How To Contribute To The Road Bikeable Map Layer

Our Road Bikeable map layer (available to Premium members) highlights surfaces that are likely to be suitable for road/racing bikes using a grey overlay on top of the selected base map in the route planner. You can use it to help work out which route to take when planning a new route for a bike that doesn't have off-road tyres.

The Road Bikeable map layer has been uniquely developed for plotaroute.com using data from the OpenStreetMap project based on known surfaces and access restrictions of roads and paths. If you know of a road or path that is suitable for a road bike but is not shown on the Road Bikeable map layer, you can update the attributes for this road or path yourself using the OpenStreetMap editor. Any updates you make should normally appear on the Road Bikeable layer on plotaroute.com within 7 days.

To update the Road Bikeable map layer follow these instructions:

1. If you haven't already done so, you will first need to create a free account with OpenStreetMap (OSM).
   
   
2. Sign in to your OpenStreetMap account.
   
   
3. Click the EDIT button to launch the OSM Map Editor.
   
   
   
   
4. Search for the approximate location of the road or path you want to update and select the correct location from the list:
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Zoom and drag the map the exact location of the map feature (road or path) you want to update.
   
   
6. Move your mouse over the map feature - as you do so it will be highlighted with a brown background.
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Click on the map feature once it has been highlighted to select it. It will then be highlighted with a flashing red background.
   
   
   
   
8. You'll now be able to review and change the attributes for the selected map feature in the panel to the left of the map.
   
   
   
   
   
9. In the section headed "Surface", click the down arrow and select the the most appropriate option from the list. This must be "paved" or a smooth hard surface for it to qualify for inclusion on the Road Bikeable map layer.
   
   
   
   
   
10. In the section headed "Allowed Access", select "Yes" next to "Bicycles".
    
    
    
    
    
11. Repeat the process for any other changes you want to make and then click the SAVE button to review your changes before submitting them.
    
    
    
    
    
12. Enter a short description of the changes you made.  If you're unsure about the changes and would like someone to review them you can select this option (this may delay the changes appearing on the Road Bikeable map layer).
    
    
    
    
    
13. Click the "Upload" button to submit your changes.