Project Overview

The Iowa Adventure Course Creator is designed to transform how cyclists plan their rides by offering a more customizable and accurate route-mapping experience. Cyclists—whether road, mountain, gravel, or adventure riders—often face challenges with existing mapping applications like Komoot, Strava, and Google Maps, which fail to reliably identify road surfaces or accommodate individual riding preferences.

Our application addresses this gap by using data from the Iowa Department of Transportation's OpenPortal to accurately classify road surfaces, including paved roads, gravel, and rugged Level B roads. Additionally, the app incorporates traffic data, allowing users to customize routes based on their preferences, whether they prioritize lower vehicle traffic for safety or opt for higher traffic areas.

Key features of the Iowa Adventure Course Creator include:

• Interactive route creation that allows users to set a destination, add stops, and customize their route based on preferences such as traffic levels, road types, and ride difficulty.
• Ability to share favorite rides with friends, view routes posted by others, and discover new rides through shared recommendations.
• Route export functionality in standard formats for use with devices like Garmin Edge.