[talk-au] Cycling network tag

Steve Bennett stevagewp at gmail.com
Mon Dec 15 02:22:00 UTC 2014


On Wed, Dec 10, 2014 at 10:02 AM, Nicholas Barker <nicholasbarker1 at gmail.com
> wrote:

> Hi Steve/Frank
>

[replying back to list, looks like that was your intention]


>
> First up IMO I wouldn't be putting the Mawson as an NCN.
>
> Any kind of 'cycle network'  including a 'national one' implies that it
> will be negotiable by most, if not all bicycles. This would require a good
> quality firm surface. The Mawson is sold as a long distance MTB route.
> Whilst in reality a good proportion of it is on (boring) unsealed roads
> there are many sections that would be a struggle on anything other than a
> mountain bike or sturdy hybrid.
>

We had 9 in our group. 4 mountain bikes, 3 touring bikes, 2 cyclocrosses,
all pretty heavily loaded. Yes, it's rough in places, and a couple of
sections at the far north were genuine "mountain biking". But it's so far
from anywhere that there's basically no chance of anyone thinking "oh I
know, I'll just take this beautiful bike path called the Mawson Trail from
Blinman to Quorn - OH GOD IT'S SO ROUGH" :)


>
> I made the mistake of tagging the bicentennial as a NCN a while
> back....ooops.
>

Yeah, but large parts of the BNT aren't rideable on *anything*.


> As for routes i believe that it should only be tagged if its signed as a
> route or there is other strong evidence of it being a route...Wikipedia
> entry below
>
> A *route* is a customary or regular line of passage or travel, often *predetermined
> and publicized*. Routes consist of paths taken repeatedly by people and
> vehicles
>

Sounds good to me. I'd emphasise the presence of some kind of physical
signage, even if it's a bit sparse and incomplete.


>
> I will only tag a LCN/RCN/NCN route if i either see:
> Signs
> Plans from authorities that 'own' the infrastructure (softcopy or
> hardcopy) - e.g. a councils 'cycling plan'
> Literature from associations that have the backing of the 'owning
> authority' - e.g. scenic routes such as the Mawson/Kidman/Goldfields Trek
> etc.
>

Agreed.


>
> I don't agree with LCN/RCN/NCN routes that have been tagged:
> apparently popular (unless it is publicized) - an example was a local
> cycling club have tagged their regular road criterium route as an
> LCN....useless to anyone who isn't in the club.
>

Agreed.


> for a one off event/bike ride - someone once tagged an 'organised and
> popular cycle ride' that occurred only once along the route they tagged.
> This is wrong and just cluttering the map with useless information. The
> following year the event used a completely different route anyway...
> just because the tagger thought it was a 'nice route/ride' - had one of
> these tagged through western Victoria - its still there i think.
>

Yeah, I think we just need to encourage these people to go to more suitable
places like bikely, mapmyride, strava...


>
> HOWEVER.....MTB routes are a whole different kettle of fish i think which
> needs some more discussion/guidelines as the feature is used in a more
> 'unofficial' way with route suggestions from users etc. I am guilty of
> tagging mtb friendly singletracks as 'routes' purely so other MTBers are
> aware that they are legal, ride-able and fun...
>

Also agreed. mtb=yes is one way of doing that. I would prefer that
route=mtb means there is some kind of official backing behind it, including
a rating, but I definitely your need, and I don't think it causes many
problems.


>
> Maybe there needs to be a different tag that isnt a route but shows up in
> opencyclemap as 'MTB suggested'
>

 IMHO, don't be too fixated on OpenCycleMap. The styling is pretty ugly,
the maintainer isn't especially open to feedback, and doesn't seem to care
all that much about tagging outside the UK.

A site I run, http://cycletour.org, does show mtb=yes tags (a pink halo).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b8kjc1h5v0x8mju/Screenshot%202014-12-15%2013.19.46.png?dl=0

Steve
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