With Spring almost upon us, millions of people will start to dust off bikes that have been idle all winter, and set out to get some air in the lungs. (Or if you are one of the hardened few who make it through the winter on a bicycle, you will merely rummage around for the mud guards.) But mapping out a route for a nice ride isn’t always easy, even though free web-based satellite-coordinated maps have been available for years. Programmed for maximum automotive efficiency, MapQuest and Google Maps will sooner give you directions to the highway than the bikeable scenic route. Thankfully, there are better ways to map a bike route.
Map My Ride is a great service which utilizes the Google Maps API to overlay custom bike mapping features that can automatically calculate elevation changes, start and stop points, loops, and caloric burn. (They also created Map My Run if jogging is more your forté.) What’s more is that you can save routes, maintain a training log, and they’ll even calculate your CO2 offset based on the mileage you’re not driving. Another indespensible feature is the ability to stray from roads and continue mapping coordinates, which is essential for mountain bike mapping, or loops through parks which don’t have mapped roads.
Today Google itself announced bike mapping is a new feature in Maps, allowing you to select “Bicycling” when you map directions, just as they now offer public transit (in limited areas) and walking directions. The features are more pronounced in major cities they chose to focus on (think California), where bike lanes and bike trails are specially color coded. One nice feature is the travel time estimation like driving directions have, though it doesn’t take long to figure out that they use 10 MPH as your rate of speed, which is on the low side for regular road riders.
All in all, picking out new bike routes just got a lot easier and more exciting, so get out there and get some fresh air!
