Trip Planning Website

[AnatolyG]

I am thinking of building a trip planning website that combines street, topo and a few data sources together (campground, trails, parks, etc), and allows you to plan your bikepacking/camping/touring trip.

Possible/probable features:

• creating a cue sheet (for road/off-road touring)
• topo map printouts with route overlays
• exporting the map + route to garmin (gmapsupp.img + gpx) with routable streets and topos
• trail discovery via garmin connect, strava, trailsAPI and other trails sources (this is the most lacking out there right now)
• social aspects
  
  • planning trips with friends
  • hosted trip websites with "trip player"
  • ability to share "excursions" on facebook/google+/etc

Would you guys be interested in something like this? Would you pay to use it? How much would you pay per month? What other features do you feel are must-haves before you would pay for this?

Since the market size for a product like this is fairly small, I'd like to gauge interest before venturing to build this - having said that, I would love to have something like this for myself and might build it just because.

Thanks for your help!

[jbphilly]

I don't know that I'd be ready to pay for it, though if it were a fairly low price, like under $50 US for a year subscription or some flat fee for a lifetime subscription, I might. I do think the whole model of paid access to websites is inherently limiting - even if it sucks to have a site riddled with ads, the potentially much greater user base and viewership may make up for it.

However, if it really had all that I wanted - a comprehensive map showing dirt roads and singletrack, with elevation and distance info, and the ability for users to add information on trail conditions and the like (wiki-style), I might find it in my stingy, stingy heart to pay a subscription fee.

Since I don't know anybody in my area who does bikepacking, it would be really handy to have info to an easily-accessed list of good trail options in my area.

[AnatolyG]

I don't know that I'd be ready to pay for it, though if it were a fairly low price, like under $50 US for a year subscription or some flat fee for a lifetime subscription, I might. I do think the whole model of paid access to websites is inherently limiting - even if it sucks to have a site riddled with ads, the potentially much greater user base and viewership may make up for it.

However, if it really had all that I wanted - a comprehensive map showing dirt roads and singletrack, with elevation and distance info, and the ability for users to add information on trail conditions and the like (wiki-style), I might find it in my stingy, stingy heart to pay a subscription fee.

Since I don't know anybody in my area who does bikepacking, it would be really handy to have info to an easily-accessed list of good trail options in my area.

Thanks for the great feedback. The price would be absurdly low - something like $2-$5 per trip or <$30 for a year. I'll experiment with it.

Would you be interested in being connected w/ like-minded individuals in the area as part of this site's mission?

[speedycog]

It kind of sounds like topofusion with a social twist to it. That's an interesting concept. I'd love to use topofusion, but I'm on a mac (without Windows).

See if Scott would be interested in a licensing TF and then port it online + add social...yeah, I see the potential there.

[AnatolyG]

It kind of sounds like topofusion with a social twist to it. That's an interesting concept. I'd love to use topofusion, but I'm on a mac (without Windows).

See if Scott would be interested in a licensing TF and then port it online + add social...yeah, I see the potential there.

I am on a mac as well, and it's a big pain in the rear to get all of the data together in one place. The other thing that is lacking - topofusion and not - is trail discovery. The idea here is that trail discovery will be a built-in part of the application, with a mode to see all trails/activities/routes in the visible region of the map. Speedycog, would you pay for a service like this?

[speedycog]

I'd prefer a one-time fee or small yearly ($30 sounds about right).

Agreed on the trail discovery part. A solid database of bikepacking routes would be sweet. I'm new to WA state—that means most of the routes I do are either logging roads (easy to get lost without a GPS), short day trip-rides (<25 miles), or hitting well-known trails like the Umpqua (which is still only a two day bike route at best).

I pour over maps trying to figure out a good route that meets all bikepacking criteria—and often come up empty.

[AnatolyG]

I'd prefer a one-time fee or small yearly ($30 sounds about right).

Agreed on the trail discovery part. A solid database of bikepacking routes would be sweet. I'm new to WA state—that means most of the routes I do are either logging roads (easy to get lost without a GPS), short day trip-rides (<25 miles), or hitting well-known trails like the Umpqua (which is still only a two day bike route at best).

I pour over maps trying to figure out a good route that meets all bikepacking criteria—and often come up empty.

I'd prefer a one-time fee or small yearly ($30 sounds about right).

Agreed on the trail discovery part. A solid database of bikepacking routes would be sweet. I'm new to WA state—that means most of the routes I do are either logging roads (easy to get lost without a GPS), short day trip-rides (<25 miles), or hitting well-known trails like the Umpqua (which is still only a two day bike route at best).

I pour over maps trying to figure out a good route that meets all bikepacking criteria—and often come up empty.

DITTO - I am new to OR, and on the coast for a month, and discovering trails around here is awful - often old, out-of-date info due to logging closures. In order to have broad appeal, the way I was thinking about this service is a service for outdoor planning. Bikepacking is a facet, but so is backpacking and hunting (being two of the most done outdoor activities).

I will experiment w/ the cost, but something that costs <$3 per month is attractive because it's below most people's don't give a crap threshold (as in, a starbucks mocha costs more, and it's a one-time, enjoy for 1 hour purchase).

[NT]

I'm interested in the trail discovery part (though an online topo fusion lite, perhaps like bikehike.co.uk but with more maps would be really nice). Redtrails.com was a great resource for usfs gpx files and trails, i'm super bummed it's gone. Something like skidmap.com could be cool. It needs to be wiki style so peolpe can add to/edit the database. Not all that interested in the social part, but that could help set it apart.

[AnatolyG]

I'm interested in the trail discovery part (though an online topo fusion lite, perhaps like bikehike.co.uk but with more maps would be really nice). Redtrails.com was a great resource for usfs gpx files and trails, i'm super bummed it's gone. Something like skidmap.com could be cool. It needs to be wiki style so peolpe can add to/edit the database. Not all that interested in the social part, but that could help set it apart.

Thanks for those links - I've not seen bikehike.co.uk, looks like a good resource. I think user submitted content is key to this, so a wiki-like capability would be huge. I'd also try to source trail discovery from Garmin Connect and Strava if possible. Those sites have a huge repository of ride data, but they suck at displaying it. Would you pay to use something like this?

[PretendGentleman]

One of the more difficult aspects of planning for me is developing a good route.  This requires pulling data from many places.  Right now I'm planning my 5 day trip around Banff, and I'm using the opencycle map, google Earth, google Maps (some things are easier to see in google maps than google earth, at least for me), and I do a lot of web searching to back up the maps (i.e., to verify bikes are allowed on a particular trail).

I'm guessing that a skilled google earth user can do much of this, but I find that software to be a serious pain in the ass, unlike most google products.