Tap into new routes close to home with komoot

This article was written as part of a four-part series, sponsored by Komoot.

In the first of this four-part series talking about komoot, I wrote about the benefits that the increasingly popular route planning and navigation app provided when away from home, in unfamiliar territory where every square inch of tarmac is new and exploring unfamiliar territory is the aim of the game. I'd ventured to Yorkshire ahead of the arrival of the 2019 World Championships and I wanted to create my own world-class route. Komoot served up a tour that was a true compliment to the area's natural beauty. 

This time, however, I'm not away from home. I'm in Exeter, a city the south-west of the UK - my own metaphorical back yard. This is an area in which I've lived for five years, in that time, I've spent well in excess of 2,000 hours in the saddle exploring. 

Like many people, I'm a creature of habit. I'm not inherently against exploring new areas, but when riding at home, this human nature takes over and I stick with what I know, what I'm comfortable with, and the security that comes with knowing what's around the next corner.  

Recently, however, rather than simply heading out the front door and choosing the same-as-ever routes, I've been longing to explore my local roads, but I didn't want to lose the security that comes with knowing what I would encounter along the way. Thankfully, this is where komoot comes into its own. Komoot helped me tap into a new route that enjoyed a number of roads and views I'd never experienced before, along with a shortcut I wish existed a long time ago, all within a two-hour ride from my own front door. 

To achieve this for yourself, you'll need to use 'Plan'; a feature-rich route planner built into komoot. While you'll find this at komoot.com, I used the app, which handily offers the full functionality of the website in an intuitive design.

Plan your route with komoot

To plan your own tour on komoot, tap 'Plan' at the bottom of the app's home screen, which you'll be met with upon opening the app.

From here, you're prompted to either plan a new route, or search for a location which can then be added as your start point or your destination. 

Assuming you've chosen to 'plan your route', you're then met with a number of simple options that will ensure your tour is suitable for your choice of bike, fitness level, and more. Here's an overview of the options:

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For me, one of komoot's most impressive features is the app's intuitiveness when adding way points. Rather than forever having to re-adjust the order in which your way points feature along your route - which is decidedly easy, by the way - komoot accurately calculates where in your ride the new way point is likely to feature.

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Should you make a mistake at any point, a simple tap of the three-dot menu will bring up more options where you can adjust, reverse, or scrap the route. 

Additionally, at any point during the creation of your tour, you're able to view all of the metrics that stand komoot apart from its competitors. 

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When you're happy with your chosen route, you can simply tap 'Start Navigation' to be routed via your phone's GPS. This provides very comprehensive navigation that can either provide voice or visual notifications of upcoming turns. It will permanently display clear details of the next turn, along with a scrollable display of in-ride metrics which include: current speed, average speed, distance travelled, distance to way point, distance to destination, time in motion, expected time remaining, current elevation, and an overview of the route profile. 

During navigation, you can also bring up your device's camera from within the app, or tell komoot to 'Replan to Start', which will effectively direct your Tour back to your start point. 

Alternatively, you can save the tour to your komoot account, which can then be shared with friends or uploaded to your GPS computer. 

For my ride, I chose to upload the ride to my Garmin device, which can either be done via downloading the GPX file from the komoot website or, more simply, by using the komoot IQ app within the Connect IQ app store. For Wahoo users, simply connecting to your komoot account from within the Wahoo app will enable the option to push routes from komoot to your device with a simple tap. 

The ride itself was a very damp affair, with a British October doing it's best January impression, but thanks to the alternative choice of direction, I was constantly engaged and it remained enjoyable throughout. I discovered a number of new roads, along with a shortcut that bypasses a much-despised section of highway - something I wish I knew a long time ago. 

Free offline regional bundle

For a free regional map bundle (worth £8.99) when signing up, simply follow this link to Komoot and create your free account today.

Sign up for komoot

With your free regional map bundle, you can:

Save routes offline:
Download your route ahead of time to always know where you’re going — even when you’ve got no internet.

Be told when to turn:
With komoot’s turn-by-turn voice navigation, you’ll never miss a turn again — even when riding on the smallest singletracks.

Track in flight mode:
With your route saved to your phone, enable flight mode to use as little battery as possible while still being reliably navigated by komoot.

Sync with your Garmin or Wahoo:
Using Garmin Connect or the Wahoo ELEMNT apps, you can easily sync your route in just a few taps for tracking on your Garmin or Wahoo. 

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