Guide

Routebook is a geospatial visualization application for Rouvy cycling routes and ride data. It combines satellite mapping, cinematic route animation, and performance overlays to create an immersive ride exploration experience. This documentation covers the map viewer controls, performance data overlays, points of interest management, and route library navigation.

Drawer Navigation

Upload

Import new Rouvy FIT files to add routes to your library.

Favorite

Quick access to starred routes for frequently viewed rides. Year and month filters are not applied when viewing favorites.

Globe View

Global route overview showing all rides with geographic distribution.

Edit Menu

Access to settings, account management, subscription details, and logout.

Filters & Search

Year Selector

Filter routes by calendar year with visual activity distribution.

Month Calendar

Bar chart visualization showing ride frequency by month.

Metric Selector

Choose which metric is displayed on the month bar chart: Distance, Ascent, Time, or number of Routes.

Search Routes

Text search across route names, locations and POIs for quick access to specific rides. Year and month filters are not applied during search.

Route List

Scrollable library of all routes with location indicators for geotagged rides.

Map Viewer Controls

Play/Pause

Initiates or pauses the cinematic ride-through animation along the route path.

Rewind

Returns the animation to the start of the route.

Scrubber

Drag to navigate to any point along the route. Displays current distance position.

Speed Control

Adjusts playback speed of the animation (1x to 40x multipliers).

Zoom Controls

Standard zoom in/out for map detail level.

Pitch Control

Adjusts camera angle from top-down to oblique perspective for terrain visualization.

Bearing Control

Rotates the map orientation and camera heading.

Camera Track Mode

Locks camera to follow the route path during animation playback.

Route Display Modes

Toggle between route reveal (yellow progressive path display) and gradient path (slope-based coloring).

Gradient mode colors the route path by slope percentage:

  • Blue descents (≤0%)
  • Green flat (0–2%)
  • Yellow gentle (2–4%)
  • Orange moderate (4–6%)
  • Red steep (6–8%)
  • Dark red very steep (8-10%)
  • Near black red extreme (≥10%)

Performance Overlays

Elevation

Real-time elevation profile with current altitude, grade percentage, and maximum elevation. Interactive chart shows terrain along the route.

Power

Current, maximum, and average power output in watts. Time-series graph displays power fluctuations throughout the ride.

Heart Rate

Current, maximum, and average heart rate in bpm with continuous monitoring visualization.

Cadence

Current, maximum, and average pedaling cadence in rpm. Shows cycling rhythm patterns across the route.

Speed

Current, maximum, and average speed in km/h with velocity profile over time.

Points of Interest

Adding POIs

Long-click (click and hold) on any map location to open the POI creation dialog. Enter POI details including name, description, and category.

Editing POIs

Click a POI marker to display its popover, then click the popover to open the edit dialog. POIs can be modified or deleted from this dialog.

Moving POIs

Long-click and drag a POI marker to reposition it on the map.

JSON Import

POIs can also be added in bulk in JSON format in the route details editor.

Coordinates

Route Coordinates

The route edit dialog includes a "Copy Coordinates" button for start and end GPS coordinates, copying latitude and longitude to the clipboard.

POI Coordinates

Each POI dialog provides a "Copy Coordinates" button to capture the exact GPS location. This can be used to obtain coordinates for any map position.

Device Support

macOS, iPadOS and iOS

Routebook is tested for macOS, iPadOS, and iOS devices. Devices newer than iPad Air 4th generation (released October 23, 2020) should render terrain and animations smoothly.

Windows and Android

Routebook should work on modern Windows and Android devices using Chrome web browsers. Performance may vary depending on device capabilities and browser version.

Known Issue: Terrain May Appear Flat in Safari

Routebook uses three-dimensional terrain to bring your rides to life, showing the climbs and descents of your route as they actually look in the real world. If you're using Safari on a Mac, iPad, or iPhone, you may notice that the terrain looks unusually flat compared to other browsers like Chrome. This is a known limitation with how Safari renders 3D graphics, and it affects Mapbox-powered maps across many applications — not just Routebook. We're actively investigating a fix, but in the meantime, opening Routebook in Chrome will give you the full terrain experience as intended.

Insights

Routebook derives performance insights directly from your ride data — no FTP tests, no weight entries, no zone configuration required. The ride tells its own story. This page explains how those insights are calculated and what they mean.

How Insights Work

No Personal Data Required

Routebook does not ask for your age, weight, sex, height, or date of birth. It does not require an FTP test. This is a deliberate product choice, not a limitation. Most riders don't know their FTP accurately — or tested it months ago and are riding with a stale number. Asking for personal metrics creates friction and false precision. Your rides already contain everything Routebook needs.

Critical Power Model

Instead of a user-provided FTP, Routebook uses a Critical Power (CP) model derived from your actual ride history. CP is calculated from a rolling 16-week window of your most recent rides (capped at 60 rides, with a minimum ride duration of 10 minutes). This means every insight you see reflects your current fitness — not a number you entered six months ago.

The window is relative to the ride being viewed, not today's date. A ride from three months ago is analysed against your fitness at that point in time, looking back 16 weeks from that ride's date.

Always Current

Insights always reflect your current CP, not the CP that existed when the ride was first uploaded. A ride you review six months from now will be interpreted through the lens of your current fitness. This makes historical comparisons meaningful — you can see exactly how a past effort would stack up against where you are today.

NP, IF, and TSS

Normalized Power, Intensity Factor, and Training Stress Score are among the most powerful metrics for evaluating indoor cycling sessions. They account for variability in effort — something average power alone misses — and provide a physiologically meaningful picture of intensity, load, and effectiveness.

Normalized Power (NP)

NP is the best single indicator of the physiological cost of a session. It weights harder efforts more heavily than easy spinning or short recoveries, giving a truer sense of metabolic demand than plain average power. The higher the NP, the more the session stressed your energy systems. Comparing NP to your Critical Power gives an immediate read on how demanding the effort really was.

Intensity Factor (IF)

IF = NP ÷ CP. It normalises the session's intensity relative to your current fitness, making it the clearest way to classify how hard a workout felt physiologically — regardless of how long it lasted or what your absolute power numbers are.

IF RangeWorkout Zone
< 0.65Recovery / very easy spin
0.65 – 0.75Easy endurance / active recovery
0.76 – 0.85Moderate endurance / tempo
0.86 – 0.94Threshold / hard sustained effort
0.95 – 1.05Very hard / sub- or over-threshold
> 1.05Extremely intense — VO₂max / anaerobic intervals

A productive workout typically falls between 0.80 and 1.10 depending on your goal — 0.80–0.90 for solid endurance and tempo work, 0.95 and above for high-quality threshold or interval sessions.

Training Stress Score (TSS)

TSS combines intensity (via IF) and duration into a single number that estimates overall training load — roughly equivalent to glycogen depletion and the adaptation stimulus delivered by the session. By definition, one hour exactly at CP equals 100 TSS.

TSS RangeWhat it means
< 50Very easy — minimal fatigue, next-day freshness
50 – 100Moderate — solid aerobic base, suitable for frequent training
100 – 150Hard — 1–2 days to recover fully
150 – 300Very hard — race simulation, deep fatigue likely
> 300Extremely taxing — plan multiple easy days after

These ranges are approximate — tolerance varies significantly by fitness level and recent training history. A beginner might find 80–100 TSS very challenging, while an experienced rider might target 150–250 for key sessions. Consistent sessions in the 70–150 TSS range with IF between 0.80 and 1.00 typically deliver the best gains without excessive burnout.

Reading a Session

Was the intensity right for the goal?

Start with IF. An IF of 0.85–0.95 with TSS between 80 and 140 for a 60–90 minute session typically indicates high-quality threshold or tempo work. An IF above 1.05 with TSS of 100–200 in under 90 minutes usually points to an excellent VO₂max or anaerobic interval session. An IF below 0.70 with low TSS is a recovery ride — valuable if that was the intent, but not a session that drives progression.

Was the overall load worthwhile?

TSS gives you the bang-for-buck. A session producing 100–150+ TSS delivers a meaningful training stimulus. Very low TSS (<40–50) on a longer ride may indicate under-performance or excessive easy spinning when more was possible.

How variable was the effort?

Compare NP to average power. When they're close, the effort was steady and efficient — characteristic of good endurance or tempo work. When NP is significantly higher than average power, the session was highly variable, which is appropriate for interval work but may indicate unintended surging on a ride that was supposed to be steady.

Quick Reference

Workout GoalTypical IFTypical TSS (60–90 min)Quality Read
Recovery / flush legs< 0.65< 50Good if intentional
Easy aerobic0.65 – 0.8050 – 100Solid base work
Endurance / sweet spot0.80 – 0.9080 – 140Very good productive session
Threshold / hard sustained0.90 – 1.00100 – 180High quality, high adaptation
VO₂max / hard intervals1.00 – 1.20+80 – 200+ (shorter rides)Excellent if completed without collapse