Let me preface this by saying I’m a data analyst working in tech, I know the moving parts behind the scenes here are not as simple as I’m about to lay out.
I have an idea that would make TrainerRoad much more useful for training towards non-race events such as bikepacking or touring. As of now I am setting my tours up as either rolling stage races or gran fondo stage races, depending on the route.
So here’s the idea. Simply add the ability to import and analyze a .gpx file of the route instead of guesstimating the duration and intensity of each day of a tour while adding the event to the calendar. There would of course be some math involved in analyzing the distance and elevation in relation to the athlete’s fitness. To have it calculate properly based on a touring pace (obviously below race pace), perhaps a new event category could be implemented. This will help tourers better plan their pace around climbs and distance, etc, and plan accordingly.
This feature would be invaluable for someone like me that uses TrainerRoad to primarily train for these kind of rides rather than actual races.
Thoughts? Am I overlooking something that would make this feature impossible to implement? I think this could be a unique feature that could bring TR to a whole new demographic, while still being useful to racers (what is to stop them from using the .gpx analysis too!).
edit: Making my first post on my forum cake day is some sort of weird serendipity. I like it.
Thanks for acknowledging this, overall this is an amazing suggestion though, and apart from even touring/bikepacking, think of how much it could help athletes to specialize for their races which we do have plans for. Stages Races for example, North Star was a stage race of crits and flat road races (with the exception of the last stage which was like, brutal 4 minute hill repeats LOL), versus a stage race like Redlands (multiple longer climbing days). COMPLETELY different profiles that do require some different tact in approach.