What is this site all about?

It's all about the rides. The aim is to provide everything needed by a ride organizer to prepare and share a routeslip with their club or the world. Users can view every step of the ride via the magic of Google Maps, zooming in on turns, using satellite imagery to find tricky bike paths and viewing photos at points of interest. A bike-ready PDF is available for download and printing for every route. This PDF is generated from the route editor and as it is taken directly from Google Maps rather than a bike computer, it is always accurate.

Why doesn't the front page fit my screen?

Routeslips needs screen space – lot's of screen space. The minimum resolution that can reasonably be expected to work is 1280 x 1024. Routeslips can operate with 1024 x 768 display resolution but will quickly become frustrating.

Why doesn't the site work on my Mac?

Well, it will work on the Mac but not with Safari, the default browser for the Mac. I'd really like to have it work on Safari, but the website needs browser XSLT support which is lacking on Safari. Without this support, the site can't display the route selection screen or the route detail screen. I do want to support Safari on the Mac (almost as much as I want to own one) but neither will happen in the next couple of months. In the meantime I strongly recommend the Firefox browser – it's not just this site that will work better.

Why doesn't the site work on XYZ Browser on XYZ Platform?

I have tested Routeslips on IE 6, IE 7 (beta 2) and Firefox 1.5 (Windows and Mac). I realize there are alot of other browsers and operating systems out there. Please don't hesitate to contact me at if any of these prove problematic. In the meantime, if you are not too disheartened, try the Firefox browser - it should work on all platforms.

This screen is confusing! Where's the help?

Routeslips isn't your traditional website so help is pretty vital. You'll notice that most panels have a icon in the toolbar. Click on this to display the help window. The help window can be moved and resized and won't disappear if you click on the routeslips screen “behind” it. If it isn't in the context-sensitive help, there's a good chance that someone has found the problem and posted a solution in the forum. If it isn't in the forum, add a topic or send a request to

Why are you using cookies?

I am using cookies to track the id of logged in users. If you are cookie-adverse and wish to only use routeslips for browsing maps you can quite safely refuse all cookies from routeslips.com and the site will function normally. If you wish to create, tag, rate or comment on routes you will need to accept a cookie.

Why do I have to sign up again to use the forum?

I simply haven't had the time to integrate the login databases for my application and phpBB, the forum that I have chosen. Unfortunately, for the time being you will have to create accounts with both applications. My apologies for the inconvenience.

Why does it say that no routes are found?

Routeslips automatically looks for routes inside the bounds of the map window. It is quite possible that there are no maps in your area yet. Try zooming out until you can see the entire USA. If you do not have any search applied there should be at least 10 routes displayed.

How long will it take me to enter a route?

My experience is that I have been able to enter routes at a little under 1 minute / mile for shorter routes (up to 50 miles). I typically use between 5 and 10 points per mile of route. Time taken decreases per mile of route decreases with distance. A double century route would probably take 100 minutes. There was no noticable slowdown of browser responsiveness for the longer routes such as the Furnace Creek 508.

Why can't I see the route I just entered?

Routes entered by users are not displayed to the entire community immediately. To avoid test maps cluttering up the site, obscuring the better maps, routeslips is moderated. However, this does not stop sharing your routeslips with the world. Just point your users at http://www.routeslips.com/browser/user/login, replacing login with your user name. This way your club or friends can see all of your routes. Alternatively in the MyRoutes screen there is an option to save a link to any individual route which you can send to people. You can actually embed that content in a frame for your own website rather than directing people to www.routeslips.com if you wish.

Why does the wheel on the screen just keep spinning and I see nothing?

If you're using the Mac this means you're probably on Safari. If you're on any other platform it means something has gone wrong with Routeslips. I will have logged an error and be troubleshooting the problem. However, in the meantime, try refreshing the page.

I can't see any way to create a map – am I missing something?

No. Currently, Routeslips is in beta testing mode. I am working with a few select bike clubs to iron out problems with the editor before releasing this feature to the public. If you are running an event or creating routes for your bike club, send me an email at and let me know where you're from and I'll try to set you up with an account.

How do I find routes in my state, county or town?

Use the Location bar in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Start typing in the name and routeslips.com will attempt to autocomplete the name. If you choose a name from the list routeslips will automatically zoom into that area and display rides from that area.

How do I incorporate one of your routes into my site?

Here is the code that you need to add to your page in order to display a single routeslips route in your page:

The link URL (in quotes after src) can be obtained by going to your MyRoutes screen and right-clicking on the icon and opening the link in a new window or tab. The URL displayed in the Location Bar is the replacement URL.

The width and height attributes are used to specify the size of the frame in pixels (or % of total available size).

For example, to show the the Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic (route 79) in a 900 x 700 frame you would add the following to your site:

NOTE: If you're using Blogger, instead of <iframe ... you have to use <object ..., ie.:

Can I trust Routeslips to keep my route after going to all the trouble of entering it?

I am serious about keeping your routes safe. I have multiple backup procedures in place. More importantly, I will shortly be releasing an API and XML document format for loading and saving routes. This will allow you to backup your data locally in human-readable XML. Your data will always be freely available to you.

Why can't I upload photos to your server?

I am striving to keep bandwidth low and server space minimized in an effort to keep the Routeslips service free and advertisement free. Photos take large amounts of room and are not essential for the accurate display of routes. Furthermore, the code is structured to display the route regardless of whether images are available.

If you do not have server space of your own to host images, follow this link to obtain a list of sites that will host images for free.

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