Help & Documentation

Map & Navigation

Map Interface

The Famous Climbs dialog, listing named climbs with their length, average gradient and distance from the route.
Famous Climbs finds well-known climbs near your route and can add them as markers.
The Route menu open, listing Plan a route, Distance Markers, Famous Climbs, Signed Routes, Reverse Route, Edit Track, Hazards and Obstacles, Surface Info, Find Peaks and Find Valleys.
The Route menu: everything that acts on the route itself.
The menu bar across the top of the app: File, Edit, Info, Route, POI, View, Export, Settings, System, About and Help.
The menu bar along the top of the app.

Map Layers

There is no layer picker on the map itself - choose the base map from View → Map Layer:

  • Streets (OpenStreetMap)
  • Satellite (ESRI)
  • Topographic (OpenTopoMap)
  • Cycle (CyclOSM)
  • Outdoors (Thunderforest)
  • OpenFreeMap (a vector map, and the one you start on)

Note: Streets, Topographic and Cycle tiles are served via our caching server for improved performance. If the cache is unavailable, PitStopper Web automatically falls back to public tile servers.

More on the blog: Map Layer Improvements.

Map Toolbar (Top Right)

One column of buttons sits at the top right of the map. Some only appear when they apply - the distance-marker one once you have added markers, the first two below once you load a saved project - and the filters stay greyed out until there is something to filter.

  • Center on Route - Zoom map to fit entire route
  • Show/Hide Route - Show or hide the route line
  • Show/Hide POIs - Show or hide the POI markers
  • Show Named Peaks - Add named summits from OpenStreetMap as a map layer, following the view. They are a layer, not POIs, so they never change your POI list.
  • Edit Track (Beta) - Drag the route onto the road you meant
  • Go to Current Location - Center map on your GPS position
  • Track My Location - Keep your position updating on the map as you move
  • Query POIs - Click any map location to search for nearby points of interest. Turning it on zooms the map in to level 15 if you were further out.
  • Filters - Show only the POIs currently on screen, only starred ones, or only flagged ones
  • POI Clustering - Toggle POI clustering on/off. When enabled, nearby markers are grouped into clusters with count badges. Preference is saved to browser storage.
  • Show/Hide Distance Markers - Show or hide the distance markers along your route
  • Search Location - Search around an address, coordinates or Plus Code
  • Search an Area - Draw a shape on the map and search inside it
  • POI Navigation - Step through POIs in route order. The POI you land on pulses for a few seconds and its popup opens. Your zoom is kept unless you were further out than level 15.

Zoom & Undo Bar

A small horizontal bar in the bottom-left corner of the map carries zoom in, zoom out, undo and redo buttons - the same actions as the keyboard shortcuts and scroll wheel, for when you would rather click. Handy on a laptop touchpad.

Scale Bar

A scale bar sits under the toolbar at the top right, in whichever distance unit you have selected.

Map Interactions

  • Click POI markers to open popups with details
  • Click map to add manual POIs (when enabled)
  • Right-click (or long-press) anywhere for a menu with the address, the distance from the start and to the end, the elevation and time at that point, Add POI Here, Route Settings and Undo
  • Zoom with mouse wheel or pinch gesture
  • Pan by dragging

3D View, Flyover & Animation

Beyond the flat map, PitStopper can show your route in several ways - open the first three from the View menu:

The View menu open, listing Navigation data, Wind and Weather, Map Layer, View in 3D, Route Flyover and Route Animation.
The View menu, where the 3D view, flyover and animation live.

More on the blog: Visualize Your GPX Route in 3D Terrain and Take Flight Over Your Route.

  • View in 3D - an interactive 3D terrain view. Tilt and rotate to see the hills, adjust the vertical exaggeration, switch between Outdoor and Satellite, toggle POIs on or off, and raise 3D buildings out of the map as you zoom into a town. Needs a browser with WebGL.
  • Route Flyover - an animated 3D "flight" along the route from start to finish, with playback controls, a fullscreen mode and optional POI/elevation overlays. Great for previewing a ride or sharing a clip.
  • Route Animation - a 2D animated playback that draws the route with a draggable scrubber, synced to the elevation chart, with POIs appearing as the line reaches them.
  • Historical Weather - in the Info menu. Once you've set a trip date (Clock Time), see typical weather for that date over recent years - temperature, precipitation and wind at the start, midpoint and end of your route (powered by Open-Meteo).
The 3D and Flyover views are great for spotting steep sections and scenic stretches before you set off, and the Flyover and Animation can be recorded to share.

Settings & Preferences

Distance Units

Switch between metric and imperial units:

  • Click Settings → Units in the menu bar
  • Three combinations, because plenty of riders think in miles but read climbs in metres:
    • km / m - kilometres and metres
    • mi / ft - miles and feet
    • mi / m - miles for distance, metres for elevation
  • Affects all distance displays, search radius, and elevation
  • Preference saved in browser

Theme

Reduce eye strain with dark theme:

  • Settings → Theme, then pick Light, Dark or Auto
  • Auto follows your system dark mode preference
  • Affects entire interface including map controls
  • Preference saved in browser

Preferences

Settings → Preferences holds the toggles for how PitStopper behaves. They save in your browser and apply immediately:

  • Show elevation profile - Turn the elevation chart off for faster loading on very large routes. Distances and exports still use the full data.
  • Colour the profile by steepness - Shade each part of the elevation chart by gradient, so the hard sections stand out.
  • Show the import summary - The panel that appears after loading a file. Turn it back on here if you dismissed it with "Don't show again".
  • Detect multiple passes - On out-and-back routes, show each time you pass a POI with its own distance.
  • Preload POIs on route load - Quietly fetch every category along the route shortly after it loads, so ticking categories and changing the radius are instant.
  • Waypoint distance warning - On export, warn about waypoints further than this many metres from the track. Defaults to 35m, because Garmin Connect discards waypoints beyond about 40m.

Browser Storage

Everything PitStopper saves stays in your browser - nothing is uploaded to a server. Open Browser Storage from the app menu (System menu) to see what's stored and free up space:

The Preferences dialog, with grouped settings for elevation, points of interest and export behaviour.
Preferences: the defaults used for elevation, searching and exports.
The Settings dialog, with sections for units, appearance and search defaults.
Settings: units, theme, and the defaults used for searching and for estimating times.
  • Saved projects are kept in your browser's IndexedDB database, which has plenty of room for many large projects. Older projects are migrated there automatically the first time you load this version.
  • The POI cache has its own IndexedDB database too - it outgrew localStorage on long routes - and its entries expire after 5 days.
  • Preferences and smaller caches - settings, plus the photo, weather, food-hygiene and fuel-price lookups - live in localStorage, which is limited to about 5 MB.
  • The panel shows a usage breakdown and your total database size, and lets you clear individual caches if storage gets full. Your saved projects and settings are never removed by clearing a cache.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Speed up your workflow with these keyboard shortcuts:

  • ESC - Close modals and dialogs, leave Help Mode, and cancel a search-area draw
  • F1 - Turn Help Mode on or off, so clicking a part of the interface explains it
  • ? - Open help documentation in new tab

Undo/Redo

  • Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z - Undo last action
  • Ctrl+Y / Cmd+Y - Redo
Undo/redo tracks destructive changes - POI deletions and additions, stars/flags, route reversal, preset application, and custom category settings. History is limited to the last 50 actions and lasts for the current session. See Undo & Recent Changes for the full list and the history view.

Route Flyover and Route Animation

While either playback window is open:

  • Space - Play or pause
  • ← / → - Skip back or forward
  • F - Fullscreen
  • R - Start or stop recording
  • ESC - Close the window

Mobile Experience

Mobile Optimizations

  • Hamburger menu - Sidebar accessed via menu button (top-left)
  • Touch-optimized controls - Larger tap targets for buttons
  • Full-width sidebar - Slides in from left on mobile
  • Compact menu bar - Menus collapse to fit a narrow screen
  • Responsive elevation chart - Adapts to screen size
  • Gesture support - Pinch to zoom, swipe to pan

Mobile Tips

  • Use landscape orientation for better map view
  • Collapse sidebar when viewing map for maximum space
  • Tap mini elevation chart to expand
  • Use Quick Presets instead of scrolling through categories

Tips & Best Practices

Planning Trips

Start with a Quick Preset (like "Cyclist" or "Runner"), then customize by adding or removing specific categories.
Use custom search distances for specific categories. For example, set gas stations to search within 5km while keeping restaurants at 500m.
Check opening hours for businesses, especially in rural areas where services may have limited hours.
For long routes, pull the search radius right down - it goes as low as 5m - so only POIs almost on your path come back. The map's viewport, starred and flagged filters then narrow what you are looking at without searching again.

Performance Tips

  • Large routes (2000+ points) are automatically optimized for chart rendering
  • If map is slow with many POIs, use filters to reduce visible markers
  • Close unused POI category groups for a cleaner sidebar
  • Wider search radius isn't always better - be selective

Common Workflows

Planning a Bike Tour

  1. Upload GPX from route planner (Strava, Ride with GPS, etc.)
  2. Apply "Touring" or "Cyclist" preset
  3. Adjust search radius to 1-2km
  4. Review POI list and check opening hours
  5. Add custom alerts for road conditions or hazards
  6. Export enhanced GPX with waypoints
  7. Print report for offline reference

Finding Water on a Hike

  1. Upload trail GPX
  2. Select "Water" preset
  3. Adjust search radius to 500m
  4. Review results and note distances
  5. Export to GPS device

Exploring Around Current Location

  1. On the welcome screen, open the My Location tab and click Use My Current Location
  2. Set search radius (e.g., 2km)
  3. Select categories of interest
  4. Browse map and POI list
  5. Click markers for details

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

No POIs Found

Solutions:

  • Increase search radius
  • Try different POI categories
  • Check if area is well-mapped in OpenStreetMap
  • Remote areas may have limited POI data
  • If you know the exact place is in OpenStreetMap, paste its OSM URL or element ID into System → Diagnose Missing POI. It reads the element's tags, measures its distance from your route, and says why it is or isn't showing up.

GPX Won't Load

Solutions:

  • Check the extension is one PitStopper reads: .gpx, .fit, .kml, .kmz or .psp
  • Files are capped at 10 MB - a very long recorded track may need trimming or re-exporting at a lower point density
  • Check file contains track or route data (not just waypoints)
  • Try re-exporting from original source
  • Ensure file isn't corrupted

Elevation Not Showing

PitStopper never looks elevation up from a server - the profile is drawn from the heights already in your file, or from the ones BRouter returns for a route you planned here. So there is nothing to wait for.

Solutions:

  • If no point in the file carries a height, the panel is hidden rather than drawing a flat line at sea level. Re-export from the original source with elevation included.
  • Check Settings → Preferences: if Show elevation profile is off, no chart is drawn on any route.
  • A route made entirely of straight lines comes back from BRouter with no heights, and gets no profile for the same reason.
  • Only available in Route Mode (not Location Mode)

Map Not Loading

Solutions:

  • Check internet connection
  • Try a different map layer from View → Map Layer
  • Refresh page
  • Clear browser cache

POIs Missing Opening Hours

Opening hours come from OpenStreetMap data. Not all businesses have this information available. You can contribute to OpenStreetMap to improve data quality.

Browser Support

  • Modern browsers required (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
  • JavaScript must be enabled
  • Geolocation permission needed for current location feature
  • Cookies/local storage needed for saving preferences

Glossary

Common terms, abbreviations, and acronyms used throughout PitStopper.

Acronyms & Abbreviations

API
Application Programming Interface - A way for software to communicate with external services (e.g., fetching POI data from OpenStreetMap).
CSV
Comma-Separated Values - A simple text file format for tabular data, commonly opened in spreadsheet applications like Excel.
DMS
Degrees, Minutes, Seconds - A coordinate format expressing latitude and longitude (e.g., 51°30'26.5"N 0°07'39.5"W).
ETA
Estimated Time of Arrival - The predicted time you'll reach a specific point on your route.
GPS
Global Positioning System - Satellite-based navigation system used to determine precise locations on Earth.
GPX
GPS Exchange Format - XML-based file format for GPS data containing routes, tracks, and waypoints. The standard format supported by most GPS devices and apps.
LOD
Level of Detail - A technique that shows simplified data when zoomed out and full detail when zoomed in, used for performance optimization.
OLC
Open Location Code - Also known as "Plus Codes", a geocoding system for identifying locations (e.g., 8FVC9G8F+6X).
OSM
OpenStreetMap - Free, editable map of the world created by volunteers. The source of POI data used in PitStopper.
POI
Point of Interest - A specific location that may be useful or interesting (restaurant, hotel, water source, viewpoint, etc.).
UTC
Coordinated Universal Time - The primary time standard for regulating clocks worldwide. Sometimes referred to as GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).
XML
eXtensible Markup Language - A text-based format for storing structured data. GPX files are a type of XML.

Route & Navigation Terms

Elevation Gain / Ascent
Total cumulative upward climbing on a route, measured in meters or feet.
Elevation Loss / Descent
Total cumulative downward descending on a route, measured in meters or feet.
Grade / Gradient
Steepness of a slope expressed as a percentage (rise over run × 100). A 10% grade means 10m of elevation gain per 100m of horizontal distance.
Loop Route
A route that starts and ends at the same location, forming a closed loop.
Multi-pass
Feature detecting when you'll encounter the same POI multiple times on out-and-back or loop routes.
Out-and-back
A route where you travel to a destination and return along the same path.
Route
Planned path with waypoints, showing where you intend to travel.
Search Radius
Distance from route or location center within which to search for POIs.
Track
Recorded GPS path with timestamps, showing where you actually traveled.
Waypoint
Named location marker with coordinates, typically marking important points along a route.

Map & Location Terms

Bounding Box
A rectangular area defined by coordinates that encompasses a region of interest, used to limit search areas. PitStopper's PostGIS searches use a corridor that hugs the route instead, so a bounding box is no longer part of how a search is built.
Geocoding
Converting an address or place name into geographic coordinates (latitude/longitude).
Latitude (Lat)
Geographic coordinate measuring north-south position, ranging from -90° (South Pole) to +90° (North Pole).
Longitude (Lon/Lng)
Geographic coordinate measuring east-west position, ranging from -180° to +180°, with 0° at the Prime Meridian (Greenwich).
Plus Code
A location encoding system (also called Open Location Code) that provides a short code to identify any location on Earth.
Tile Layer
Map imagery delivered as small square images (tiles) that combine to show the complete map view.
Viewport
The currently visible area of the map on your screen.

Application Features

Clustering
Grouping nearby POI markers together when zoomed out to reduce visual clutter, with a count badge showing how many POIs are grouped.
Distance Markers
Waypoints placed at regular intervals along a route (e.g., every 10km) to help track progress.
Event Sticker
A printable strip showing key waypoints, distances and the elevation profile, designed to be attached to a bike frame or handlebars for quick reference during events.
Starred / Starred POIs
POIs marked with a star for quick identification and filtering. Starred can be preserved across searches.
Flagged POIs
A second, independent mark separate from starred, mainly used to control which POIs are exported. Flagged POIs show a purple ring on their map marker and can be filtered and exported on their own.
Help Mode
A mode from the Help menu (or the F1 key) where clicking a part of the interface explains what it does instead of using it. Press ESC to leave.
PostGIS POI Server
PitStopper's own database of OpenStreetMap POIs. It answers a search with a single query covering the whole route corridor, which is why searches typically finish in a second or two.
Predicted Count (≈N)
The dimmed estimate (e.g. "≈47") shown on unticked POI categories, indicating how many POIs a category would find at the current search radius. A dimmed "none" means a known zero at that radius; a blank means no estimate is available.
Preset
A saved configuration of POI categories and settings that can be quickly applied for common use cases (e.g., "Cyclist", "Water & Food").
Project
A saved state of your work including route, POIs, settings, and customizations that can be loaded later.
Query POIs
A feature to discover all POIs near a specific point you click on the map, regardless of category filters.