Niles H.

Google Maps has a feature called "Street View" that lets you get right down at street level, for a cyclist's-eye view of a specific road. This can be helpful when evaluating a route. You can get a sense of the width of the shoulder, for example, among other things.

It looks as though there might be other features in Google Maps that would also be potentially useful at times. Has anyone tried them out? Maybe there is someone out there who knows more about using Google Maps in this way (for evaluating roads and routes). If so, do you have any tips or information you can share?

Any other tips (whether in Google Maps or not) on evaluating potential routes?

Carley P.

I usually use either Mapmyride.com, or a Louisville-specific website to map my routes. With mapmyride, after you save a route you can click on a button in the top right corner that will take you to a 3d video of the route. I find it helpful and even entertaining.

For example, here is a video of my twice-a-week trip from my house to the college I attend in Louisville.

https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/rend...=mapmyride.com

I just wish there was a way to slow the video down sometimes. Continuousely having to click the pause button to get a better look at things can get annoying.

Options like that work great for shorter routes in areas I'm familiar with, but I've been told not to rely solely on google maps for longer tours. I've read a few horror stories on this site alone, and I've even had a bad experience with google maps before.

markf

I've used Google Earth to examine potential routes a few times with good luck. I've been able to verify the existence of bicycle paths next to roads, and I've also found dirt roads that didn't show on the maps I was using. I've also used www.viamichelin.com to plan routes, they have a option to plot a bicycle-compatible route.

I wouldn't blindly trust any electronic mapping service unless I had some other form of verification. I've heard too many stories about people driving into rivers, etc. when they were following their GPS or SatNav devices. When I used ViaMichelin to get from London Heathrow airport to Gatwick airport a few years ago, it routed me through what looked like a private golf club/gated community. I was able to go around, but it was a bit of a nuisance.

NoReg

I have used google earth. Street View might be an advantage when looking for specific routes, like the entry over Montreal bridges. There is a section where you have to cycle against HWy traffic, and scoping out that kind of stuff might make sense. But for a long tour, I don't think I could be bothered, or would really want to know.

zoltani

Woah, I had to turn it off, it was making me dizzy.


I've used street view to evaluate the width of roads and shoulders, found some amazing roads in france that way. You can "ride" down the road and try to get a feel for the amount of traffic also, but that's kind of iffy.

Tansy

I've never owned an ACA map, so I use a mix between google maps, paper road maps, and local online maps. Some states offer great biking maps for free online, usually in high quality PDF format. The Michigan DOT website offers a set of biking maps with parks and campgrounds marked, for example.

For researching road conditions, google maps is a useful tool when you bear in mind it's limitations; namely, it's not always accurate, and the images can be quite old. Issues of inaccuracy can usually be spotted by comparing the map vs satellite view. Don't just trust that Cosmos, Mn is where the map says it is - you can clearly see on satellite that this location is, in fact, a cornfield. Small town parks and campgrounds are often misplaced as well - but visible in satellite view. Just look for a baseball diamond or pool. Sometimes you'll even find roads significantly misplaced. As far as aged images, well - an unpaved road might have been paved, a paved road is probably still paved. A wide, smooth shoulder might have fallen into disrepair, but it'll still be better than a narrow or nonexistant one. It's hard to spot rumble strips on street view, period, so you'll still be in for some surprises there.

Most of the horror stories I've heard have revolved around the bike routing function putting you on freeways that are too dangerous, or illegal to bike on. When I plan for biking on an interstate, I'll check out the ramp with street view, and look for a 'Pedestrians and bicycles prohibited' sign. Again, the images might be old, but it's better than nothing.

I've also has some success spotting locations to stealth camp via google maps. Signs and fences are easy to spot on street view, and snowmobile trails, high voltage power lines, and other objects which indicate public land use are clearly visible. The downside is that sometimes it's hard to tell rather the ground is sloped or reasonable level in low-quality street view images, but some idea of where to camp is more reassuring then nothing, in difficult areas.

unterhausen

around here, the bike routing feature of google maps puts you on fire trails that may not actually be passable to bicycles. Rather not go on dirt roads.

rm -rf

Nobody has mentioned Google Maps Terrain View. And if you zoom it all the way in, you can see the elevation contour lines.

My favorite mapping site is ridewithgps.com. On the elevation graph at the bottom of the map, you can drag a section of the ride to get statistics on just that part--elevation gain, average and maximum grade, distance, etc. You can pick Terrain View on ridewithgps, too.

SBRDude

+1
I use google maps to get a general idea for a new ride and then I use ridewithgps.com mainly to get elevation profiles because there often some very steep grades around here. One thing I DO really like about google maps is being able to edit the route with the mouse. Editing ridewithgps.com maps can be a pain.

do-well

Yeah, I was only able to make any sense of this by pausing and zooming in and out, and I know Louisville like the back of my hand.

zoltani

I don't think anyone here would advocate using google bike directions for tour planning. However, I would like to see this feature become more useful in the future.

wahoonc

I use them for tour PLANNING but also plan to be flexible when something changes along the way.

IMHO street view is a great tool to get ones self familiar with an area, perfect? No, but major landmarks will usually still be there when you come through.

Aaron

unterhausen

street view is great. I knew someone that rode RAAM last summer, and I could see approximately where he was using a Spot tracker and look on street view to see what it looked like there. I can also see using it to check if a road has a shoulder

JimF22003

Street views helped me a couple of times last year:

1) I mapped a route I wanted to try but wasn't sure if one of the roads was paved or not (lots of back roads in Virginia, especially up in the mountains aren't)
2) I was able to figure out which way to exit off of the Blue Ridge Parkway to find a country store for a rest stop. I "drove" off of the parkway a mile or so until I saw a gas station I could stop at. Thankfully it was still in business when I rode in

aenlaasu

Oooh! Now to play around with the Google Earth and see how well it works for my part of Sweden.

Rusty5329

I've definitely used google maps to plan stuff out before. In the DC/MD/VA area they have a lot of the bike paths listed (at the top right there is a "bicycling" option under "more"). However, this feature is nowhere close comprehensive so my first step is always to do some research here and at crazyguyonabike.com. And I will usually use a mix of maps. For instance, I want to ride the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway next summer. I've got maps from the National Park Service which include campsites and other helpful locations. I also have been browsing the trip on google maps (including street view) to get a better picture of the route and different cities surrounding it (you never know when you might need to find a nearby city to get bike parts).

I've also used my Droid with an app called My Tracks that tracks you on a google map. It gives you informations such as average speed, average moving speed, elevation change... etc.

Anyways, I think there is plenty of potential for google maps to help plan bike trips, but right now I depend on these forums more than anything else.

Update: I forget to mention, as of very recently, google earth includes street view too.

Recycle

The Google Maps directions for driving, with options to avoid tolls and highways can come up with a fair first approximation to a route. The suggested route can then be tweaked to use or avoid certain roads or bike facilities.

Google Maps can also display points of interest like camp grounds, motels, and restaurants, which is very helpful when selecting a route.

Gus Riley

In planning a trip From Yorktown, VA to Florence, OR (TransAm Trail), I have used street view to see most of the route all the way across. Like many have mentioned, it shows shoulder availability. Most recently I verified a route across the Mississippi River in St. Louis over the Eads bridge. Previously I thought it was not allowed to be crossed by bicycles. Street view showed me the pedestrian/bicycle path across. It also made it possible for me to route onto it about a quarter mile before it actually crossed the river. Otherwise I would have had to backtrack to actually enter the path, or bite the bullet and cross (E to W) on the narrow road/traffic portion of the bridge. Before this discovery, I had planned a five mile detour north and then back south.

On my last tour, street view made it possible for me to become familair with a couple of schetchy junctions that I had to turn onto. When I got close to them I recognised them immediately. One was the Jack Turner Rd between Berea and Herrington Lake on the TransAm trail in Kentucky. Many east to west riders miss this turn off because it is very poorly signed, and it is at the bottom of a good sized hill, and it is on a curve to the left, then there is a good sized climb in view. Those that miss this turn off are fixed on keeping momentum up to make the next hill, when they miss the turn, they have no idea they have done so for several miles. Street view gave me a look at it long before my trip began, and when I approached the turn I recognized it. Attached is a picture of the approach to that turn off. I backtracked to get the picture.

I use street view often and alot!