You probably can’t tell but the code is a mess…
If the view point gets changed then clear text directions.
Individual panel deletion needs to be added

That is a lot of stuff. I also just got a new job so my time to work on Ride Free Bike Maps has diminished a lot. The job requires that I get up super early too and my body is seriously rebelling against that right now. That means working on the site after work is just not gonna happen. My body needs rest and because of that my mind doesn’t function well at all (OOOH philosophy BONUS!). On top of all that I’m headed to Kauai for the first week of the new year and I will not be working on the site at all. You may see pics of some sort if I find neat bike stuff but most posts will head to my personal blog/facebook.

So there you have it. Stay tuned I will be adding to this site in the future. I really want to move on to the next phase where saving/loading bike maps will come into being but I must do this first.

Ride Free Bike Maps Coffee Giveaway!

Yesterday I was all set to get working on making some kind of save system for the maps. I’m really stoked about the possibilities of being able to save maps and share them with your friends. It is a really important feature of the map creator.

However!

I have been talking to a few people about the Map Creator and I heard that it was not very intuitive to use. Making the map creator easy to use is much more important than anything else. This means I need to do some ‘user experience’ testing.

Here’s the deal: I will buy you a coffee or another beverage of your choice if you sit down with me and do some user testing. To be eligible for the deal you must be in Bellingham and have a laptop or access to a public computer.

Leave me comment on this and let’s go get some coffee!

Update: Introducing the Google Bar!

I had this working last night but I ran out of time to upload the new code so here it is: the first functionality upgrade!

First off I added some route editing to the waypoints. The waypoints that are added to the map are now draggable. So if you decide you want to change their location after you created them you can just drag them to a new spot. Initially I thought this was going to be harder to do but it turned out to be a really easy fix.

Then I thought ‘Hey now that I’ve got that working I can also make a way to remove the waypoints.’ After a bit of easy code writing I’ve got that worked out too. Just click on a waypoint that has already been created and it will be deleted.

I knew taking state st. to the Boundry was the faster way to get there but bombing Holly on a bike is so much more fun!

I also added the Google Bar to the Map Creator was well. With the Google Bar you can search for specific addresses, specific businesses, or types of businesses and the results will be displayed on the map. When you open one of the info windows for a search result a ‘Add Waypoint’ link will be displayed under the standard content. If you click the link a waypoint will be added in the location of the search result. You can then plot the route as you normally would. You can also add waypoints after you have plotted your route if you want to mark some locations on the map (if I were planning another big tour I’d mark the location of all the breweries along the route).

I may make another update before the day is out. I just thought of an easy way to make the route editable after it has been plotted. So stay tuned!

Update & Printing Tips

A while back Google released their chrome browser. I downloaded it on my Windows OS and really loved it. It is super fast and the minimalist interface is very pleasing. I would have made it my default browser right then except I couldn’t use it on my Linux OS which is where I spend most of my time. Recently all that changed, Google released Chrome for Linux and I have officially moved over there. The switch reminded me of a problem with printing I faced while designing the map creator. The solution I used only worked for firefox so it worked for me but not everyone.

Today I went in and made some adjustments to the style sheets and now printing should preform perfectly for everyone. Prior to the update printing using any browser but Firefox would produce a page with a plethora of profuse parts. Presently printing produces your particular projection and nothing more.

The preceding paragraph was produced by the letter “P.”

Before I conclude this post I want to share some tips for printing:

Make sure the page is set to ‘landscape mode’ and not portrait.
Also check that the page prints at 100%, sometimes the default is shrink to fit which can shrink your map unnecessarily.
You don’t need to create a panel to print it. If you think you might need some extra detail for an area off the route you can just drag and zoom the map to the appropriate spot and then print it.

Map Creator Update: No more orange links!

Notice the new panel buttons under the map and the print icon in the top right.

I have been hard at work for for the past few days and I have upgraded the map creator once again! Still no new features but I got rid of all those awful orange panel links. Instead of the links I added buttons in the same style as the ones I created earlier. I’ve got some new features in mind and moving to these buttons will make writing them easier. Also in response to a comment left on the site I’ve added a print button as well. The button shows up when you enter print mode. Clicking on it replicates using your browser’s print command.

I probably won’t be updating the software for a while, however, the next upgrades I’ll work on will be functionality ones. I will work on making the plot and panel modes a little better. I am also getting excited to add some route saving features. Although I haven’t a clue how I’ll implement that. I will probably have to learn some database programming to get that working. I may go with a temporary offline solution just to get the ball rolling.

Let me know what you think of the new design in the comments. I’d love to get some feedback on this.

How to Go on Tour – Thoughts From a Cyclist That Rode the Pacific Coast (Part 3)

By Ian B Harper
In this part of the guide I will focus on maps. You can read this section alone but I recommend checking out part 1 and part 2 of this guide first.

The bike maps you carry can make or break parts of your tour. You should get some kind of handlebar mounted bike map holder so that you can read relevant sections while you are riding. The bike maps should also be formatted for use while riding a bike. Taking a region map and folding it into a shape that will fit onto your map holder is not nearly as effective as using a map that was designed for cycling. When it comes down to it you have three major options with maps. The first is plain text directions. While they aren’t strictly a map they are sufficient, provided you don’t miss your turns. Personally I can’t use just the text alone.

I like to use a combination of text and graphics. The maps I used had a graphical representation of the route and on the side the text directions were given as well. Lastly if you feel that the route you will be taking is simple enough you could use maps without text directions. Regardless of the map format you choose if you want to read a bike map while riding it will need to be divided into panels. Each panel will only show a portion of your total route. This allows a better level of detail and can help you organize your ride. How the maps are divided into panels determine how useful the map is.

If the maps show too much area then then off route areas will lack detail. This can become a problem if you take a wrong turn; are forced to detour from construction; or you just want to go off route. On the other hand maps that are too detailed wont show much distance and will force you to stop and switch panels often. If you ride through cities then having a high level of detail is a good thing. On the other hand long stretches of highway riding are good places where the map can zoom out and show a lot of ground. Ultimately the best bike maps will strike a balance between detail and distance.

While you are planning for your tour try not to over think things. Riding off into the sunset on a bicycle is not like firing a cannon, you can always change your course. If something isn’t working for you, fix it. If you aren’t having fun then stop riding. Take a rest day, enjoy your time! Lastly always remember: There is no wrong way to tour.

Ian Harper is an avid cyclist and publishes the blog about bike maps and other topics. The blog also hosts a bike map creator web app.

Article Source: Ian B Harper How to Go on Tour – Thoughts From a Cyclist That Rode the Pacific Coast (Part 3)