Bikepacking - Rest Day 2 of 2 in Fluelen

Day #

14

State of Legs

:-)

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	Distance (miles)	Distance (km)	Ascent (feet)	Ascent (metres)	Punctures
Today	0 miles	km	0 feet	metres	0
Trip Totals	666 miles	km	26855 feet	metres	0

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Travelogue

Once again, today is about rest and relaxation. But more than anything, it's about preparation.

One of the most exciting parts of my route starts tomorrow. I plan to cross the Swiss Alps to Italy, no mean feat on a heavy touring bike like mine. Have I mentioned that the bike's heavy? Well it is.

Crossing the Swiss Alps is about more than ascending one mountain and descending down the other side. The mountain range is large and there are multiple climbs to tackle as you traverse them from one side to the other. From the bottom of the first major climb near my present location of Flüelen to the bottom of the last, a few miles beyond Bellinzona is about 100 miles. The profile of my entire route through Switzerland looks like this:

Flüelen is 8 miles from the bottom of the very obvious large climb  and marked with the first red dot on the profile illustration. The town of Andermatt is indicated by the second red dot, several thousand feet about Flüelen. Bellinzona is indicated by the third dot and as you can see, it lies immediately before a substantial climb of around 2,000 feet, most of which takes place in only a few miles and therefore we must assume it is very steep. After that climb it's largely downhill to the Italian border.

I plan to cross the Swiss Alps and get to Italy in three days. Tomorrow I'll tackle the largest climb and aim to get to Andermatt where I will camp for the night. Hopefully my legs will recover in time for the next day where I'll complete the ascent and will include the old cobbled road, the Tremola on my way to the Gotthard Pass. It's almost entirely downhill from there for about 40 miles to Bellinzona. I'll camp for one night in Bellinzona, tackle the final big climb the next morning and hopefully enter Italy later that day.

I'll be following Swiss Cycling Network Route 3 (AKA Eurovelo EV5) all the way. But one issue with EV5 in Switzerland is that I have been unable to find an official GPS (GPX/KML) file for the route which I could use in my preferred navigation app, Organic Maps. I do have something which I found on one of the cycling web sites but I think it was made by a cyclist, perhaps recording their own journey. I've used it as I have cycled through Switzerland and mostly it was accurate in that it followed the route as indicated by physical signs but sometimes it deviated. The signs have been so good for the Swiss Cycling Network Routes that I've used them as my primary navigation aid and only looked at the app from time to time to check or clarify.

I've read a few accounts of people attempting this route and none of them particularly filled me with confidence. There were tales of difficulty finding the right way and getting lost, having to repeat climbs on already tired legs. The traffic sounds like it can be heavy and the roads can be narrow. On top of that, higher up there's a series of long tunnels to get through, cycling uphill and perhaps with a long line of angry car drivers stuck behind you! Here's one example: https://www.my-bicycling-adventure.com/Gotthard-Pass.html#content_40849665#day5  

With that in mind, I really wanted to be sure about the route. I'd already found a website and mobile app called Swiss Mobility. The map and cycling routes are accurate but embedded. You can't export the GPS data for use in your own app. The app requires a mobile signal to work unless you pay 35 Swiss Francs for the "pro version". No thanks. The map is also incredibly busy and difficult to read. 

Happily, yesterday I discovered another app called Swisstopo. It's provided by the Swiss Federal Office of Topography so the data can be relied upon. The app is free and it allows you to download sections of the map for offline use! Beware that you may need a lot of storage space, but for me it's well worth it. I used about a gigabyte for a section of map that spans Flüelen to Bellinzona. 

I've been familiarising myself with the app. One feature I immediately liked is the fact that you can have the map rendered in grey with the cycling route staying in its customary blue. This makes it very easy to see. Here's a screen shot together with the corresponding screen from Organic Maps with the route I've been using loaded.

The Swisstopo app

Organic Maps with the route I found online

You can see here one example of how my "found route" deviates from the official route.

I'm really happy to have found a route map I can trust!

I started looking at the route properly this morning and used Google Streetview to examine the first few miles. I could see that the route quickly goes along a path by a river but I couldn't see how you got down to the river from the road. So I set off on foot for a quick survey! The river is only a couple of miles away if that.

I soon found the correct way to the river path using the Swisstopo app as I walked. And it's very well signed too. All very reassuring! I'll have enough on my plate just with the physical challenge without worrying about route finding too!

I took a few photos on my walk and a short video too. It's lovely around here!

This is where I'll start tomorrow

Crossing the river

The path passes under a road bridge

At the lake

Beautiful!

I was accosted by some very cute and fearless ducklings at the lake. I made a short video of them which quickly became a guided tour of their incredible duck pond!

So, the plan is this. I want to avoid the heat of the day if possible and It's likely to approach 30 degrees Celsius tomorrow. I want to avoid traffic if I can, especially in those horrible sounding tunnels. So I'm gong to make an early start and be on the road by about 5 a.m. The sun won't be up at that time but there should be light. An hour later the sun will have risen. I don't mind starting my way up the valley in less than full light. I'll have plenty of time (5 hours?) to enjoy splendid views later on!

OK, time to listen to music, read and watch movies!

Update: I've decided that after dinner, to get me in the right, determined frame of mind for tomorrow, I'm going to watch the documentary, Touching the Void. This is an incredible story and has some inspiring examples of how to accomplish *anything* no matter how steeply the odds are stacked against you. Can't hurt to get a little inspired, can it?

Navigation

In a hurry? My top tips

1. Use Plotaroute for route planning
2. Use Organic Maps for offline navigation - download maps in advance after which you don't need a cellphone signal or Wi-Fi. Import your own KML files created with (e.g.) Plotaroute into Organic Maps using the steps you'll find below.
3. In Organic Maps' settings screen, enable Allow Screen to Sleep. This will conserve battery very effectively.
4. On Android use the Smart Lock feature to stop your phone from locking as long as it is in use (connected to a trusted device or one of the other options). This means you can wake up Organic Maps with a quick tap to your phone's screen and the map will be displayed immediately. No need to enter a PIN or anything.

Navigation

Having planned your route, the next question is how you're going to follow it. For shorter rides or those that only span a day or two, this is easy. You have a smartphone. It has a map and navigation application such as Google Maps. If you've planned your route using a suitable tool, you should be able to export it in a format like KML and then import it into your navigation tool of choice and that's it, you're away. 

But this can be more involved if you're undertaking a multi-day trip, perhaps including many hours in the saddle each day. There are a number of issues:

1. How to carry your phone
2. Smartphone battery life
3. Mobile network and internet availability

How to carry your phone

There are plenty of options for how you carry your phone so that it is easy to access for navigation purposes. There are handlebar mounted, waterproof holders which look good. I have a frame bag which has a compartment with a transparent cover that is made for exactly this purpose, so that's what I use. That said, it's not exactly waterproof (as I discovered to my horror!) so in heavy rain I have to put a rain cover over it. However, in pouring rain I think I'd still have problems reading the screen through the frame bag cover whether it was 100% waterproof or not.

Most phones have touch screens so if you buy a holder of any sort for your phone, make sure the touch screen can still be used, otherwise you will need to take your phone out every time you need it, and that will get annoying very quickly.  

Of course if it's a nice sunny day, you could just put your phone in one of your jersey pockets. Just don't lose it :-)

Smartphone battery life

Your smartphone's navigation application will be using GPS and GPS is a notoriously greedy consumer of battery power. And the other major battery power user of your phone is the screen. The more time it spends on, the more battery power will be used. But of course you need the screen on at least some of the time and you absolutely need GPS for the navigation system to work! So, what's the best approach to squaring this particular circle?

Smartphones have options that allow you to use less battery life. I have an Android phone so can cover some useful Android tips here. iOS users, I'm afraid you will just have to do some exploring on your own.

Android has a setting called Battery Saver. Don't be surprised when I tell you that it's a mode which...saves your battery. It does this by switching off non-essential background processing, so for example your emails will not download until you are running the email application in foreground. I also set my screen's display timeout to the 60 seconds, meaning that if I don't interact with it in a 60 second period, the screen switches off. I could go as low as 15 seconds, but I do still need to be able to use the phone and 1 minute seems to work well for me.

But there's a problem here. Like most people, I have security enabled on my phone so that when the display goes to sleep, it also locks so that I have to enter a PIN or use fingerprint recognition to unlock it. There's no way I want to be doing this while I'm riding and I also have no desire to stop every time I want to check the route. Luckily, I also use a Suunto GPS smart watch. The main reason for this is to record my ride and associated stats. It's an efficient device and the battery lasts much longer than that of a smartphone. It also uses Bluetooth to share data with the smartphone when I sync at the end of a ride and this offered a solution. Android has an option called Smart Lock which lets you specify special circumstances in which the screen should not lock when the display goes to sleep. One of the possibilities is to prevent the screen from locking when the phone is connected over Bluetooth to a trusted device. Like my watch! So, problem solved. When cycling, my phone sits in the frame bag in battery saver mode and most of the time, the display is switched off. But the phone is not locked. If I want a quick look at where I am on the map to make sure I'm still on route, I just tap the screen a couple of times with my finger and it activates and shows me the navigation application and my current position.

This combination of measures has been proven to work very well for me. The first time I tried this, I cycled 70 miles on a route I had never taken before, so I had to use my phone in a representative way. By the time I finished the ride, after 5 hours in the saddle and the navigation app running the whole time, my phone's battery level was showing 86%, which is remarkable. The phone is a OnePlus 5 by the way, so not exactly a top end phone. 

Based on this initial experiment, allowing for taking some photos and having a few WhatsApp conversations, I estimate the battery should get me through a couple of days no problem.

Mobile network and internet availability

Some mobile navigation applications only really work when there's an online connection to the internet available by Wi-Fi or a mobile network. Clearly when you're out on the road, it's the mobile network that you need. But which mobile network? Which country are you cycling in? Will you be crossing borders?

If you access a mobile network that you are not a subscriber to (your home network), your phone will be said to be roaming. Most phones allow you to enable or disable the use of data when roaming and the reason for this is that roaming charges can be very expensive.

I'm based in the UK and thanks to our prior membership of the EU, there are no roaming charges to be paid when using a network in another EU country. But this will almost certainly not last. The UK is currently not a member of the EU but still subject to its laws. Once we have completed the withdrawal process (over the next few months) there will be nothing to stop networks reintroducing roaming charges to UK network subscribers, so things could get very expensive once again for travellers.

In anticipation of roaming charges coming back or with travel through non-European countries in mind, there are a few things that can be done to reduce costs.

1. Download maps for offline use when connected to free Wi-Fi

Some applications support the use of offline map data stored on your phone rather than accessed as needed over the network. Google Maps supports this, for example. You do need to remember to download the map for areas you will be travelling through though.

2. Buy a local SIM card

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! It might be a little inconvenient but if you're cycling into another country, one option is to make your first stop at any town large enough to have a phone shop you can buy a SIM card from and get yourself onto one of the local networks. You'll need to have a large enough data allowance for your needs but don't forget that making calls could save your proverbial bacon in an emergency too.

Applications and Other Tools

Here's what I use for in-ride navigation.

As described in my post on route planning, I use a tool called plotaroute for route planning. Having prepared my route, I export it as a KML file, which is a format many tools support and so useful for passing route data between tools. 

Favourite offline navigation App: Organic Maps

Google Maps works offline as long as you have remembered to download the map data for offline use in advance. Some functions, such as route finding ("Directions") will not work if you have no internet access though and I've even had problems using routes loaded into Google MyMaps when I didn't have a signal.

An alternative is to use the free mobile application, Organic Maps. This app is designed specifically for offline use and downloads openstreetmaps data either in advance or on demand as it becomes required (assuming you have network access!). I've been using it for a while now and I think it's pretty much perfect for bikepacking. 

To import a KML route file into Organic Maps on Android, either go into the Bookmarks screen and use the Import function or find your KML file with a file manager application and open the file. You should get offered Organic Maps as one possible application to use. 

Tips

1. Change the LineStyle

If your eyesight isn't that great, it can be helpful to improve contrast by changing the colour of the line which indicates the route to something more suitable. I like to set the line colour to black, for example. Unfortunately you cannot do this through the app itself. Instead, edit the kml file as follows, before importing it.

Edit KML file. Find the LineStyle element. Change colour to FF000000 where FF is the transparency (opaque) and the remainder is the RGB colour code. Set width to 6.

<LineStyle>

<color>FF000000</color>

<width>6</width>

</LineStyle>

Information on colour codes can be found at a great many web sites such as this one: https://htmlcolorcodes.com/ 

 

2. Let the Screen Sleep

When I use Organic Maps, especially when the trip spans more than one day, I am extremely keen to safeguard the battery on my phone as I might not be able to charge every day. Even the battery pack I carry for that very purpose is treated as a precious resource. So I do not want my smartphone screen to be on all of the time. The screen on a modern, high-resolution smartphone is one of the greediest consumers of battery power that there is.

By default, when you have the map displayed in Organic Maps, the screen will not sleep....ever. It will stay on. This is convenient for some situations but not for mine. Luckily, the app is open source which means the code is published for all to see and if you have programming skills, you can make changes and offer them to the primary team that manage Organic Maps for inclusion in the main released app. I have a background in software development and so was able to make a change which the team were kind enough to incorporate in the released app.

Go into Settings and scroll down and you'll find the Allow Screen To Sleep option. Enable it. Now you can check your route every now and again whilst cycling and the screen will go to sleep at whatever time interval you have set in the Android settings screen. I have my GPS watch paired with my phone and use Android Smart Lock so that the phone never locks as long as it is connected to this trusted device (my watch). Therefore after checking my location and whether I'm on route or not, I let the screen sleep so it saves battery. It doesn't lock the screen though so when I need to check again I just tap the screen and swipe up. This wakes the screen and I see the map again. It takes a moment to update my location as GPS tracking is suspended while the screen is asleep, but that's fine. I don't mind waiting a few seconds while I'm continuing to pedal and I very much do mind wasting my battery. Perfect!

At this time (June 2021), this feature is only available on Android.

See https://github.com/organicmaps/organicmaps if you're interested in the code.

Other apps worth looking at:

Google My Maps

I then import the KML route into Google My Maps by creating a new map and then selecting Import and selecting my KML file. 

Importing a KML file into Google My Maps

Google My Maps

I then name and save the route in Google My Maps.

My Maps allows route planning but it's nothing like as easy to use as plotaroute. The only reason I use it is because a route that is saved by My Maps becomes available within Google Maps. 

Google Maps

To load a My Maps route into Google Maps, select Saved from the bottom of the screen, then Maps. Select your route from the list and it will be overlaid on the map. If you don't see your route, access it from My Maps and it should then become available in Google Maps (which I think only lists so many of your most recently accessed routes).

Saved items in Google Maps

Maps created or imported to Google My Maps

Selected route overlaid on Google Maps

 

Once the selected route is open in Google Maps, your current position will be shown and you can simply keep an eye on whether you've strayed off route or not. Obviously, you can zoom to whatever level works for you.