Giving wide berth to the spinners on bad LSD...

Google maps is a wonderful resource and, while it didn't have this feature when i did my first overnighter last fall, i did make use of street view to get a feel for the openness of areas. My main gripe with gmaps is that it (along with most other mapping services) completely ignores topography in calculating routes, making it sub-optimal (at best) for planning out a tour. I realize there are dedicated bike tour maps and such, but i really wish there was a "consider vertical gain" checkbox when getting routes from the service.