Mountain bike trails
Planned
I requested that GAIA add mountain bike trails, like those available on MTB Project, to the phone apps and the website. I was told by them to post the suggestion here instead. Probably so it can be ignored. Again. Anyway, I use the app frequently for mountain biking because, well, I'm often out of cell phone contact when doing so and it's nice to have a map. It would also be nice to have all the MTB trails within the GAIA app so I don't have to jump between GAIA and MTB Project. GAIA would also allow for route planning and tracking, neither of which are available within MTB Project. The OpenCycle layer suggested by the GAIA support is, umm, sparse, to say the least. Pathetic may be a better term. The OpenCycle did not appear on the web site until the support person provided the link. Strange. The OpenCycle layer does not appear as an option on my iPhone either, neither under "layers" nor under "more layers". I don't know if the OpenCycle layer is available on the droid app.
NOTE: This is a feature request for ALL platforms even though the drop-down menu on this form only allows selection of a particular platform. (Silly drop down - why not an "all" options?)
-
This feature request will likely be delayed due to licensing of the data from MTB Project and others like Strava (they sell their data) or TrailForks.
Data isn't always free - unless you're the company with the app that users provide their data to :)
It seems that MTB Project has a Data API, but it they are vague in stating "access to certain limited data".
It would be a business liability without some partner agreement with MTB project when they state "All requests require a private key that identifies you. Usage of the API is at MTB Project's sole discretion and may be discontinued at any time. We track every request — be sure your code caches data and does not make excessive requests or your account will be deactivated."
When I tested out their API, they don't give any GEO data about the trail/segment, just summary data and an arbitrarily chosen 'hero' image.
-
The above being said, please take a look at this Technical Map Article page from GaiaGPS (feel free to just skim it) and then read my comment.
https://help.gaiagps.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003639068?page=1#comment_360000532413
I was able to load in Trailforks basemap, trails, heatmap as well as Strava Heatmap.
NOTE: The Strava heatmap only works on my computer on the website, not on the phone. I believe this is due to authentication - Strava requires users to be logged in to see the heatmap data and since another tab on my browser is logged in, the map tiles load in another tab with GaiaGPS requesting them.
-
@jndulong
MTB Map Layers
Don't worry Chris' recommendation to open a feature request was not to pass the buck and ignore your request. There are several MTBers on the team and our lead developer just finished the Tour Divide 2018. Chris has also opened an internal map request for MTB specific map layers.
Like @jasonferrier mentioned, adding new map sources requires the cooperation of the publisher of the data and time to set up the map sources within Gaia GPS, but we will look into the possibility of adding these map sources.
OpenCycleMap HD
Yes, this layer is available on all three platforms for Gaia GPS and can be found within the Topo Maps section of the Layers menu: (iOS/Android/gaiagps.com). @jndulong it looks like Robyn is working with you via email to add this layer to your phone. -
Hello all. Just popping in to clarify a few things. This feature request is for "adding more mountain bike trails to the app", which is something we're working on. It's part of the ongoing improvements we're making to the Gaia Topo map source. We're planning to add color-coded trail types to the map soon. MTB will be one of those types.
However, this is not a request to add MTB Project or Trailforks maps to the app. As mentioned above, licensing issues prevent us from doing this.
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
10 comments