Guide

What belongs on a printable route card

Five minutes. For days long enough that you stop trusting your memory.

A bike computer shows the next turn. It does not show the shop that closes at six, the climb that starts in four kilometres, or the station you would aim for if the rear derailleur snapped. A route card holds those things on one sheet, in front of you, without a battery.

The top line

Day number, distance, climbing, start and finish. Put the finish name on the card. After eight hours, "Day 3" means less than "Day 3, to Carcassonne".

The profile with kilometre marks

A profile without a scale is decoration. Mark kilometres along the bottom and show the high point. You want to see, at a glance, where the day gets hard and how far you are from the top of the next climb.

Mark the day start and end on the same profile. If the line starts at kilometre 180 of the trip, say so.

The climb table

One row per climb: start kilometre, length, gain, average grade, maximum grade, top elevation. Riders plan food and effort around climbs, not around total distance.

Leave out climbs under about 30 m of gain. A card with 40 rows is a spreadsheet. A card with six rows gets read.

Direction changes

List the turns that matter: junctions, forks, roundabouts, and any place where the obvious road is wrong. Give the kilometre and the direction. A card with every bend is useless. A card with the six turns where riders go wrong is worth carrying.

Turns taken from the shape of a GPX are a backup, not a replacement for the line on your device. Street names and signs beat an arrow every time.

Water, food and sleep

Leave a line for each, with space to write. Before the ride, fill in the next reliable refill and the last shop. Opening hours change with the season, so check the day before rather than trusting a card printed in March.

Bailout and notes

Write the nearest station, road or town for the middle of the day. Add the number of a person who will come if you call. If you ride with a group, add the meeting point for the end of the day.

Leave room for the things you learn on the road: a closed bridge, a better bakery, a tap behind the church. A card with no white space becomes clutter.

How to print and carry it

• A4, black on white, 100 percent scale. Colour ink runs in rain and costs more.
• One day per sheet, printed on both sides if the route is long.
• Fold once and put it in a frame bag or a clear plastic sleeve. A zip bag from the kitchen works.
• Tape it to the top tube only if the tape comes off clean. Test on an old frame first.
• Keep a photo of the card on your phone as a backup.

What to leave off

Full turn-by-turn lists for 300 km, advertisements, a map you will never unfold, and any text smaller than about 8 points. The card is read with cold hands and tired eyes.