About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

I've tried just about all of the online route creation and sharing services as they've become available, and most have come up short in their most basic feature: The ability to easily turn your route idea into a usable route map. They are often an exercise in frustration, as you attempt to outline a route, but the route lines don't follow the roads well, or their tools are otherwise difficult to use.

MayMyRide has (finally) conquered that challenge, with a set of excellent route creation tools that make route creation, quick, easy, and useful.

Pros

• Best available online route creation toolset.
• Maps exportable to GPX.
• Easy map and route sharing (if you wish - routes may be kept private, as well).
• Good route overview screens, including the rating of climbs and elevation gain stats.
• Additional versions for runners, walkers, hikers, triathletes.

Cons

• More advanced features require monthly subscription ranging from $29/year to $99/year.

Description

• Full-service, online cycling route planning, mapping, sharing.
• Free service includes unlimited routes, workout tracking, calendar.
• Paid services include map and cue-sheet printing, training plans, fitness reports, and more.
• Search rides/route maps that others have made public. There are thousands of routes in a robust database.
• Workouts appear on a calendar including total miles and calories burned.
• Includes a nutrition dashboard with food logs and calculators.

• Includes, friends, groups, and stories & photos features.
• List and search events such as races and rides.
• Available as an iPhone, Android, or Blackberry app.
• Apps include GPS route tracking and logging and auto-sync with MapMyRide online service.

Guide Review - Review: MapMyRide Online Route Creation and Sharing Service

 

Update: MapMyRide has added significant features, including:

"Know where you're going, see where you've been. We have over 70 million routes to chose from - or be bold and create your own."

"Record activity with our mobile apps, import data from third-party devices, enter workouts manually and never miss a beat."

Log in your food: "Fitness isn't just an activity, it's a lifestyle. Keep track of what you eat alongside your workouts to get a complete picture of your health."

MapMyRide is now part of UnderArmour Connected Fitness.

This is a review of the online version of MapMyRide, but there are complementary app versions of MapyMyRide for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry. I chose to review the online (desktop/laptop) service specifically because of the route creation feature.

After you've signed up for the free MapMyRide online service, you may map your first route. MapMyRide asks you for a route start location, and type of ride (road or mountain, for example). A pannable, zoomable map appears next, and this is where MapMyRide shines. Unlike other route creators I've tried, the map is quick-loading and easy to move and zoom, and above all, the route creation tools do what you expect them to do, and track roads perfectly. It's also very easy to step backward, and make a correction when you make the inevitable mistakes.

Even better, as you build your route, the total route mileage is displayed in real time, and you can also open an elevation total and elevation graph screen.

MapMyRide also offers you a large set of marker icons you can drop anywhere on the map. An online tutorial will walk you through the advanced features.

After you've finished your route, you may store it, share it with others online, print it out, including cue sheet, or export it to a GPS exchange format (GPX) file.

I created a route for a mountainous, 70-mile ride that served as a very useful guide for a trip I led, and the summary included a nice elevation profile, total feet of elevation gain, and climb ratings. I was also able to import the route GPX file into my Garmin cyclecomputer.

MapMyRide's basic free features and free smartphone apps provide a lot of functionality, but dedicated athletes will want to review the paid subscription services, including training and nutrition elements.

Overall, MapMyRide online provides best-in-class route-creation, printing and export tools for cyclists.