How to read and use a GPX file for cycling
A route shared by a friend, a loop found on an enthusiast site, an official cycle route: all of it travels as a GPX file. Read properly and prepared properly, that little file turns an uncertain outing into a smooth ride. Here's how to tame it, from screen to road.
What exactly is a GPX file?
GPX stands for GPS eXchange, an open format every cycling tool can read. Inside is structured text that can describe three things: isolated points (waypoints), a simplified itinerary (a route) and above all a track, meaning the ordered series of GPS points that draws the ride, often with the elevation of every point. The track is what matters on a bike: it reproduces the path to follow faithfully, turn after turn. No need to open the file in a text editor: a planner takes care of it and shows it on the map in two seconds.
Where to find good GPX files?
Sources are everywhere: official cycle route sites, tourist offices, local groups, friends exporting their rides. Quality varies a lot. A recent track, recorded or verified by someone who actually rode the course, always beats a line drawn with a mouse five years ago. You can also create your own in the VéloCore planner and share it with your group: profiles suited to every riding style, a loop generator and one-click GPX export.
Read the track before you leave
Importing the file into a planner is the reflex that avoids bad surprises. Once the track is displayed, check four things. Distance and total elevation gain first: 60 km with 1,200 m of climbing is not managed like 60 flat kilometers. The elevation profile next, to spot where the difficulties hide and place your breaks wisely. The type of roads too: does the track use shared roads, gravel paths, cycle paths? Finally the resupply points: turn on the points of interest to locate fountains, cafés and water points along the course.
Adapt the course to your riding
A track found online is never exactly yours. Move the start so it matches your real departure point, drag the line to bypass a section you know is tricky, or recalculate a portion with the profile that matches your bike (road, gravel, MTB, city bike). And if the course crosses a region you don't know, a look at the satellite base map clears up any doubt about a narrow passage or an uncertain path.
On the bike: follow the track with confidence
Two schools. Export to a GPS computer: save the validated GPX and transfer it to your device, as usual. Or the phone in cockpit mode: save the route to your account and it appears straight in the VéloCore app with turn-by-turn navigation and announcements at the right moment. One account, your web space and the app stay in sync. And if you improvise a detour along the way, the app guides you back to the track without a pointless U-turn. Both approaches are detailed on the features page.
The classic traps to avoid
The outdated file: paths change, a bridge closes, a road transforms, so check the track's date when it's shown. Fanciful elevation: some phone-recorded tracks overestimate climbing, and a recalculation in the planner brings realistic numbers back. The wrong direction: a loop sometimes rides much better one way than the other, think of the prevailing wind and the gradient of the climbs. And the classic of classics: leaving without having looked at the track, then discovering an unrideable path at kilometer 40.
Your GPX deserves more than a simple display
Import, adjust, export or follow the route in the cockpit, for free.
Open the planner