Am I late to the party or did apple just add biking to travel methods?

I added google maps to my phone because they have it but apple didn’t offer that before as far as I was aware.

Last September or October they were added kind of. For us in Toronto, Canada they do not work though the icon is available.

There are links to show what countries and then specifically which cities they have maps for. Apple has a long way to catch up to Google.

Apple maps is still around? Last I heard they were terrible and what they did have they basically copied from Google Maps.

They never were "terrible". Though, as a newish service rushed-out because Google no longer allowed their map app to be used on iphones, there were some issues at the start. Google maps had been around for so long people don't recall what it was like at first.

Copying stuff would lead to all sorts of legal issues. So, no to the second thing too.

Given the privacy issues with google, having an alternative is good.

biggest bene is they're integrated with Siri, my virtual love thang.

Uh, no. There was a slight hiccup a long time ago when they upgraded IOS, but that's long since remedied and Apple Maps is now as good as any.

No, Apple maps is pretty good now.
And your every map search query and trip isn't being tracked and sold to advertisers.
In fact Google Maps will still track and save your location and send it to Google even if you have location services turned off.

Works in the PNW but about 50% of the time the recommended routes are not feasible or just plain lol compared to google maps. If there’s a clear and popular trail, it will take it - regardless of surface type.

so YMMV.