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Tell HN: If you like to run, walk, or bike check out my latest weekend hack

43 points by akmiller ↗ HN
I really got into running this year and after using several different tools online to map out routes around my neighborhood I got frustrated and built my own.

This was built over a few weekends and I'm continually trying to refine it, yet keep it simple and focused on one small thing (creating and sharing routes).

The advice in the HN community is second to none so if you have any feedback at all, positive or negative, I'd love to hear it!

http://sketchroute.com

Thanks!

46 comments

[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 84.5 ms ] thread
iamdave
Hey cool! I was just telling myself the other day that I need to start living a healthier lifestyle, part of this was getting out and going walking, building up to jogging. I've always wondered about just a barebones, downright simple point and click route system, this does it. Bonus points for the elevation widget, and even more points for the "Link to this Route" function.

Great job!

edit Just had an idea, if you have any plans on sharing routes and letting multiple people define courses, maybe color coding I can easily see this turning into a nice tool to coordinate city wide scavenger hunts, or even useful as an aid for geocaching

akmiller
You can share a route by generating a public link then send it to whomever you'd like.

I like the idea of being able to define multiple routes and color-coding and thought that would also be beneficial for events putting on races that have different routes. I'll add that to my list as well.

klous
It took me sometime to figure out you just start single clicking to set markers. (Had to read the about page to know this) A little note to the effect of: "just start clicking to add markers" would have been helpful.
akmiller
Easy enough, that will go to the top of my list!
Aaronontheweb
This looks cool - I use http://www.everytrail.com/ and its iPhone app for when I go mountain biking.

As for your service - it'd be cool if you could provide some stock routes just as an example to see what's possible. Maybe do some big hiking routes or something.

proee
very cool. I've been using gmaps-pedometer for this exact thing.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

akmiller
Gmap-pedometer was definitely one of the better tools I had used before I started building this one and I like their simplicity as well.

I have a slightly different vision of where I'd like to take it and that's kind of why I built my own.

kmano8
They added a feature about a year or two ago that will lock your routes to roads so you don't have to create little vertices around curves. This would be a helpful feature.
jim_h
I noticed it this week. I wish the lines hugged a little closer to the building and on the sidewalk though. I use it to measure my jogging distance and having it measure the street instead of the sidewalk can add a mile to my routine, which is usually around a big block. I just do it manually now. I can't complain, the site have been really usefully over the last few years.
jmg
right-clicking to remove a marker would be awesome.

having accounts would be nice, too. and being able to upload data from gps watches. but one step at a time. this is really cool, thanks for sharing.

akmiller
I don't make it clear enough, so I definitely need to address that, but you can register and once you've done that you have the ability to save and view your own list of routes.
Scriptor
Nice job! Here are some suggestions:

Though it might break the simplicity of the app, it'd be nice if it could plot a road-based route between two points. It'd save a lot of clicks. :)

Also, make the markers smaller and try to detect whether there are any existing plotted routes nearby. My route has a lot of overlaps and it can be hard to differentiate them. Another option is that if you click on an existing marker it will merge the route into it. To diverge from it, you could click the marker you want to diverge from.

Make markers draggable and update distance and height metrics while I drag them. That would be a good way to check for better variations of an existing route.

Show regular distance intervals. So that you'd be able to see the literal milestones of your route.

dugmartin
Agreed about the route between two points. DailyMile.com does this very well.
theycallmemorty
Pretty cool!

1) It would be good if you gave some instructions about what to do. something like 'click anywhere to map out a new route'.

2) It would be enhanced if you did some geo-location to automatically figure out what city I live in.

3) It would be cool if you could convert the 'miles' counter to kilometers just by toggling a radio button or something.

But this is a great tool and I'll be sure to use it. The elevation graph was particularly interesting.

stravid
Im from Europe and not used to miles so I would also appreciate a button to toggle between miles and kilometers!
akmiller
Absolutely, I will get that in there ASAP!
udfalkso
1) Hitting the ENTER key on my keyboard should submit the search form on the right. Right now I have to click on the Go button with my mouse or tab - space. (FF on Mac)

2) The elevation map is nice, but it would be great if I could click on a part of it and it would show me exactly where on my route that elevation corresponds to. A flashing marker in that spot for a second perhaps.

3) I've seen other similar services place mile markers along the routes. This is a nice feature that won't detract from the simplicity of your site at all.

aquark
I like the simplicity of the interface, but second an option to have km's. I always prefer running in km's the numbers are better!

What would be really cool is the ability to set a start point and ask for a circular route of N kms (miles) and have the site create one. No idea if that is even remotely possible with the google map API though ...

akmiller
I love that idea and it would be very useful for me as well so I'll do some digging and find out!
mattlong
Circular route calculation would be definitely be the coup de grâce of route-plotting apps for me. I've never tried an online route-plotting app before and was expecting/hoping that yours would be based on generating circular routes.

For most users, I think finding a circular route is the latent need. Being able to plot a route manually is the next-best solution.

Overall, great work! Keep it up and let me/us know when you figure out circular routes. :-)

TGJ
Clearing the map is kind of annoying since it reloads the page yet I can clear the markers by clicking clear last marker multiple times without the page reloading. Plus the clear option resets my map selection and I really only want to clear the markers.

I'd like to be able to draw my route with the mouse.

The elevation chart is nice. How about an estimated travel time?

How come the elevation limits are different for terrain and the others?

Nice page. Goes in my Interesting Sites folder.

sandal
Awesome, I've been looking for something like this as well. Thanks for sharing it!
photon_off
Please let me drag existing markers to move them.
vinbarnes
The "follow road" feature of Daily Mile's route creator is a time-saver. Check it out.
there
+1 for having an option to snap routes to nearby roads.
eventhough
I use gmap-pedometer to route all of my runs. I probably use it about 2-3 times a week so I've been waiting for someone to build something a bit more versatile and possibly even let me create routes from a mobile phone (this would be a cool feature and differentiate for you).

I've been staring at your site for the last 2 minutes and I can't figure out how to create a route. I think I glanced at one of the comments here and they said single click to drop a marker.... I'll give that a shot. But if I can't figure out how to create a route within 5 seconds you need to find a better way to communicate it.

eventhough
Okay I just created a typical route I usually create in gmap-pedometer using single clicks. Feedback:

1. The routes don't follow the street...this is good when I go off the road but not so good when I am 100% roads. I like how gmap follows the street as much as possible until you switch it to "off road" which lets you route wherever you want.

2. I really like your elevation chart. Nice job. What would be even better is if the elevation chart had an X-axis that mapped the elevation to the current distance in the run. That way I know that the hill will hit me at mile 4, etc.

3. Public link to route should automatically highlight and copy for me. (click to copy)

Additional ideas for features:

-let me drop a note at a certain place along the route to share info -let the community specify areas of high traffic, tourists, etc. -share routes with the community, get feedback

-one problem which I haven't thought about too much yet. when we share routes with each other, everyone has a different "starting" location. it would be good if your site knew my starting location and then when I viewed someone else's route it would automatically re-route and re-calculate the fastest way for me to join his route and at which point to join.... I hope that makes sense.

great work overall.

frossie
Agree about an option to have routes following the street.

Also, when you clear the map, it jogs you out of whatever view you were in (eg. if you were looking in hybrid mode, it dumps you back into map mode).

But really, it's very nice!

davidwparker
I agree with everything eventhough wrote. I normally use gmap-pedometer and the number one issue keeping me from using your app was 1) on eventhough's list: I need the route to stick to the roads unless I choose otherwise.

Other than that, great work.

akmiller
Yes, just go to your location and start clicking. I will add some 'Getting Started' text within the next couple of hours. Thanks for the feedback!
JoCoLa
Nice! I walk a couple times a day, but I take shortcuts and routes through parks and woods that are off the map, so to speak. Now I can finally figure out just how far I'm walking.

Good job!

dpapathanasiou
I use a stationary treadmill or elliptical machine every morning, so how about a feature that lets me input my total watts or calories, and measures a map radius of how far I could have traveled if I were running outside?

Even better, let me chain those lengths end-on-end, so I can simulate running across country to to distant cities?

Super_Jambo
Running on a treadmill is significantly easier due to lack of wind resistance.

Although you probably know this already it bit me pretty hard training for run without doing much outdoor running!

dpapathanasiou
I'm not preparing for an outdoor run.

I just think this would be a cool way to track my progress, in addition to the other cardio metrics I already maintain.

akmiller
Thanks for the comments everyone.

I added the ability to switch to Kilometers as many have suggested as well as a some getting started text.

I will be improving this over the next several weeks I hope you all will continue to check it out.

Super_Jambo
My route is basically - run to park, run around the park x times.

not sure how you can make a UI that easily allows creation of loops and exiting them at arbitrary points, but would be a useful feature to me...

sprout
Google's bicycling directions automatically highlight bike paths. You should try and integrate that.
ekarisor
I use http://www.mapmyrun.com It gets the job done but I find it a bit clunky.

It's nice to see some lightweight but no less functional alternatives.

stoney
The elevation plot is fantastic - it will help avoid any unpleasant surprises when I'm planning new routes! Would be even better if you could somehow link the elevation plot to the position on the route - e.g. if I hover over a point on the elevation chart (or click on it) it will highlight that bit of the route.

I used to use mapmyrun.com for this kind of thing, but they've added so many adverts to it that it's practically unusable now. This is much better.

stoney
Out of interest - how accurate do you think the distances are? Between my bike computer, Garmin footpod and Google Maps I get three different distances.
sulls
Nifty. I've been using gmaps pedometer for the same, but this is much smoother. The big missing feature for me though is the ability to export to gpx so that I can import on the dailymile.com.
akmiller
I will look into adding export to GPX. As a simple tool for routing I definitely want you to be able to get your data out of it for use with other tools so this will be high on my list of things to do.