• 2 days ago
The fear of getting lost whilst out cycling can often stop us from exploring outside of our normal routes but what if I told you there's a way that you can plan brand new routes and you can find out ahead of time everything you will be faced with? Well, we've put together 5 tips and tricks with the help of Komoot to ensure that you never lost while cycling again.
Transcript
00:00Discovering new places is one of the best parts of cycling, which is why today you
00:12find me out in the lanes just above Reading, which is 20 miles west of London,
00:16somewhere where I must say I've never ridden before, so it's fair to say my
00:20inner explorer is very happy. To help me on this adventure into the unknown,
00:25Komoot have come to the rescue with five tricks to ensure that we can all get
00:29the most out of our riding, whether we're riding on road or off it, and a
00:33couple of these features are brand new to the platform, so let's get into them.
00:43First up, Komoot have just introduced a brand new feature called Trail View. Now
00:48how Trail View works is that it takes the best user submitted pictures of the
00:53trail itself and drops it on their Trail View map as green dots, so you can really
00:58see what the trails like. This means at a quick glance you can see how steep,
01:03rocky or smooth the trail actually is and whether or not it's gonna fit your
01:08level of riding. The best part about this is that it really adds a new dimension
01:12to route planning, especially for those of you that are planning off-road routes,
01:15because being able to see what the trails really like is something that
01:19actually you can't get anywhere else. So where I think this comes in especially
01:23useful is if you're planning a route in a new country where you may be
01:27completely unfamiliar with the geography.
01:33Next up, Komoot have recently built in Google Street View into the platform, so
01:39similar to Trail View, at the touch of a button you can see what parkour you're
01:43gonna be up against. Now I love this because it means that you no longer have
01:48to keep switching between tabs and it makes the process a whole lot quicker.
01:52The best thing about it is that it really speeds up your ability to look at
01:56different route options within Komoot itself, which for me is a massive bonus.
02:07When out riding in a new area it's not always super easy to know where the
02:11local bike paths are, but with Komoot's detailed map overlays and a variety of
02:16options on how you want to build them up, it is very easy to see that granular
02:20data that Komoot has to offer. They've also made it easier to orientate
02:26yourself when the satellite layer is active because, let's face it, when you're
02:30trying to navigate a new area you're often working off different landmarks. So
02:34being able to see these makes the route planning process a whole lot easier.
02:42Now this next tip may actually be one of my favourites because it really allows you
02:46to get right into the local knowledge and that's of course Komoot's highlights
02:50tool. Now the way that it works is that it drops a whole load of red dots onto
02:54the map area. Now this could be anything from a cafe, some really nice flowy
02:58single track or potentially just a really well stocked shop. Now when you
03:03click on one of these dots it's going to tell you exactly what it is that's there
03:06and why you should know about it. So again you're just building up a really
03:10deep knowledge and really tapping into that granular data that's on Komoot.
03:14This means that you can proactively build in cafe stops and past shops to
03:18ensure that you're not going to ride on an empty stomach because nobody enjoys
03:22doing that for miles on end. It also means you're going to be able to find
03:25the best roads with either the best tarmac or the best views that otherwise
03:30you may never have known were there in the first place.
03:38My final tip to ensure you get the most out of a new area is actually just to
03:44trust Komoot. Once you input your start point and your end point and your desired
03:48discipline, be that road cycling, mountain biking or gravel riding, Komoot will
03:52pull all of this together and then work out the best route for you and your bike.
03:56Once Komoot has plotted the route it will display a pretty detailed bit of
04:00information. One being the elevation profile so you'll see how many big
04:04climbs there are and it'll also break down the different surface types that
04:08you'll be riding on. So if there's any surfaces there that you don't want to be
04:11on all you have to do is simply drag the route to an alternative and Komoot will
04:15do the rest. So there we have it those are my five tricks to make sure that you
04:20can get the most out of riding in any new environment with the help of Komoot.
04:24If you've got any tips or tricks do drop them down in the comments. If you enjoyed
04:27the video drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more content and I'll
04:30see you again very soon!

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