Ambassador Part 4: Detailed Route Description

When you first click on the template of your choice, template text will appear in the text boxes. This is to give you an idea of how the text and formatting appear, and to provide suggestions on how to structure your description. Simply delete and replace the template text with your own description.

Use your route description to let readers know what to expect on your route. Inform them about services, hazards, and point out features such as scenery, good food, or recommended camping spots using route reference tools.

You can choose from three templates to help you get started:

Bulleted: walks riders through the route and provides course notes using bulleted lists. This style is great for very long routes where a narrative might be hard to read, or routes with a lot of notes
Hybrid: combines the bulleted and narrative styles; recommended. This template uses both narrative and bulleted lists. You can write a narrative description of your route and then highlight features using a bulleted list.
Narrative: largely unformatted narrative template. This is great if you are a strong writer and have a story to tell about your route.

When you select a template, you’ll be directed to a screen with two text boxes. The Markdown box on the left is where you will enter and format your route description. Above the Markdown box are formatting tools that allow you to create headings, lists with numbers or bullets, or links. You can also bold or italicize your text. Next to the formatting tools is the route reference toolbar. This allows you to create route references, linking your route descriptions directly to POIs, specific points on or sections of your route, or photos. The box on the right shows a preview of how your text will appear when submitted.

The Point Of Interest (POI) tool is used to link to existing POI that you placed on your route – select the text you want to link to a POI, and click the POI tool icon at the top of the editor. This will bring up your route map, and you can click on the POI you wish to link. If you want to add POIs to your route, just open up the standard route page in your personal account and follow these steps. Fill in as much information as you can for each of your POIs, and add photos, which will show up on the Ambassador route page.

The Point tool is used to identify specific spots along the route, such as summits, turns, hazards, or other places you would like your riders to notice – select the text you want to link to a point on your route map, and click the Point tool icon at the top of the editor. This will bring up your route map and you can click any point along your route to link it.

The Section tool is used to identify a portion of the route, such as an ascent, descent, change in surface type, scenic view, dangerous conditions, or any other section you want to highlight – select the text you want to link to a section of your route map, and click the Section tool icon at the top of the editor. This will bring up your route map and you can use the elevation profile to select a section of your route to link it. Click “ref. selection” in the elevation profile to use the section you have selected.

The Photo tool is used to show a linked photograph; use it when you mention scenery in your description, to highlight amazing views, or to call out specific visual highlights of your route – select the text you want to link to one of your route photos and click the Photo tool. This will bring up a box with all the photos associated with your route. Click the photo you want, and it will be automatically linked.