Originally Posted by heypaul

First off, until I read your post I was not aware of this website. With my caveman WebTV, I really can't do much with maps and satellite views. I did notice that the owner of the site has a blog and that he/she did indicate that he made a change in his base map (whatever that is) recently.

Making use of satellite views and routing while very efficient, to me takes away some of the mystery, spookiness and opportunity to discover things on my own. Armed with the 2009 map yesterday, I still stumbled around Brooklyn and Queens trying to find all the pieces of the bike route. Although this can be often frustrating and inefficient, I can tolerate it as it has been the paradigm by which I've experienced most of my life. What's neat is the collateral information that comes about while you're wandering about aimlessly. I really didn't appreciate that the Jamaica Line, A 8th Ave/Fulton Street Line and the E,F Queens Boulevard Line are not really all that far apart. Today I was in Staten Island and stumbled upon the Staten Island 9/11 Memorial, which I was totally unaware of. I found it to be quite moving.

Pushing high tech to an extreme, I wonder if anyone has come out with a handheld cyling simulator? At the press of a button, you could be doing laps in Central Park artfully dodging pedestrians, old geezers riding Huffys, or tourists disrespecting our hallowed bike paths. Or you could be on the Brooklyn Bridge without a bell playing chicken with a group of tourists who are walking in the bike lane. Think of it, all the fun of bike riding without working up a sweat or burning up brake pads.