Following a route with Komoot.

After my inaugural ride last Wednesday as a sub-leader I thought I would share my experience with using the Komoot phone app to follow a route.  The Komoot app can be installed on your phone without a fee but that only gives you limited access to maps around the area where you registered.  There are various map license options including Surrey/Sussex but as that doesn’t cover all the area we ride in I went for the one time license for worldwide maps for £29.99.

Once you have installed Komoot you have access to tools to create a route, to follow a route created by someone else, or to navigate to a specific location, either cycling or walking.  I have found that it takes you on cycle friendly roads and bridleways.  The app gives you turn-by-turn voice navigation and an indication of the next turn with distance is also shown at the top of the display.

Many of our ride leaders use Ride with GPS to create their routes.  A link to the route is sent out by email.  The route can be installed directly into the Ride with GPS phone app but it can also be downloaded in various formats.  In the first page click on the ‘more’ box, then select ‘Export as File’ from the drop down list, which opens a list of different route formats.  I downloaded John Austin’s Redhill ride as a GPS Track file to my PC.  I have an iPhone which is a bit tricky with files and folders, and I found the easiest way to install it on the phone was to send it to my email address as an attachment.  When I clicked on the attachment there was an option to install it in Komoot.  Select ‘Save as planned route’ and follow a few more screens to save it.

I found the Redhill route by selecting ‘Profile’, then ‘Tours’ and ‘planned’.  Then simply open the ride and select ‘Start Navigation’.  If you have an iPhone don’t make the mistake I made and leave the little switch on the side in the off position as this turns all sound off.  I didn’t discover this until the next day!

Although the map is clear and highlights the route, I found that it’s very difficult to read the screen in direct sunlight so voice navigation is really useful.  Turns at roundabouts were a little difficult to follow and I made some wrong turns, but the display soon showed I needed to do a 180 degree about turn.

Having a mapping app running continuously does run the battery down quite quickly.  My battery was quite low when we reached the lunch stop.  I had brought a small charger with me and was able to get it back to over 90% before we set off again which was plenty to get to Denbies.  I also bought a small top tube bag so I could connect the charger as we cycled but this wasn’t needed for the Redhill ride, but it would help with very long rides.

There are many options for attaching your phone to your handlebars.  I went for the rather expensive Quad Lock as the custom phone case supplied includes a waterproof cover.

Overall I was impressed with Komoot and can recommend it.

Martin Gandy