Route Builder

Build custom cycling routes directly on the map with waypoints, elevation profiles, and grade visualization. The route builder calculates cycling-friendly paths between your points, shows you every climb and descent before you ride, and saves routes to your library for future use.

Free users can record rides, view the live map, and access all core metrics. Route building, saving, and turn-by-turn navigation are Pro features.

Opening the Route Builder

From the ride screen, tap the route/navigation button to open route options. You will see two primary choices:

• Create New Route: Opens the full route builder where you place waypoints, build a complete route, preview the elevation profile, and save it to your library for repeated use.
• Quick Navigation: A streamlined mode for one-time trips. Pick a destination, see the route, and start navigating immediately without saving. Ideal for riding to a specific address or landmark when you do not need to keep the route for later.

You can also access your saved route library from this screen to load a previously created or imported route.

Adding Waypoints

There are two ways to add waypoints to your route:

• Target mode (crosshair): Pan and zoom the map to center the crosshair on the location you want. Then tap Add Waypoint. The waypoint is placed exactly where the map center is positioned.
• Search mode: Type a place name, address, or landmark in the search bar. Tap a result from the list to add it as a waypoint. This is faster when you know the name of your destination but not its exact location on the map.

Waypoints are visually distinguished by their role in the route:

• Start point (green flag): The first waypoint you place marks the beginning of your route. It appears as a green flag on the map.
• Intermediate waypoints (numbered): Additional waypoints appear as numbered markers in the order you placed them. These define the path your route takes between the start and finish.
• Finish point (checkered flag): The last waypoint in your route is marked with a checkered flag. As you add waypoints, the previous "finish" becomes an intermediate point and the new waypoint takes over as the finish.

The route line updates automatically each time you add a waypoint, drawing the calculated cycling path between all your points in sequence.

Editing Waypoints

Tap any waypoint pin on the map to select it. Once selected, you can:

• Reposition along the route: When an intermediate waypoint is selected, a draggable handle appears on the elevation chart. Drag it left or right to slide the waypoint along the route. The map pin updates in real time as you drag, and the route recalculates when you release. This lets you fine-tune where the waypoint falls on the road without leaving the chart view.
• Replace with a new location: With a waypoint selected, use target mode or search to pick a different location. Tap Update Waypoint to move it there.
• Delete: Tap the delete button in the waypoint inspector to remove a selected intermediate waypoint. The remaining waypoints reconnect and the route recalculates.
• Reorder in list view: Switch to list view to reorder waypoints by dragging rows. This changes the sequence of stops without moving them geographically.
• Mark as stop: Toggle the stop designation for any intermediate waypoint. Stops appear in blue on the map and indicate places you intend to pause during the ride.

Stops vs. Via Points

Waypoints can be marked as stops, shown in blue on the map. A stop represents a place where you will actually pause during the ride — a cafe, a viewpoint, a meeting point. Via points (the default) are routing aids that shape the path without implying a stop. The distinction matters for route planning: stops help you remember where you intended to take breaks, and they appear in the waypoint list with their stop designation so the route reads as a plan, not just a line on a map.

Route Calculation

Bike IQ calculates routes using the Mapbox Directions API with a cycling profile. This means the route follows roads and paths that are suitable for cycling, preferring bike lanes, low-traffic roads, and paved surfaces where available.

Route calculation is automatic: every time you add, move, or remove a waypoint, the route recalculates automatically after a brief delay. This prevents unnecessary API calls while you are actively editing, so the route updates feel responsive without overwhelming the system during rapid changes.

The calculated route shows total distance and estimated ride time based on the cycling profile. If the route cannot be calculated (e.g., waypoints are placed on water or in areas without cycling infrastructure), the builder indicates which segment failed so you can adjust.

Gravel Roads

By default, routes are calculated for paved roads. Use the gravel toggle to include unpaved and gravel roads in the route calculation. When enabled, the routing engine considers gravel paths, fire roads, and unpaved surfaces as valid options. When disabled, the route sticks to paved roads even if an unpaved shortcut exists.

This toggle affects the entire route — it is not a per-segment setting. If your ride mixes pavement and gravel, enable it and use waypoints to guide the route along the specific gravel sections you want.

Search

The search bar at the top of the route builder lets you find destinations by address, landmark, place name, or point of interest. Type a query and select from the results to either:

• Add the location as a waypoint to your current route
• Center the map on that location so you can place waypoints nearby

Search uses Apple Maps data and works for addresses, business names, parks, intersections, and geographic features. Results are filtered to the area visible on your map, so zoom out if you are searching for something farther away.

Elevation Profile

Every route displays a real-time elevation profile at the bottom of the screen. The profile updates as you add or modify waypoints, giving you a complete picture of the terrain before you ride.

The elevation chart includes distance markers along the horizontal axis so you can correlate climbs and descents with specific points on the route. The vertical axis shows altitude, with the scale adjusting automatically to fit the elevation range of your route.

Two Display Modes

The elevation profile supports two modes, toggled with a tap:

• Elevation mode: Shows altitude over distance. The chart displays the actual elevation profile of the route, making it easy to identify hills, valleys, and the overall climbing pattern. This view is best for understanding the shape of the terrain.
• Grade mode: Shows gradient percentage over distance. Instead of altitude, the chart displays the steepness of each section. This view is best for understanding how hard specific segments will be and planning your pacing.

Color Coding

Both modes use color coding to indicate difficulty at a glance:

• Green: Downhill sections (negative grade)
• Yellow: Flat to gently rolling terrain
• Orange: Moderate climbs
• Red: Steep climbs

The color coding matches the grade visualization used on the live map during rides, so what you see in the builder is consistent with what you see on the road.

Interactive Chart

The elevation chart is interactive. Drag your finger along the chart to scrub through the route and see details for any point: distance from start, elevation, grade percentage, and the corresponding location highlighted on the map above. This connection between the chart and the map lets you identify exactly where the hard sections are and plan accordingly.

Chart View and List View

The bottom panel of the route builder toggles between two views:

• Chart view: The elevation/grade profile described above. This is the default and gives you the terrain overview at a glance.
• List view: A list of all waypoints in order, showing each one's name or coordinates. From list view, you can reorder waypoints by dragging, edit individual waypoints, mark waypoints as stops, or delete them. List view is useful for managing complex routes with many waypoints where direct map interaction becomes crowded.

Undo and Redo

The route builder includes a full undo/redo system. Every action you take is recorded:

• Adding a waypoint
• Removing a waypoint
• Moving a waypoint to a new position
• Updating a waypoint (marking as stop, renaming)
• Reordering waypoints

Undo and redo buttons appear in the toolbar when there is history to navigate. Tap undo to step back through your changes, and redo to step forward again. This makes it safe to experiment freely with your route: try a different path, undo if it does not look right, and try again. There is no risk of losing work.

Saving Routes

When your route is ready, tap Save. A dialog prompts you to give the route a name. Choose something descriptive — "Saturday group ride," "Commute via river path," "Century loop" — so you can find it later in your library.

Saved routes become part of your route library and are available from the route planner screen whenever you want to ride them again. You can also edit saved routes later by loading them back into the builder, making changes, and saving again.

Routes are saved locally on your device. Once a route is saved, it is available offline — no internet connection is needed to load and navigate a previously saved route. For more on managing your saved routes, see Managing Routes.

Quick Navigation

Not every ride needs a saved route. Quick Navigation is a streamlined mode for one-time trips where you just need to get somewhere.

The workflow is simple:

1. Tap the route/navigation button from the ride screen
2. Choose Quick Navigation
3. Search for a destination or center the map crosshair and tap Add Waypoint
4. Review the route and elevation profile
5. Tap Navigate to start immediately

Quick Navigation routes are not saved to your library. They exist for the duration of the ride and are discarded afterward. If you realize mid-planning that you want to keep the route, you can switch to the full route builder and save it before starting.

This mode is ideal for everyday riding: navigating to a friend's house, finding a bike shop across town, or following directions to a trailhead you have not visited before.

Tips for Building Better Routes

Use Road Colors to Stay Safe

The map in the route builder color-codes roads by traffic level. This is one of the most valuable tools for designing safe, enjoyable routes:

• Teal — Bike paths and cycleways. Dedicated cycling infrastructure, separated from traffic. Always the safest option.
• Gray — Residential and low-traffic roads. Secondary, tertiary, and neighborhood streets. Generally quiet and comfortable for cycling.
• Yellow — Primary roads. Higher traffic volume. Rideable but less pleasant — avoid when a parallel gray or teal alternative exists.
• Red — Motorways and trunk roads. Heavy, fast traffic. Avoid entirely unless it is a short unavoidable connector.
• Olive — Gravel and unpaved roads. Dirt, gravel, fire roads. Great for gravel bikes, but something to route around on a road ride.

When building a route, zoom in and look at the road colors along your planned path. If you see a yellow or red stretch, add a waypoint on a nearby gray or teal road to force the route onto quieter streets. The difference between a route that follows a busy arterial and one that uses a parallel residential street can be the difference between a stressful ride and an enjoyable one.

For road rides, disable the Include Gravel toggle (in the route tools menu) to avoid unpaved roads entirely. For gravel rides, enable it and use the olive-colored roads on the map to find trails and fire roads worth exploring.

More Tips

• Check the elevation profile before you ride: The elevation chart prevents surprises. A route that looks flat on the map might have a 300-meter climb hidden in it. Switch to grade mode to see exactly how steep each section is.
• Use intermediate waypoints to control the path: If the automatic routing takes a road you want to avoid, add a waypoint on the road you prefer. The route will reroute through that point.
• Use stops to mark real pauses: Mark cafes, water fountains, and viewpoints as stops. This turns your route into a ride plan. When you load it later, the stops remind you of your intended break points.
• Take advantage of undo: The undo system means you can experiment freely. Try a different path, check the elevation profile, and undo if you prefer the original.
• Combine with imported routes: You can import GPX or FIT files from other platforms, then use the route builder to modify them.

Related Guides

• Importing Routes: bring GPX and FIT routes from other platforms into Bike IQ
• Managing Routes: organize, rename, and delete saved routes in your library
• Turn-by-Turn Navigation: how navigation works once you start riding a route
• Getting Started: initial setup, profile configuration, and your first ride