Sharing Great Bike Routes with RoadBikeJourney and Google Earth

The Advanced Method

Lets say you've got a more complex route that has a few different segments to it. The process is very easy with RoadBikeJourney and Google Earth, it just requires a few extra steps.

Lets dive right in. This section builds on the Basic Method, so you may want to re-read that to make sure you are familiar with what we are doing.

The basic idea behind the advanced method is you route out each segment of your route separately, than merge them together into one "super" route and upload that to RBJ.

So, lets say we took a detour off of Highway 96, down SR 165, and we want to add that to our route, it's easy! Just follow along below.

Note: This assumes the route on Highway 96 between Westcliffe and Pueblo is already built. Quickly rebuild it if you erased it.

Step One: Map the Additional Portion of the Route

Using the basic method (see the previous basic steps for a refresher), you simply map the new portion of the route (in our case SR 165).

Before adding new PlaceMarks make sure you collapse the Highway 96 route by clicking the minus side next to it.

Now add your PlaceMarks for 165 and map the route.

Step Two: Display Both Routes

Most likely, when you routed your new portion of the route, the previous portion disappeared (the part along 96). It's still there, you just need to check the check box next to it. For some reason, Google unchecks it when you route a new portion.

Note: You may want to rename each segment of your route as you create them. This will help you track them more easily. This can be done easily by right clicking on all of those weird latitude and longitude numbers and selecting rename.

Step Three: Combine the Routes

Now, we simply need to combine the routes into one route so that we can save it as a single file and upload it to RBJ.

To do this, you'll want to Drag one route into the other one so it appears as a single route. Note: I've renamed my separate routes to "Highway 96" and "SR 165" for clarity purposes.

First, collapse the "SR 165" route by clicking the minus sign and expand the "Highway 96" route by clicking the minus sign. You should have something that looks like this:

Now, click on "SR 165" and drag and drop it so it appears under "Highway 96". You should end up with something like this:

Step Four:Save the Route

Now, all you need to do is right click on "Highway 96" and choose "Save As" from the menu, save it as a KML file, and upload it to RBJ!

If you have more segments that you want to add, just keep repeating these steps and adding each new route segment back into the "Highway 96" route!

Got questions or run into a problem? Drop me a note at:

Keep Cycling!

1 2