It’s actually pretty good in that it’s connected to the OSM database. I just enter the name of the hotel or B&B I booked, hit go, and it drops a pin there with a “start route here” or “route to here” option depending whether I’ve got a route already on the map. If it’s a town or village, just the name will work.

Unlike the other cycling mapping websites I’ve tried, rwgps has actual tutorials available and fantastic customer service — in English and in our time zone.

Ah, RWGPS. I think it must be a little like the Apple computer with a one button only mouse. If you think, you can do everything, but it may not be obvious. What am I blithering about? Every other route planner I know provides space for the names of the "from" and "to" locations, and the intermediate stops. Start typing something, and suggestions pop up, indicating that the software knows what (where) you are talking about. But RWGPS laconically just says "Enter a location" and "GO". Type "Duncan", and there is no hint if it thinks you are an idiot for mentioning Duncan, or if it is right with you and just waiting for you to actually ask for something.

I feel like the idea of RWGPS route planning is that you should be clicking on the map. So if you are starting at Mill Bay and want to end at Duncan, you should really know where Duncan approximately is. Reasonable? Maybe. But what if you want to go to a specific address or a specific Motel in Duncan, but can not spot it on a map without help?

Am I revealing some kind of massive ignorance or blind spot here?

Hi Steve

I use RideWithGPS to create routes on my laptop at home. I have a premium subscription which allows me to do advanced editing, see a heatmap, and create routes on a mobile device. The free version allows you to create routes and transfer them to a gps device and there's a "basic" subscription in between.

I've learned and finessed my route mapping over the years, learning from past trips. My current method is to create a route for each day's ride and, if I book accommodation, edit it to start/finish at said accommodation.

I like RWGPS because it offers various map views--the basic "map" so I can see something I can relate to and find on my paper map, OSM cycle so I can see if there are official cycling routes in the region, and, best of all, street view, so I can see if the software is trying to send me down (or up) a goat track. I edit my route to avoid such things, to stay on a main road where the algorithm is trying to take me off for a short distance just because it can, etc. You can do all this on the free version, I think.

The premium version lets me create an"event" or group of routes which is what the screenshots are. Each individual route in the "event" shows up a different colour.

I then sync these routes to my Garmin Edge 810. I can then load one as a "course" so I have a line to follow on the map view with no cues. I hate turn-by-turn directions but I was riding with friends last week who had loaded the route I'd created on their (newer) Garmins that beeped at them whenever I, leading, decided to go a slightly different way. I distinctly heard someone's phone telling them that a turn was coming up--I suspect that belonged to the IT guy in the group.

You never forget how to ride a bike, but you can forget how to plan and map routes! After two years of no touring, things are getting fuzzy for me. Your detailed lines suggest you have a .gpx behind each. And the coloured segments - I seem to recall that Google Mymaps can do that, also a program I also seem to recall: 'GPS Track Editor". Anyway, how did you do these maps?

We leave Florence on our bikes on May 4 and get to Bormio on June 4. The flight home is June 25. The total time away is just under 8 weeks. They will be pretty full weeks but only a few are big loaded days.

So how long is the tour, and when will you get to the Dolomites? I’ll bet the snow on the peaks will be incredible still.

Thanks for letting me know. I've fixed it now, I hope. May 1, 2022 is the day we get on the plane at YVR.

Looks like a fantastic itinerary. Some country we’ve seen, some we’d love to see but have never made it to. Don’t miss that hike to Tre Cime - it’s really unforgettable, if I’m remembering right.

So when are you really leaving? CB thinks you’ve been on the road for three months now, ever since May 1.

Actually, I've been retired since the end of 2018. French Fling (https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/france2019/) was my first and so far only post-retirement tour. I don't count the little get-me-out-of-the-house local trips, and even those have been stymied this year due to the pandemic, weather, and our impending move.

Perhaps, Patrick, we can meet up sometime this winter in Vancouver?

Congratulations on your retirement! What an excellent looking itinerary! You are going to love the Lakes District, and the Dolomites are dyn-o-mite! Sue and I are also eagerly looking forward to 2022, to resume our touring as well. I'm sure, like us, you are both 'itchy' to get travelling again. Our routes may cross next summer!

You’re going to love being retired. Looks like a wonderful trip!

Not exactly locked down. We have always been able to leave the country, but until next week, we had to quarantine for two weeks upon returning from outside of Canada (and travel health insurance wasn't necessarily available). As for travel within BC, it's open now except that every part of the province is at least one of: very hot, smoky, under wildfire alert, subject to evacuation order. If you wanted to go somewhere, you needed to have booked accommodation months ago. And if you were trying to take a ferry from the Vancouver area for the current long weekend, you are probably still stuck in traffic--unless you were on a bicycle.

It would be! That was the plan for 2020 and, though we will be in Italy during the 2022 Giro, the route has not been published yet and I doubt we will be able to easily revise our itinerary at that point. On the other hand, we should be able to step into a bar or café and watch some while enjoying a beverage, which is not the case in Canada.

I’m so sorry for you all up there that you’re still locked down. Two years in a row! Other than ending in Venice are you still envisioning more or less the same route?

It sounds smart to me to be booking everything early, even though it will cramp your style a bit. We’ve taken a few looks at changing parts of our upcoming tour in Europe recently because of the flooding catastrophe, but the booking choices now are thin, expensive, and mostly second rate.

That would be exciting to see the Gyro d’Italia! We got to see a stage of the Tour de France back when Lance Armstrong was riding. It was very exciting!