In the past, I've tried to plan a route in google maps (for just driving), but once you import and try to use it, it recalculates your route.
Also relevant to your excellent remark is https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200724-will-covid-19-....
- strava heatmaps (https://www.strava.com/heatmap)
- ridewithgps routes (https://ridewithgps.com/find)
- club routes posted on club websites (like sf2g routes for getting down the peninsula from SF https://sf2g.com/routes.html)
- google maps streetview to check quality of bike lanes
- city-specific cycling forums (ex: https://reddit.com/r/nycbike where the first decent routes using the new tappan zee / cuomo bridge bike lanes have popped up)
It's still a lot of work to plan a decent 50+ mile ride if it's through an area you're not familiar with. I really wish google maps could do more to show me traffic volume to help select between different routes... I'll take an empty wide road over a bike-lane running next to parked cars any day.
I just use Google Maps's cycling directions, combined with my own mental map of things like "tree coverage" which is kind of important for avoiding heatstroke in a tropical city. I've never seen a map provider that even begins to track that.
All the cycling apps seem to be designed for people who want to train to be racers. I give zero fucks about that. I just wanna get where I need to go, or drift aimlessly around the city when I need some exercise.
Citymapper and OsmAnd are brilliant for this!
Also +1 on milk crates strapped to the back, I do that too and they're great for groceries :D
Komoot is good too, but at least in my area of NA the elevation calculation is off by quite a bit. When I've used it for longer routes, I've ended up putting in at least 1,000 ft more of climbing than it has told me would be on the route. Trailforks doesn't have that problem.
If you have a local IMBA chapter, most of them have accurate trail profiles as well.
For road cycling routes, I use Strava. If you want detailed routes that are popular with local cycling clubs, Trek stores usually have surprisingly good handouts on local routes.
However, my go to website and app for off-road adventures (on foot and two wheels) is ViewRanger[1]. Maybe it's a bit too UK and EU focused for you, but I've found it to be really good and the app's improved a lot over the last five years. Their BuddyBeacon[2] is also a nice feature.
While not open source, the best part is they provide a direct apk download, so you're not locked to Google or Apple's store to download and install[3].
[1] https://www.viewranger.com
[2] https://www.viewranger.com/buddybeacon/v2/
[3] https://www.viewranger.com/software/software.php - visit on your phone.
I don’t ever use komoot for recording though, phone uses too much battery. Recording is done through a polar watch, synced to strava. Watch is also best for wind and kitesurfing, no need to bring a big expensive watch on the water.
Ah, the bell with compass, it's cute. Looks a bit like sailboat nav gear.
When I plan my route on garmin I am not getting a turn-by-turn list but rather a gps trace to follow, so I can plan the route to go arbitrarily anywhere I want. Personally I use the strava heat map and garmin to do everything since that represents where people actually go and not what some algorithm thinks will be good.