Bike North uses the RidewithGPS platform to host its 500+ designer routes.
Come and learn how to use it and enhance your cycling experience!
Access Bike North’s RidewithGPS Club
On the Bike North calendar, scheduled rides show a link to RidewithGPS where you can see the map and full route details.
Bike North members are invited to join the Bike North RidewithGPS Club and access the club’s Route Library. Click here to join: www.ridewithgps.com/organizations/1608-bike-north/home. Then you can see where each of our led rides goes. It also means you can ride our routes by yourself or with friends whenever you like.
You can certainly access RidewithGPS through your computer, but you might find it easier to access the advanced features using their app. To join in the fun, first load the app onto your computer or mobile device. Hop onto the internet and visit https://ridewithgps.com and follow the download instructions. As RwGPS comes into its own when you have it with you when riding, it is a good idea to download both onto your computer and onto your mobile phone, Garmin, Wahoo or other device.
Now that you have RidewithGPS loaded, you will see that there are many rides there from individuals and other clubs. To join the Bike North RidewithGPS Club either navigate to clubs and click the ‘ask to join’ button or use this special link: Join Bike North RidewithGPS Club
As a member of the Bike North RidewithGPS Club you will not only get access to the Bike North Route Library but also additional features not available on a free account such as navigation and offline routes.
There are so many cool functions that RidewithGPS offers, let’s take a look at some we love …
Top Speed
Do you want to know your top speed on the ride you just completed? RidewithGPS provides many details of your ride, from average speed to top speed, to meters of elevation you have climbed. It will also tell you when you have a personal best for segments of your favourite routes. (see below an example of the information available).
Navigate to …
Do you want to know how to get to the start of your next Bike North ride – on two wheels? RidewithGPS can find the quickest way!!
Or, you want to ride to a new location, but don’t know which way to go? RidewithGPS seems to know all the best bike routes, and the most scenic!
Let’s say you are going from the north to Marrickville to try some authentic Vietnamese or Greek fare. You simply tell RidewithGPS that your start point is the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and your end point is Marrickville. It chooses bike friendly routes and even includes scenic locations, in this case the Whites Creek Valley Park!! The route can be downloaded to your phone and gives a map and turn-by-turn instructions. It couldn’t be easier.
RidewithGPS will make your riding much more enjoyable and give you the ability to go where you want, with confidence.
Using Audio and Video Cues
One of our favourite features available in the Bike North RidewithGPS Club is turn-by-turn navigation.
Once you have downloaded a map, you can use the Navigate function to either read or listen to the navigation cues.
Hands free, you can use your RidewithGPS app on your phone, bike computer (Garmin, Wahoo, etc) or other device to follow a ride. Why not give it a try when you are on a group ride? You can still ‘follow the leader’, but at the same time you can learn to use the app on your device!
The Navigation feature also has “off course” notifications if you make a wrong turn. It even directs you back to the correct course. Let’s hope you don’t need this feature if you are part of a Bike North group ride!!!
This article by BN member Richard Kelly discusses the pros and cons, tips and tricks when
'Rolling with Rhonda'.
More Help
These RidewithGPS help sheets are also useful to get you started:
RidewithGPS itself has a library of help topics (
RidewithGPS Help Topics), so knock yourself out and find out what else you can do!