Add whatever marks the start of the route to the relation and give it the role "start". This does not have to be a node. It could just as well be a building or a parking lot. Note that a route can have multiple start points, so you can't always look at the ordering of the ways. See e.g. the routes here: [Panbos/Beerschoten][1] [1]: http://hiking.waymarkedtrails.de/en/?zoom=15&lat=52.11171&lon=5.2137http://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/en/?zoom=15&lat=52.11171&lon=5.2137

Add whatever marks the start of the route to the relation and give it the role "start". This does not have to be a node. It could just as well be a building or a parking lot. Note that a route can have multiple start points, so you can't always look at the ordering of the ways. See e.g. the routes here: [Panbos/Beerschoten][1] [1]: http://hiking.lonvia.de/en/?zoom=15&lat=52.11171&lon=5.2137http://hiking.waymarkedtrails.de/en/?zoom=15&lat=52.11171&lon=5.2137

Add whatever marks the start of the route to the relation and give it the role "start". "start". This does not have to be a node. It could just as well be a building or a parking lot. Note that a route can have multiple start points, so you can't always look at the ordering of the ways. See e.g. the routes here: [Panbos/Beerschoten][1] [1]: http://hiking.lonvia.de/en/?zoom=15&lat=52.11171&lon=5.2137

Add whatever marks the start of the route to the relation and give it the role "start". Note that a route can have multiple start points, so you can't always look at the ordering of the ways. See e.g. the routes here: [Panbos/Beerschoten][1] [1]: http://hiking.lonvia.de/en/?zoom=15&lat=52.11171&lon=5.2137