Import & Export

Loading a route file

Load a route to begin searching for places along it. GPX is the most common, but it is not the only format PitStopper reads.

What you can load

• GPX - the usual exchange format, written by almost every planner and GPS device
• FIT - Garmin course and activity files, straight off the device
• KML and KMZ - Google Earth and Google My Maps
• PSP - a PitStopper project: the route, everything found along it, and your own edits (see Saving your work)

Uploading

• Drag the file onto the drop zone, or click it to browse
• The file is read in your browser - it is never uploaded to a server
• Load several route files at once and each becomes its own route (see Adding routes)
• The route is drawn on the map with start and finish flags and direction arrows

Multiple Tracks & Routes

If your GPX (or FIT) file contains more than one track - a multi-stage event, say, or a file holding several rides - PitStopper offers to import each track as its own route rather than merging them into one. Each becomes a separate route with its own name, colour and statistics. See Multi-Route Support for what you can then do with them.

Import Summary

When a file finishes loading, an Import Summary shows the route's distance, elevation gain and how many waypoints/POIs it contained. If the file has timing data, you can set your trip's Clock Time right there.

Imported Navigation Data (Turn-by-Turn, Viapoints, Surface)

Some GPX tracks carry more than a line. Tracks exported for turn-by-turn navigation - typically built by BRouter and read by Cruiser and Locus Map - tuck the navigation itself inside the trackpoints: which way to turn, your named stops, even whether the surface is paved or not. Most tools throw all of that away on import. PitStopper keeps it.

When you load a track like this, PitStopper sets the flattened line aside for its own charts and distances but also holds on to the original track in full. On export it writes that track back unchanged, so a round-tripped file is still a working navigation track - every turn cue, viapoint and surface note in place. Extensions hung off the file itself, the metadata, or individual waypoints are kept and re-emitted too, right down to tags PitStopper doesn't recognise. (The exported file also validates cleanly against the GPX 1.1 schema.)

Three kinds of data travel inside these tracks:

• Turn cues - left, right, keep left and so on, read in order down the track like a route sheet.
• Viapoints - the named stops you set when planning ("Staf", "Den ijzeren man"), plus silent shaping points that only nudge the router along a chosen road.
• Surface and speed - whether a segment is paved or unpaved, and its maximum speed.

Seeing what you carry. When a track has this data, the Import Summary leads with a note saying what was found. The named stops appear as map pins you can click for their name, distance along the route and surface. And under View → Navigation data (or the button that appears on the map) a tabbed panel shows it all: Turn-by-turn reads out the whole route sheet, Viapoints lists just the named stops, and Surface breaks the route into paved and unpaved sections - with a switch to paint the route line by surface (blue for paved, orange for unpaved, grey where the file doesn't say). Anything PitStopper keeps but doesn't draw (maximum speed, custom colours) is named in the panel and still re-exported.

The one trade-off - editing. These cues are pinned to specific original points, so reshaping the track in PitStopper (dragging, splitting or reversing it) would leave them meaningless. If you start editing a track that still carries navigation data, PitStopper asks first: editing drops the embedded cues. Say no and the track is left untouched; say yes and it becomes an ordinary track from then on. Nothing vanishes without you choosing it.

None of this changes what PitStopper is for. A navigation track knows the way; PitStopper finds the water, food, fuel and shelter along it - so the two complement each other rather than compete. The turns get you round the corners, the POIs decide where you stop, and they leave in the same file together. For the full story, see The Navigation Hidden in Your GPX.

Replace Route File

Swap a route's underlying GPX/FIT file while keeping its name, colour and settings - handy when you've re-exported or tweaked the route elsewhere. Choose File → Replace Route File, or the same button in a route's settings. Before you commit, the dialog previews the current and new tracks on a small map and compares their elevation profiles; once you accept, POI distances recalculate automatically against the new track.

Route tools

These sit in the Route menu:

More on the blog: Hazards & Obstacles and Surface Info.

• Reverse Route - Flip direction of travel
  • Recalculates all distances
  • Updates POI side (L/R)
  • Redraws the route with its flags and direction arrows the other way round
  • Can be undone
• Distance Markers - add markers at an interval you choose along the route, optionally labelled with an ETA once a start time is set in Clock Time settings. The same dialog removes them again.
• Hazards & Obstacles - Comprehensive detection of route hazards and obstacles
  • Tunnels - With length, lighting status, and time estimate (assumes 15mph cycling speed)
  • Bridges - Shows bridge type and layer information
  • Fords - Water crossings with depth information when available
  • Level Crossings - Railway crossings along your route
  • Other Hazards - Detects OSM hazard tags including:
    • Side winds, dangerous junctions, slippery surfaces
    • Washouts, road holes, contamination warnings
    • Barriers: cattle grids, toll booths, gates, cycle barriers, border control
  • Steep Sections - Analyzes route elevation to find steep grades (15% and above by default; adjustable from 5% to 30% in the panel's steep-section settings)
    • Shows climb or descent direction with max gradient
    • Displays elevation change and section length

  Features:

  • Displays detected features as highlighted polylines on the map
  • Click any result to zoom to that location
  • Right-click obstacles on map for quick actions
  • Shows OSM descriptions when available
  • Add individual or all obstacles as Alert POI waypoints
  • Collapsible side panel stays accessible while exploring the map
• Famous Climbs - find legendary cycling climbs near your route with their stats; click one to locate it on the map. Detected climbs also appear as a badge in the GPX summary.
• Surface Info - a colour-coded overlay of the road surface (asphalt, gravel, unpaved…), cycling infrastructure (lanes, tracks) and lighting along your route, so you know what you'll be riding on.
• Bulk POI Editor (this one is on the POI menu) - a table view of every POI for quick management: edit names and notes inline, locate or delete entries, and filter or search. Multi-route projects group POIs by route.

Export Options

Export GPX

Save an enhanced GPX file containing your route plus all POI waypoints. Every waypoint carries its name, a description (category, plus opening hours, website and phone where OpenStreetMap has them), your own note, a link back to OpenStreetMap, and a matching Garmin symbol (Drinking Water, Restaurant, Lodging, Summit, Pharmacy…) instead of a generic dot. The export dialog offers:

• Starred only / Flagged only - export just your starred or flagged POIs
• Use full POI names - or leave unchecked for shorter names suited to bike computers
• Add direction to name - appends (or prefixes) the POI's side and distance from the track, e.g. "Cafe L20m". Suffix is the default; prefix survives name truncation on some devices. This one also applies to the FIT and KML exports.
• Include estimated times on the track - off by default, because a timed track looks like a ride you have already done and sites such as Strava may import it as a completed activity
• Garmin starred & flagged colours - optionally colour starred and flagged waypoints using Garmin's display-colour extension; many devices colour waypoints by their icon and may ignore it. (Shown when the route has marked POIs.)
• Include POI category colours - embeds each POI's map colour (including your custom colours) in the waypoint, so markers match what you see in PitStopper. Uses the xsi:gpx extension (see The xsi:gpx display extension below).
• Route line colour (Beta) - writes the route's colour and width into the track, so apps that read it draw your route in its own colour. Also xsi:gpx; details below.
• Preserve original creator - when your route came from another app, keep its "creator" tag instead of PitStopper's. Garmin trusts some sources and re-smooths data it thinks came from elsewhere, which can subtly alter your route - leave this on to avoid that. (Shown only when the imported file had a creator.)
• Multiple routes - with more than one route loaded, choose which to include and whether to export them as one combined file or as separate files in a zip archive

Distance markers are included as waypoints (with ETA labels if enabled). The file is compatible with GPS devices and navigation apps.

On routes over 200 miles the dialog adds a warning: Garmin Connect imports GPX course points on routes that long at 0 km from the start. It offers a button to switch to the FIT export, whose course points land in the right places.

The xsi:gpx display extension

GPX describes where your route and points are, but the standard has no way to say what colour to draw them. To fill that gap, some outdoor apps read colour and style information from an optional <extensions><xsi:gpx> block - a convention established by Cruiser GPS and used across the Locus Map / GPX Viewer family. It's a de-facto convention, not part of the official GPX schema, and it needs no extra namespace declaration, so any app can open the file: apps that understand these elements use them, and apps that don't simply skip them. The file stays valid everywhere.

When you tick the matching options in the GPX export dialog (under Colours for other map apps), PitStopper writes:

• POI colours - each POI waypoint carries its PitStopper map colour (<color>), including any custom category or group colours you've set.
• Route line colour and width (Beta) - the track carries the route's colour and a line width (<color> and <width>). With several routes loaded, each track keeps its own colour.

Which apps use it: Locus Map, Cruiser and GPX Viewer read the route-line colour; Cruiser, OsmAnd and Organic Maps read the POI colours. Garmin devices, Strava and Komoot ignore the block entirely and open the file as a normal route - so turning these options on never breaks compatibility. Both options are off by default, keeping the standard export clean.

Export FIT (Garmin Course)

Export a Garmin FIT course - the format modern bike computers use for richer, better-timed navigation. Unlike plain GPX waypoints, FIT course points are tied to your distance along the route, so your device can announce "Water ahead" or "Summit ahead" at the right moment and handle a spot you pass more than once. See GPX Waypoints vs FIT Course Points for the full picture.

More on the blog: Garmin FIT File Support - Import, Plan & Export.

• Typed course points - each POI maps to the correct FIT type (water, food, store, shelter, first aid, summit, overlook, toilet, rest area, service…). Added hazards export as their real type - tunnel, bridge, steep incline, crossing.
• Correctly placed & ordered - every course point is projected onto the nearest point of the route and ordered by distance, so points don't drift or silently vanish on the device.
• Activity - choose Cycling, Walking or Hiking; this sets the course's sport so your device picks the right data screens and climb features (when building a course from a GPX).
• Add distance markers as course points - optionally include your distance markers for on-device pacing (offered when the source course doesn't already have them).
• Round-trip safe - re-exporting a FIT you imported preserves the original course data (turns, mile markers and the like); PitStopper only adds your POIs.
• Multiple routes - with more than one route loaded, choose which to include and whether to write them as one combined course or as separate .fit files in a zip archive.

Export KML (Google Earth & Friends)

Export your route and POIs as a KML file - the format Google Earth, Google My Maps, Organic Maps and OsmAnd open natively. Where GPX needs extensions for styling, KML supports it first-class, so this is the best-looking way to share your plan with someone who isn't on a bike computer (a support crew, an event organiser, family following along).

• Your colours come through - every POI is styled with its PitStopper map colour, including any custom category or group colours you've set. No options needed; it's standard KML.
• Organised in folders - POIs are grouped into folders by category group (Water, Food & Drink, ...), so viewers can toggle whole groups on and off. Distance markers get their own folder.
• Rich descriptions - opening hours, website, phone, your notes and an OpenStreetMap link appear in each placemark's balloon.
• Same filters as GPX - starred/flagged only, full or short names, and multi-route selection with combined or separate (zip) output.

Find it under Export → Export as KML. Note: KML is for viewing and sharing - bike computers want the GPX or FIT export instead.

Send to Phone Alpha

Move a whole project - route, points of interest and any notes - straight to the PitStopper On-the-go phone app, with no files to save, email or cable across. It is the quickest way to get a plan you made on the website onto your phone for a ride.

This feature is still in development, alongside the companion phone app that receives it. It is not usable yet - the app has not been published. If you would like to be a tester, email [email protected] and we will be in touch once it is ready to try.

• How it will work - choose Export → Send to Phone (it is also on the Save Project dialog) and a QR code appears. On the phone, open PitStopper On-the-go, tap Receive from computer and scan it - or just scan the code with your phone's normal camera or any QR app, and it opens the transfer for you. The project lands ready to use, and its offline POIs come across too.
• Private by design - the file is encrypted in your browser before it leaves your device, so the relay that carries it only ever holds an unreadable copy. The key that unlocks it travels inside the QR code itself and is never sent to the server, so neither we nor the relay can see your route. This is end-to-end (zero-knowledge) encryption.
• One-time and short-lived - the encrypted copy is deleted the moment your phone collects it, and it expires automatically after about ten minutes if it is never scanned. Because the key is in the QR code, treat that code like a password - do not share it or post it publicly while the transfer is live.
• What you can send with it - before the QR code appears, the dialog offers to pack more into the file so the phone has it offline: POIs in your pocket (fetch POIs from a wider corridor either side of the route, 2 to 25 km or miles), Emergency POIs (hospitals, defibrillators, pharmacies and the like within 35 km, on by default) and offline map tiles (a real vector map around the route, with a size estimate before you commit, and an option to widen it to the same 35 km). Each is only offered when it makes sense for what you have loaded.
• Needs a route - the phone app follows a route, so a location-mode search cannot be sent to it. PitStopper points you at Share Project instead.
• If the relay is out of reach - your project is encrypted on your own computer before the relay is ever contacted, so if it cannot be reached (or the file is too big for it) the dialog offers a Download file button instead. Copy that .psp to your phone over USB, or open it from Downloads in PitStopper On-the-go.

You will see a little animation track the file from the computer, through the relay, to your phone. For the full data-flow, see the Privacy Policy. Send to Phone is for the companion app (offline route awareness on a ride); to load a plan onto a bike computer, use the GPX or FIT export instead.

Share Project Beta

Create a link (and QR code) that anyone can open to view a copy of your project - the route, its points of interest, and any notes - on pitstopper.net. Unlike Send to Phone, which targets one device and expires in about ten minutes, a Share Project link is persistent: it stays live and can be opened as many times as you like, by anyone who has it, until it expires or you revoke it.

• How it works - choose Export → Share Project (or the "Want a link anyone can view instead?" prompt inside the Send to Phone dialog), then pick how long the link should stay live: 1 day, 3 days, 1 week (the default), 2 weeks, 1 month, or 2 months. Share the link or QR code however suits - message, email, or printed on a route sheet.
• Same zero-knowledge encryption as Send to Phone - your project is encrypted in your browser before it uploads, and the decryption key lives only in the link itself, never on the server. See the Privacy Policy for the full data-flow.
• A normal, editable copy - not read-only - anyone who opens the link gets a fully editable copy loaded into their own browser. Nothing they change affects your original project, and a one-time info card explains this with a Save a copy button if they want to keep it.
• Add a note - write an optional message when you share ("Added a water stop at 40km!") and it appears on the info card when the link is opened, so whoever you're sharing with knows what's changed or why you sent it.
• Sharing the same project again updates the link - if you re-share a project you've already shared, PitStopper updates the existing link with your latest changes instead of creating a new one, so a link you've already sent out keeps working and shows the newest version. The dialog tells you when this is happening.
• Manage what you've shared - open Manage my shared links for a list of your shares with their QR codes: see how many times each has been opened, open it straight back into PitStopper (handy for picking your own plan up on another computer), copy its link, or revoke it so it stops working before its expiry. The list lives in this browser only, so revoking is only possible where the link was created.
• Expired links stay visible - once a share passes its expiry the row is greyed out and marked "Expired" rather than vanishing, and its copy and open buttons are disabled. Dead rows are cleared out on their own after a while. Opening an expired or revoked link tells you it has expired or was removed rather than failing silently.
• If the relay is out of reach - as with Send to Phone, the project is encrypted on your computer first, so a relay problem leaves you a Download file button and you can send the .psp yourself.

Export POIs Only (GPX or Mapsforge .poi)

Sometimes you want just the stops, not the route - a file of points of interest you can load as a layer in a map app. Export → Export POIs only saves your POIs on their own (no track), with a choice of two formats:

• GPX (waypoints) - a plain GPX containing only waypoints, no track. It opens almost everywhere, including Cruiser, Locus Map, Garmin, Komoot and Google Earth. Best for maximum compatibility.
• Mapsforge .poi - a native Mapsforge POI database (format version 3). Cruiser and Locus Map read this as a proper, searchable POI layer, grouped into the same categories you use in PitStopper (Water, Food & Drink, Accommodation, and so on). In those apps you get a Points of interest panel listing your categories - tick one on or off to show or hide its markers, or use the search box to find a POI by name. It is more compact and far better organised than GPX inside those apps, but understood only by tools built on Mapsforge.

Which one? If you use Cruiser or Locus Map, pick .poi for the named categories, filtering and search. Anywhere else - or if you are not sure - pick GPX; it opens in everything, just without the category niceties.

Both use each POI's full name (unlike the route export, which trims names to survive Garmin's short-waypoint limit), and both honour the Starred only and Flagged only filters, so you can export just your shortlist. Every found POI is included, whichever route it belongs to. The .poi option builds the little database in your browser - nothing is uploaded - and the first time you use it a small support file is fetched, so give it a moment. Prefer a table or a printout instead? The same menu also offers Export POIs as CSV and a printable POI report.

For a walk-through with screenshots of a PitStopper .poi in Cruiser, see the blog post Take Your Stops With You.

Garmin Proximity Check (Off-Track Waypoints)

Garmin Connect (and similar tools) silently discard route waypoints that sit more than about 40 m from the track - so a café or water stop you placed just off the line can vanish when you copy the file to your bike computer. Before a GPX or FIT export, PitStopper checks the POIs you're about to export and, if any are further than roughly 35 m from their route, shows a warning that lists them with their distances.

You choose what happens:

• Move them onto the track (default) - snaps each waypoint to the nearest point on the route so your device keeps them. A "^" prefix is added to the moved names so you can spot which ones were adjusted; untick that if you would rather it wasn't.
• Export anyway - keeps the original positions (accepting that some may be dropped by Garmin).

The adjustment is applied only to the exported file - the POIs on your map are never moved. Location-mode exports (no route) skip this check. For the background, see Why Garmin Connect Deletes Your Waypoints.

Print Report

Generate a comprehensive print-friendly report perfect for offline reference during your trip.

Accessing Print Report

• Click Export → Print POI Report in the menu bar
• Customize report sections and columns
• Preview before printing or saving as PDF

Report Customization

• Custom report title
• Which routes to include (shown when more than one is loaded)
• Choose what goes in:
  • Original POIs from GPX
  • Looked up POIs
  • Custom Alert/Danger/Warning POIs
  • Event markers
  • Distance markers
  • Exclude non-starred and/or exclude non-flagged, to cut the report down to your shortlist
• Report sections: the summary with route statistics, and the elevation chart
• Choose table columns (name and distance are always included):
  • POI number, and the category icon before the name
  • Category
  • Elevation (route mode only)
  • Distance from track/centre
  • Side (L/R) and compass direction (route mode only)
  • Estimated time from start (route mode only)
  • Opening hours, website, phone
  • Notes
  • Route name (multi-route projects)
  • Starred and flagged indication

Daylight information is added automatically when your clock time settings include a date - there is no checkbox for it.

Daylight Information in Reports

When clock time settings include a date, print reports automatically include comprehensive daylight information:

• Sunrise Time - When the sun rises, worked out for the midpoint of your route
• Sunset Time - When the sun sets there
• Gets Dark Time - Civil twilight end (30-40 min after sunset)
• Day Length - Total hours of daylight available

CSV Export

Export your POIs as a CSV file for use in spreadsheets, databases, or other applications. Access via Export → Export POIs as CSV in the menu bar.

Event Sticker Generator

Create a printable, frame-mounted route guide - a tall sticker showing the route's elevation profile with your key POIs marked along it in order of distance. Open it from Export → Print Event Sticker; it opens in a new tab ready to print.

In the options dialog you can:

• Set the event name (and pick which route in multi-route projects)
• Choose exactly which POIs to include, each shown with a live count:
  • Event Sticker POIs - POIs you marked with the Event Sticker type
  • Alert, Danger, Warning and Info POIs
  • Starred (★) and Flagged (⚑) POIs
• Optionally capitalise all POI text

You don't need any Event Sticker POIs to make a sticker - you can build one from just your starred and/or flagged POIs. When a project has no Event Sticker POIs, Starred and Flagged are pre-selected for you. A POI that matches more than one option (for example an Alert you've also starred) is only listed once.