Fifty Plus (50+) - Google Maps Has Elevation Feature

This may be old new to some/most but in case there are others who haven't seen it yet, Google Maps allows you to map out a route, see the distance and graph teh hill profile, and save your maps. Here's the short ride I took today (still breaking in the old sitzbone...just ordered some padded cycle briefs):

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=948095

Problem with that height feature is it cannot be relied upon. I have a ride that goes to the top of the Downs and runs along the top of the cliffs from the sea. Height is around 200 to 250 metres so I decided to check how high the climb was one day. It shows the road at 35 metres above sea level. A measly 1 % climb for what I reckon is the hardest hill in out area. Or it may be that I am not as fot as I think I am.

Great to see that the sit bones are not that comfortable yet- All you have to do is ride so an easy problem to cure.

Problem with that height feature is it cannot be relied upon. I have a ride that goes to the top of the Downs and runs along the top of the cliffs from the sea. Height is around 200 to 250 metres so I decided to check how high the climb was one day. It shows the road at 35 metres above sea level. A measly 1 % climb for what I reckon is the hardest hill in out area. Or it may be that I am not as fot as I think I am.

Great to see that the sit bones are not that comfortable yet- All you have to do is ride so an easy problem to cure.

Neither can some of the other mapping software out there. Toporoute gives a 1200 foot elevation difference on a hill that is no more than 400 ft! Garbage in garbage out.

The hill profile looks pretty accurate for my rides though I can't swear by the altitude numbers since I don't have an altimeter. I can tell by the mile numbers and the profile graph exactly where I was along the way.

I tried to use it on one my local rides and didn't think it was very accurate either.

topography is questionable, but the distances "it" computes are fairly accurate, I've found, if you zoom in and account for turns, stay on the road, etc.

Routeslip.com is another site that uses Google Maps and lets you lay out routes. One of the biggest problems with giving something close to accurate for elevation change is that it just checks elevation difference between points you click along the route, and nothing else. I've noticed that the same route layed out with fewer points shows less climbing. I'm not sure what the limit for points is, but if you created a 50 mile route made up of 10,000 points, it might actually be fairly accurate. Of course, you'd better have more time for route creation than I do.

Is Routeslip working again? I like the features of that site, but half the time it doesn't work right.

Is Routeslip working again? I like the features of that site, but half the time it doesn't work right.

I haven't had much trouble with it, but I don't do much more than create and look at routes.