Routes in Southern Austria/northern Italy & Slovenia

As some of you might know I have a large number of day routes that I developed whilst running a biker hotel in southern Austria.

I am thinking of making all the routes I created during my time in this region freely available to all. As this would require a fair bit of work-ensuring they are compatible with the latest Garmin maps for instance, I though I would ask the question as to the level of interest.

Around 60 routes in all although some are variations on a theme to cope with different ideas as to what makes a day's ride
Most are circular routes based on where I used to live in Austria, anyone wishing to stay in the area could adjust the start/end points to suit
I have ridden every route, often many times, so can speak from real knowledge of the area if anyone has a question
I have them both as .gpx and .itn files so can easily be used by both Garmin & TomTom users
I will test each route in both Mapsource, Basecamp & Tyre before I release them

If there is interest I think I would need to release them in batches as it might take a while to get all of them ready at once.

Please let me know over the next week or so, summer is coming so what with having to explore my new home area and do the garden as well as having to abuse folk here and on Facebook, my time for this is limited. Should have done it last winter really!

John

I would be interested John, in fact I still have some routes along with a one page commentry you posted before for Malta to Croatia.
Cheers

Generous. Release away, man can never have enough routes.

Great idea and good of you, and with reference to not having time to sort through them to check they are ok, if you want i will do that for the .gpx files, i can not do the .itn as i dont use tomtom, and i will give you a link for you to upload them to, and will host them when done if you wish, no problem if you dont.

leedude03 said:

Great idea and good of you, and with reference to not having time to sort through them to check they are ok, if you want i will do that for the .gpx files, i can not do the .itn as i dont use tomtom, and i will give you a link for you to upload them to, and will host them when done if you wish, no problem if you dont.

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Thanks for that but I will need to do the checking as even the latest Garmin maps have local errors. I will check them against other sources and my own extensive knowledge of the area.

John

Very generous of both you and Leedude.
Much appreciated thanks.

No problem.

Would be very grateful, thankyou

The Grey One said:

Thanks for that but I will need to do the checking as even the latest Garmin maps have local errors. I will check them against other sources and my own extensive knowledge of the area.

John

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Don't take too long. Bikers are not renowned for their patience and the Spring is springing. Not least Garmin might update their (useless) maps and it will be a waste. Me? I'd give them a quick once over, convert them to .gpx - which most regular mapping software will pick-up with - and then issue the definitive all singing and dancing version at leisure.

Wapping said:

Don't take too long. Bikers are not renowned for their patience and the Spring is springing. Not least Garmin might update their (useless) maps and it will be a waste. Me? I'd give them a quick once over, convert them to .gpx - which most regular mapping software will pick-up with - and then issue the definitive all singing and dancing version at leisure.

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Sad that you think Garmin maps are useless, I have never said that myself ( except for in Bosnia where they are not just useless but dangerous) , just that there are better options.

As to the routes l have already started, I will post a link to dropbox soon. They are already .gpx files, most have been since I first started creating them in 2009. As I have said before map versions make very little difference unless there have been major changes along the routes.

The main reason I have to adjust some routes is that Garmin have at last caught up with some serious changes in road layout that have taken place in that region over the last few years. Up to last summer it simply was not possible to use some of these much improved roads as they did not exist according to Garmin. In one case, used on several routes, I had to resort to telling people to just follow the signs over the bridge (built around 10 years before) instead of letting the Garmin map lead the device to take you through the centre of a large town. I suspect that is why they built the bridge!

I will start with a few of those routes that proved most popular, if people like them I will add the rest.

John

Looking forward to seeing what you have in Slovenia as we are going there at the end of June.

Aidan1150 said:

Looking forward to seeing what you have in Slovenia as we are going there at the end of June.

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The end of June is good! The Mangart road is usually open by then and is simply wonderful. Narrow and winding with the most amazing views on the way and even better ones at the top. There is a toll but, given a clear day, it will be the best money you spend all holiday.

John

The Grey One said:

The end of June is good! The Mangart road is usually open by then and is simply wonderful. Narrow and winding with the most amazing views on the way and even better ones at the top. There is a toll but, given a clear day, it will be the best money you spend all holiday.

John

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Ooooh you're such a tease John. Get it posted here quickly man!!

Aidan1150 said:

Ooooh you're such a tease John. Get it posted here quickly man!!

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You have just chosen the first route to be published! A circular tour starting in Austria taking in roads in Slovenia and Italy. It has the start of the Mangart marked but the road itself not included (its a dead end so people just used it if the fancy took them before returning to the route) The route is now updated and is a .gpx file. I have my dropbox account ready , I just have to remember how to use it. Watch this space!

John

The Grey One said:

You have just chosen the first route to be published! A circular tour starting in Austria taking in roads in Slovenia and Italy. It has the start of the Mangart marked but the road itself not included (its a dead end so people just used it if the fancy took them before returning to the route) The route is now updated and is a .gpx file. I have my dropbox account ready , I just have to remember how to use it. Watch this space!

John

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And what a cracker of a day out that one is! Well done!

we did the mangart last year at the beginning of june, as I recall then there was no toll, this may have been due to the fact the last couple of hundred metres was blocked with a snow fall.

First one!

Hopefully this link will work, please let me know

Like all my routes it is designed to work with device settings as "Fastest Time" and avoidances as "Avoid Motorways" (but not Toll Roads) "avoid unpaved roads" If you choose to ignore this I take no responsibility for the results. This approach has been tested on hundreds of different devices over a period of 8 summers. This route does require the later Garmin maps as early ones have a bridge missing and will have you going around in circles riding through a busy town instead. 2016.2 onwards work fine

This is a circular route, anyone staying in the area can add their accommodation location to the route to enable you to join or leave it at an appropriate point. There are a few actual waypoints and a lot more via points. On a circular route you need a waypoint or two to prevent the possibility of devices re calculating you straight back to the start. The start/finish point is near a rather nice bar/coffee stop that floats on the lake. It makes a good meeting point too. All the waypoints are at places where there is no option but to ride through them so there is little chance of being told to turn around to visit one.

I have ridden this route so many times I have lost count, there are very few boring stretches and lots of wonderful ones. A common reaction to a first ride of this route was to be unable to stop talking about it that evening. Even now, had we a video, I could talk you through every bend and point out some of the sights long the way. A suggested coffee stop in Kranska Gora is included, you can get coffee at the Slovenian border but they only have portaloos there. Not too bad in early season but later on they are rank. Also marked is an icecream/coffee stop. When I was last there I got everyone with me to go in one by one to choose their ice creams. Something about the young lady reaching down into the cabinet appeared to distract people but they all came out with big smiles on their faces!

Anyone wanting to have more info can get in touch, I could waffle on for ages about the joys of this route


https://www.dropbox.com/s/rkqjn899x2h826b/Austria, Slovenia, Italy 1.gpx?dl=0


John

leedude03 said:

we did the mangart last year at the beginning of june, as I recall then there was no toll, this may have been due to the fact the last couple of hundred metres was blocked with a snow fall.

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That's normal, happens every year. They usually have a small sign saying the road is closed, use it at your own risk. Did you make it to the top? If you didn't go back, park up and walk up the grassy slope on your right ( its a one way road) It ends suddenly with a huge drop and the most amazing view. On a clear day (September is good) you can see the whole of the southern Alps spread out before you.

John

yes stunning it was. and by the way your file upload has downloaded fine.
The route almost takes you past the hotel we stayed at in Kranjka gora

leedude03 said:

yes stunning it was. and by the way your file upload has downloaded fine.

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Good to hear, would you mind checking it by getting Basecamp to recalculate it-making sure your preference setting don't conflict with those used to make the route-sorry I know I am teaching Grandmother to suck eggs here but others reading this might not realise that recalculating using different preferences could change the route.

John