Introduction to FancyRoute

by the author of FancyRoute

If you’re like me and enjoy spending your free time cycling or running, sooner or later you’ll reach a point where your familiar routes begin to feel boring. Especially during longer training sessions, a fresh route can significantly boost your motivation and enjoyment.

While countless online platforms offer a variety of routes and tracks for all kinds of activities, they often fall short of meeting specific needs - whether they’re too short, don’t start in the right location, have the wrong elevation profile, or simply follow overly crowded roads.

That’s why I prefer to plan my own routes - tailored precisely to my preferences for the day. Even in my home area, I make an effort to vary my training courses frequently. Two things are especially important to me: the exact length of the route and the elevation profile.
If I’m heading out for a 30k run, I don’t want to end up doing 35k. The same applies to cycling: there’s a big difference between a 100k ride on flat terrain and one with 2,000 meters of elevation gain.

This is where FancyRoute comes into play. I carefully plan my trips at home, transfer the track to my sports watch or bike computer, and simply follow the breadcrumbs. This way, I can fully enjoy the experience without worrying about distance or elevation.

A key strength of FancyRoute is that it is a fully offline tool. Once installed, it works entirely without an Internet connection. No online dependencies. No server-side route calculations. No ads. Just your data on your device - available anytime, anywhere.

Pre-planning may not be necessary if you know your home area well. But it becomes essential for weekend trips or when exploring unfamiliar regions. One of my favorite vacation activities is loading up my bike, hitting the road in my van, and exploring new places - taking long runs into the wild or day trips on the racing bike. Then I move on to the next location and do it all again.
Italy is fantastic for road cycling, while Austria and Germany offer excellent terrain for running and hiking.

All of these trips require thorough planning. I have FancyRoute installed on a compact notebook. My installation includes a topographical map of all of Europe and a digital elevation model - both publicly available and stored locally. Because everything is offline, I’m completely independent of poor mobile networks, unreliable Wi-Fi, or foreign data plans.

Each morning, over coffee, I plan the day’s route. I take the weather and my mood into account, and include scenic viewpoints, a cozy café, or a great restaurant. I examine the elevation profile and estimate the duration using FancyRoute’s Course Wizard or Time Planner. I ensure I have enough water and nutrition on board - or at least plan for a stream or spring along the route.
For road bike trips, I pay special attention to road quality, avoiding heavy traffic while still ensuring smooth pavement. The road classification data included in the maps is invaluable here.
For mountain running, I make sure to avoid via ferratas.

Finally, I export the track as a FIT file to my watch or bike computer - and then it’s time to enjoy the ride or run. After the trip, I import the recorded track back into FancyRoute to review my training performance.

Over the years, FancyRoute has become an essential tool for planning all kinds of outdoor adventures - completely offline and fully in your control.

Learn how to get started in the Tutorial.