Veloviewer. Who is using it, and what do you get from it?
Discussion
Solocle said:
I'm struggling with Squadrats. I don't find the tiles, the mapping, or the user interface anywhere near as easy/familiar/comfortable to get into as VeloViewer. So I've resigned myself to only adding the smaller tiles on there as a side-effect of any Veloviewer tiling and Wandrer Earth roaming that I do.
I haven't done a lot of planned tiling recently. All my riding has been, for me at least, very close to home. I've ridden new roads, and lots of new trails/byways/bridleways, but all in areas I've already claimed as VeloViewer tiles. Nabbed a few in the Cotswolds on a recent break with my wife, but they were all walked and only really added to the (eventual) burden of joining them all together.
On other VeloViewer news, my subscription ran out because I hadn't logged in for a while (I haven't actually updated VV for those Cotswolds tiles yet). I pay annually as a PayPal "guest", so need to renew manually. I'm still stunned by just how much of a bargain membership is. £10 for a year? It's lots cheaper than Wandrer Earth (I'm still a free member on that), and my Strava subscription is going to sting a bit this year, I think.
I've got a few ideas about rides I want to do, but no firm plans just yet. If I'm honest with myself, planning ahead really isn't a strong suit for me, but it's unavoidable if I'm ever going to make some of these bigger rides happen, especially any multi-day stuff I want to do.
yellowjack said:
I'm struggling with Squadrats. I don't find the tiles, the mapping, or the user interface anywhere near as easy/familiar/comfortable to get into as VeloViewer. So I've resigned myself to only adding the smaller tiles on there as a side-effect of any Veloviewer tiling and Wandrer Earth roaming that I do.
I haven't done a lot of planned tiling recently. All my riding has been, for me at least, very close to home. I've ridden new roads, and lots of new trails/byways/bridleways, but all in areas I've already claimed as VeloViewer tiles. Nabbed a few in the Cotswolds on a recent break with my wife, but they were all walked and only really added to the (eventual) burden of joining them all together.
On other VeloViewer news, my subscription ran out because I hadn't logged in for a while (I haven't actually updated VV for those Cotswolds tiles yet). I pay annually as a PayPal "guest", so need to renew manually. I'm still stunned by just how much of a bargain membership is. £10 for a year? It's lots cheaper than Wandrer Earth (I'm still a free member on that), and my Strava subscription is going to sting a bit this year, I think.
I've got a few ideas about rides I want to do, but no firm plans just yet. If I'm honest with myself, planning ahead really isn't a strong suit for me, but it's unavoidable if I'm ever going to make some of these bigger rides happen, especially any multi-day stuff I want to do.
I like Squadrats for showing the change from a ride, and also letting me route plan with RWGPS - where planning mini tiles is easier.I haven't done a lot of planned tiling recently. All my riding has been, for me at least, very close to home. I've ridden new roads, and lots of new trails/byways/bridleways, but all in areas I've already claimed as VeloViewer tiles. Nabbed a few in the Cotswolds on a recent break with my wife, but they were all walked and only really added to the (eventual) burden of joining them all together.
On other VeloViewer news, my subscription ran out because I hadn't logged in for a while (I haven't actually updated VV for those Cotswolds tiles yet). I pay annually as a PayPal "guest", so need to renew manually. I'm still stunned by just how much of a bargain membership is. £10 for a year? It's lots cheaper than Wandrer Earth (I'm still a free member on that), and my Strava subscription is going to sting a bit this year, I think.
I've got a few ideas about rides I want to do, but no firm plans just yet. If I'm honest with myself, planning ahead really isn't a strong suit for me, but it's unavoidable if I'm ever going to make some of these bigger rides happen, especially any multi-day stuff I want to do.
It also allowed an experiment close to home that may eventually come in useful for impossibles like Fawley.
Another train catalysed outing, starting at Winchester this time.
However, all that off roading on Monday seemed to have loosened a couple of bolts, so for my first order of business I had to nip via Halfords to get them tightened up. Only, navigational dunce that I am, I headed completely the wrong direction. Oh well, a couple more tiles.
Ruh roh. I don't remember seeing the A34 on the advertisement. Oh, and I had to take the rightmost exit from the roundabout
In contrast, the planned section of the route was excellent.
However, all that off roading on Monday seemed to have loosened a couple of bolts, so for my first order of business I had to nip via Halfords to get them tightened up. Only, navigational dunce that I am, I headed completely the wrong direction. Oh well, a couple more tiles.
Ruh roh. I don't remember seeing the A34 on the advertisement. Oh, and I had to take the rightmost exit from the roundabout
In contrast, the planned section of the route was excellent.
Edited by Solocle on Thursday 18th May 08:29
Well, having made moves on Salisbury from the south, I turned my attention to the west. One minor problem, a distinct lack of roads.
Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads!
The Old Shaston Drove ridgeway... that's just awfully convenient for tiling, isn't it. Except I feel like I'd need a mountain bike. Oh wait, I have one that needs a real maiden voyage.
[img width=480 height=640]https://i.ibb.co/YZJtcS9/image.png[/img]
Once up the initial climb, it was pretty much plain sailing.
Unique perspective on the Fovant Badges:
Short spur to pick up two more tiles:
Main job done.
But since trains were... sparse today, I had a bit of time to kill, so after a well deserved drink (or two - coke and alcohol free cider), I nabbed two tiles to the north of Salisbury. And ended up passing the Skripal House.
Cluster is at 1621.
Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads!
The Old Shaston Drove ridgeway... that's just awfully convenient for tiling, isn't it. Except I feel like I'd need a mountain bike. Oh wait, I have one that needs a real maiden voyage.
[img width=480 height=640]https://i.ibb.co/YZJtcS9/image.png[/img]
Once up the initial climb, it was pretty much plain sailing.
Unique perspective on the Fovant Badges:
Short spur to pick up two more tiles:
Main job done.
But since trains were... sparse today, I had a bit of time to kill, so after a well deserved drink (or two - coke and alcohol free cider), I nabbed two tiles to the north of Salisbury. And ended up passing the Skripal House.
Cluster is at 1621.
ukbabz said:
Current scores are:
3959 tiles, average of 8.566 km per tile
Max square 23x23 View map
Max Cluster: 907 KML
VV Score - 99.679
I'll be adding several hundred tiles soon, and I doubt I'll be adding anything to cluster or squares.
5289 tiles, average of 6.725 km per tile3959 tiles, average of 8.566 km per tile
Max square 23x23 View map
Max Cluster: 907 KML
VV Score - 99.679
I'll be adding several hundred tiles soon, and I doubt I'll be adding anything to cluster or squares.
Max square 23x23
Max Cluster: 907
VV Score - 99.687
1330 new tiles for 0 cluster and max square upgrades!
yellowjack said:
J886ATV said:
ukbabz said:
1330 new tiles for 0 cluster and max square upgrades!
That's some ride! 
It's only really useful when it comes to clusters, by visiting some old haunts I was able to lay some groundwork.
Still a gargantuan effort remaining to connect, though.
yellowjack said:
Agreed. I'd love to hear more about these 1330 tiles in a smidgin under 3 weeks. From what I know (almost nothing) my imagination is running wild...
A bit of a convoluted route between Lands End and John O'Groats had me averaging between 130 and 154 new tiles a day as we zigzagged up the UK. Lots of beautiful landscapes and scenery. Taking in some iconic bridges - Clifton suspension, Severn Bridge, Ironbridge, Forth Road and the Kessock bridge. Also ticked off a few of the 100 climbs from Simon Warrens book - Rundlestone (Dartmoor), Cheddar Gorge, Cairnwell (Glenshee) and the Lecht -- as well as the "wrong side" of fleet moss and the devils beef tub (# 160). I wish I'd put a bigger rear cassette as the 20% climbs on a 36-30 were a bit tough on the quads!I'd like to vent one thing -- f
king headwind. 9 and half days of it! Even when we got to the north coast of Scotland the wind had swung to be a strong easterly for the final push!My "return to tiling" hasn't really gathered any momentum.
State of play on 26th March 2023 was:
Explorer score = 6169
Max Square = 36x36
Max cluster = 4227
Edington Score = 78 miles
State of play on 15th June 2023 was:
Explorer score = 6174 (+5)
Max Square = 36x36 (no change)
Max cluster = 4233 (+6)
Edington Score = 79 miles (+1 mile)
My VeloViewer Score has gone up (although I don't fully understand how) from 99.363 to 99.375. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of rhyme, nor reason for fluctuations in this, it's just a number that VeloViewer throws at me on my 'Summary' page.
I spurned an opportunity to extend my Max Square on Friday. There's a handful of tiles (11 - I just checked) north of Reading I need to "square off" a couple of horizontal rows. That's an easy increase from 36x36 to 38x38. To expand that up to 40x40 would require 43 additional tiles and quite a "linear" out-and-back ride. I say "spurned an opportunity" because I was due to collect my son from Farnborough for the weekend, but didn't leave until it was far too late to squeeze in the required 11-tile ride before collecting him. Poor planning, and too much procrastination on my part, and this week looks like another ride-from-home kind of week for me.
Currently the shortest ride I can do from home to get just ONE tile would be 80.84 miles all told. The awkward thing about that tile, though, is that it's one with only unsurfaced PROW in it, so probably better not to ruin another new set of road tyres chasing tiles. And it sounds an awful long ride on a gravel or MTB. The other issue is that it's in the complete wrong direction to assist with the current Max Square. Although I had two completely separate 33x33 squares sharing Max Square billing back in August 2022, so I could try growing the superseded one (centred just north of Blandford Forum) to match or exceed the current 36x36 Square (centred roughly where the M3/A303 junction is).
For an habitual procrastinator, it would be far easier if there weren't so damned many options for directions in which I could strike out to extend both Square and Cluster. Hmmm?
If PistonHeads has the 'Pie and Piston as it's "virtual pub", maybe VeloViewer could have it's own version, called the 'Square and Cluster'...?
State of play on 26th March 2023 was:
Explorer score = 6169
Max Square = 36x36
Max cluster = 4227
Edington Score = 78 miles
State of play on 15th June 2023 was:
Explorer score = 6174 (+5)
Max Square = 36x36 (no change)
Max cluster = 4233 (+6)
Edington Score = 79 miles (+1 mile)
My VeloViewer Score has gone up (although I don't fully understand how) from 99.363 to 99.375. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of rhyme, nor reason for fluctuations in this, it's just a number that VeloViewer throws at me on my 'Summary' page.
I spurned an opportunity to extend my Max Square on Friday. There's a handful of tiles (11 - I just checked) north of Reading I need to "square off" a couple of horizontal rows. That's an easy increase from 36x36 to 38x38. To expand that up to 40x40 would require 43 additional tiles and quite a "linear" out-and-back ride. I say "spurned an opportunity" because I was due to collect my son from Farnborough for the weekend, but didn't leave until it was far too late to squeeze in the required 11-tile ride before collecting him. Poor planning, and too much procrastination on my part, and this week looks like another ride-from-home kind of week for me.
Currently the shortest ride I can do from home to get just ONE tile would be 80.84 miles all told. The awkward thing about that tile, though, is that it's one with only unsurfaced PROW in it, so probably better not to ruin another new set of road tyres chasing tiles. And it sounds an awful long ride on a gravel or MTB. The other issue is that it's in the complete wrong direction to assist with the current Max Square. Although I had two completely separate 33x33 squares sharing Max Square billing back in August 2022, so I could try growing the superseded one (centred just north of Blandford Forum) to match or exceed the current 36x36 Square (centred roughly where the M3/A303 junction is).
For an habitual procrastinator, it would be far easier if there weren't so damned many options for directions in which I could strike out to extend both Square and Cluster. Hmmm?
If PistonHeads has the 'Pie and Piston as it's "virtual pub", maybe VeloViewer could have it's own version, called the 'Square and Cluster'...?ukbabz said:
yellowjack said:
Agreed. I'd love to hear more about these 1330 tiles in a smidgin under 3 weeks. From what I know (almost nothing) my imagination is running wild...
A bit of a convoluted route between Lands End and John O'Groats had me averaging between 130 and 154 new tiles a day as we zigzagged up the UK. Lots of beautiful landscapes and scenery. Taking in some iconic bridges - Clifton suspension, Severn Bridge, Ironbridge, Forth Road and the Kessock bridge. Also ticked off a few of the 100 climbs from Simon Warrens book - Rundlestone (Dartmoor), Cheddar Gorge, Cairnwell (Glenshee) and the Lecht -- as well as the "wrong side" of fleet moss and the devils beef tub (# 160). I wish I'd put a bigger rear cassette as the 20% climbs on a 36-30 were a bit tough on the quads!I'd like to vent one thing -- f
king headwind. 9 and half days of it! Even when we got to the north coast of Scotland the wind had swung to be a strong easterly for the final push!
I once had a notion about doing Lands End to John O'Groats and back, only sticking to coastal roads. Then Timmy-bloody-Mallett went and did a lap of the UK, and I realised that unless I get a job I'll not have the money to even consider such a ride (it would need to be a credit-card-tour mixed with some wild camping, I think), but if I had a job then finding time to do it would be the issue. It'll probably never happen (for me) now and even if I did "tile the outline of Great Britain" it would have to be done in smaller chunks. Still, it's good to dream...
yellowjack said:
My "return to tiling" hasn't really gathered any momentum.
State of play on 26th March 2023 was:
Explorer score = 6169
Max Square = 36x36
Max cluster = 4227
Edington Score = 78 miles
State of play on 15th June 2023 was:
Explorer score = 6174 (+5)
Max Square = 36x36 (no change)
Max cluster = 4233 (+6)
Edington Score = 79 miles (+1 mile)
My VeloViewer Score has gone up (although I don't fully understand how) from 99.363 to 99.375. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of rhyme, nor reason for fluctuations in this, it's just a number that VeloViewer throws at me on my 'Summary' page.
I spurned an opportunity to extend my Max Square on Friday. There's a handful of tiles (11 - I just checked) north of Reading I need to "square off" a couple of horizontal rows. That's an easy increase from 36x36 to 38x38. To expand that up to 40x40 would require 43 additional tiles and quite a "linear" out-and-back ride. I say "spurned an opportunity" because I was due to collect my son from Farnborough for the weekend, but didn't leave until it was far too late to squeeze in the required 11-tile ride before collecting him. Poor planning, and too much procrastination on my part, and this week looks like another ride-from-home kind of week for me.
Currently the shortest ride I can do from home to get just ONE tile would be 80.84 miles all told. The awkward thing about that tile, though, is that it's one with only unsurfaced PROW in it, so probably better not to ruin another new set of road tyres chasing tiles. And it sounds an awful long ride on a gravel or MTB. The other issue is that it's in the complete wrong direction to assist with the current Max Square. Although I had two completely separate 33x33 squares sharing Max Square billing back in August 2022, so I could try growing the superseded one (centred just north of Blandford Forum) to match or exceed the current 36x36 Square (centred roughly where the M3/A303 junction is).
For an habitual procrastinator, it would be far easier if there weren't so damned many options for directions in which I could strike out to extend both Square and Cluster. Hmmm? If PistonHeads has the 'Pie and Piston as it's "virtual pub", maybe VeloViewer could have it's own version, called the 'Square and Cluster'...?
One easy task could be to catch the train up to London town and tile North East. One relatively simple ride should connect up to Bishops Stortford if my eye is right.State of play on 26th March 2023 was:
Explorer score = 6169
Max Square = 36x36
Max cluster = 4227
Edington Score = 78 miles
State of play on 15th June 2023 was:
Explorer score = 6174 (+5)
Max Square = 36x36 (no change)
Max cluster = 4233 (+6)
Edington Score = 79 miles (+1 mile)
My VeloViewer Score has gone up (although I don't fully understand how) from 99.363 to 99.375. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of rhyme, nor reason for fluctuations in this, it's just a number that VeloViewer throws at me on my 'Summary' page.
I spurned an opportunity to extend my Max Square on Friday. There's a handful of tiles (11 - I just checked) north of Reading I need to "square off" a couple of horizontal rows. That's an easy increase from 36x36 to 38x38. To expand that up to 40x40 would require 43 additional tiles and quite a "linear" out-and-back ride. I say "spurned an opportunity" because I was due to collect my son from Farnborough for the weekend, but didn't leave until it was far too late to squeeze in the required 11-tile ride before collecting him. Poor planning, and too much procrastination on my part, and this week looks like another ride-from-home kind of week for me.
Currently the shortest ride I can do from home to get just ONE tile would be 80.84 miles all told. The awkward thing about that tile, though, is that it's one with only unsurfaced PROW in it, so probably better not to ruin another new set of road tyres chasing tiles. And it sounds an awful long ride on a gravel or MTB. The other issue is that it's in the complete wrong direction to assist with the current Max Square. Although I had two completely separate 33x33 squares sharing Max Square billing back in August 2022, so I could try growing the superseded one (centred just north of Blandford Forum) to match or exceed the current 36x36 Square (centred roughly where the M3/A303 junction is).
For an habitual procrastinator, it would be far easier if there weren't so damned many options for directions in which I could strike out to extend both Square and Cluster. Hmmm?
If PistonHeads has the 'Pie and Piston as it's "virtual pub", maybe VeloViewer could have it's own version, called the 'Square and Cluster'...?I myself have plans up there on Saturday, but with a view to connecting west, only doing an eastern radial:
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