1. • CommentAuthordbrower
   • CommentTimeJan 15th 2007

    
   Is there a good way to print an elevation graph? I haven't seen one...
   
   thanks,
   -dB
2. • CommentAuthorkleinman
   • CommentTimeJan 19th 2007

    
   Is there some problem with elevations? Couple of routes I have tried have no data, or just one point.
   
   
   BTW, Toporoute has a very nice feature that allows you to follow the road: Just click at the beginning and end and it fits to the road. Now that is nice!
3. • CommentAuthoreddiebee
   • CommentTimeJan 20th 2007

    
   Hi,
   Just wanted to say - i think this site is awesome! Very addictive and I have been sharing it with my friends. Great to plan new rides.
   
   A couple of questions/suggestions:
   1) For the elevation charts, it would be great to have an option to put this on a grid so you could better see what distance and elevation are at certain points. This, combined with the comments being available on the graph would be an excellent addition. Perhaps elevation labels at peak points would be good too.
   
   2) It would also be great to be able to see gradients without manually working this out myself - ie perhaps select a "start climb" point and "end climb" point and have the average gradient displayed. I am sure there are heaps of other ways you could do this too.
   
   Anyway - just wanted to say a big thanks. I have loved hunting around on the site and mapping a few of my fave routes. Really appreciate the great work that's gone into it. Thanks.
4. • CommentAuthorhellers
   • CommentTimeJan 28th 2007

    
   Jules: Here's another elevation idea. On the basic map of the route, color up hill segments red, and down hill segments green, just like you do on the elevation profile. -steve
5. • CommentAuthordaS
   • CommentTimeFeb 17th 2007

    
   Jules: First GREAT JOB! This is the BEST route program now.
   
   I had a thought on the issue of bad elevation returns: Instead of having the user move their point, can you re-query the USGS when you get a 0 (actually they claim they return a very large negative number - perhaps your variable is seeing this as 0?). When you get the error value, instead of sending the same lat long, how about applying a "slight" offset to the X-Y coordinates in order to simulate the user moving the point? It might be enough to force the USGS to return a valid value.
   
   Cheers! David
   
   PS: I just posted the route for the Tour of California's time trial stage in Solvang coming up in one week. It took a while to purge it of 0 values, but it looks good now.
6. • CommentAuthorabavetta
   • CommentTimeJun 3rd 2007

    
   Comment from new user. The elevation graph seems to come and go. It appears then disappears seemingly by itself while the numbers for total ascent and decent at the bottom of the graph remain. What's going on? How can I get the elevation graph to stick around and come up more consistently? See for example: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Truckee-Triangle-with-Options
7. • CommentAuthorstephenlo
   • CommentTimeApr 27th 2008

    
   Hi Guys, How do you plot an elevation graph? I just love to know.
8. • CommentAuthorRobS
   • CommentTimeApr 27th 2008 edited

    
   I've never scene a case where the elevation graph has a missing graph. I've had some recent problem with the screent updating and either minimizing then maximizing the window, or resizing it can fit it. (btw I use firefox).
   
   The elevation graph sometimes doesn't appear at all. However, if I click elevation graph a second time from the menu it seems to work.
   
   I use the elevation graph all the time. I find it good to gauge the terrain difficulty.
   
   I have my doubts weather the "total climb" and "total descent" is actually useful (even though I still look at it). Here's why: draw a route using large point spacings (ie. few points) then record the total climb/descents, now draw the exact same route with a very fine point spacing (ie. a large number of points) and compare the numbers. What you will find is there is *considerable* difference between the two figures even though it's the same round ie. the figures depend how you have drawn it. It's basically a form of aliasing error.
   
   Imagine a 1km stretch of road which undulates such that you are at a peak 1m above the starting point at positions 100m, 300m, 500m etc (and at base-line at 0m, 200m, 400m etc). The start and end points are at the same elevation so if you do have 1km spaced points there is no climbs or descents. However if you space your points at 100m the total climbs is 5m and the total descents is 5m. If the undulations were 10m high you would get 50m climb and descents.
   
   The question that comes up is what figure do we want to see. If you spaced a route at 0.1mm you would sum-up every undulation in grains of sand and get a very large figure, which is not the practical answer. In order to compare climbs and descents on equal footing the climbs/descent calculation needs to have an fixed internal spacing. If two route points are spaced far appart then the calculaiton would break the route down into smaller spacing and compute the climbs and descents to produce a number. That way it doesn't matter how you draw the route the climbs and descents would at least be consistent. What spacing to choose is subject to debate - say in the order of the wheel spacing of the bicycle?
9. • CommentAuthorcoyoteboy
   • CommentTimeJun 5th 2008

    
   I'm a little confused by the elevation graph - its not even close to my actual route data? I live essentially at the side of a large valley, most of my commute to work is downhill to the river at the bottom (over 10 miles). There are a couple of short uphill stints (3-400m) but the trend is entirely downhill - I bearly have to pedal for most of the journey. When I plot it into bikely the elevation profile starts with the correct first upward blip, then goes down, then continues to rise for the remainder of the route until right at the end where it suddenly drops steeply - this just doesnt match the real route. The only thing I can assume is that the X axis is not plotted to scale?

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