Guide

How to split a GPX into days without guessing

Six minutes. Written for gravel, bikepacking and ultra routes.

A 400 km track is one file. Your week is seven days. Somewhere between those two facts sits a decision that shapes the whole trip: where to cut the line.

Most planners split by distance. That is a start, not an answer. A 90 km day with 1,800 m of climbing takes longer than a flat 130 km day, and the difference decides whether you reach the shop before it closes.

Start with the constraints, not the distance

• How many riding days do you have, including the half day at each end?
• What time does daylight run out where you are going, and when does the last shop close?
• How much climbing did you ride on your longest recent day? Match that, then add a little.
• Where are the towns with water, food and a bed? Those are candidate break points.

Write the towns down in order, with the distance between them. Your day breaks want to land near those towns, not at a round number picked in an app.

Pick break points at the end of a descent

A day that ends on a col leaves you cold and exposed. A day that ends after the descent leaves you near a valley with water, a shop and a place to sleep. Move the cut a few kilometres to the bottom of the hill and the day gets easier without getting longer.

The same rule applies at the start. Climbing straight out of camp on cold legs is slow. A flat run to the first village warms you up and puts breakfast within reach.

Use a climb-adjusted distance

A rough rule for loaded gravel riding: add 1 km for every 100 m of climbing. A 70 km day with 900 m climbs counts as about 79 km. A 70 km day with 1,900 m counts as about 89 km. The numbers are not exact. They are close enough to spot the day that is too big before you ride it.

Split the file in the tool

Load the GPX in the free splitter. Choose the number of days or a daily distance. The tool cuts at a real track point near the target, so no day starts halfway between two fixes.

Check each day in the table:

• Distance and climbing. Compare them with the plan, not with each other.
• Where the day starts. The start kilometre tells you which town or junction you wake up at.
• The shape of the profile. A day with one long climb is different from five short ones.

Adjust the count until the days look like a week you want to ride. Then download each day as its own GPX.

What to check after the split

1. Water and food. Find the last reliable shop before camp. On a Sunday in rural France or Germany, assume nothing is open.
2. Bailouts. Note the nearest road, station or village on each day. A mechanical at 80 km is a different problem when the next train is 15 km away.
3. Light. Work out where you will be at sunset. Carry a light even on a short day.
4. Sleep. Mark the camp, hut or hotel before you leave. Wild camping rules differ by country and by land owner.

Load one file per day

Name the files by day and keep them in one folder. On a Garmin, copy the GPX files into the NewFiles folder and let the device convert them. On a Wahoo, import the course in the app. A phone works too, with the files downloaded for offline use.

Keep the whole route as a backup file. If a day goes wrong, you still have the line to the finish.