So is Google Map Classic no longer available? It seems like that option is not there.

Try

https://www.google.com/lochp

it may depend on your browser. i was using Firefox and hadn't updated it in quite a while. then one day google maps only allowed "google maps lite". which i didn't like for all kinds of reasons.

i eventually went to a new browser (sympathic groans please!) and now use the new integration of google maps and google earth.

Thanks Spin - -

At least, for now, the Old Google Maps still works with that link.
My Google Classic link no longer worked after May 1.
I think the newer Google Maps is garbage.

I also think that since so many applications embed the older Google Maps -
That they are going to have to support it for some time - i.e. years.
The challenge will be how to access it.

I agree. There are features that are just not as useful for route planning as had been the case. The opacity of the route line is the biggest problem for me with their new map. I sent them a comment with a picture illustrating the difference. Can't see what part of the route involves bike paths with the new version. It was much easier to see that with the old one.

I use Firefox browser in Win 8.1. I've had to frequently revert from Current to Classic, so that I could access the topographic map (Terrain). I see I can longer switch from "New" GM, the link to Classic GM map has disappeared. Google Earth overlay is not really helpful to bicyclists IMO.

Thanks for the link Spinnaker - I have bookmarked it.

.

Glad I'm not the only one experiencing less usefulness out of the new Google maps. I thought it was just me having problems learning it and my crappy computers at home and work. The loss of the topo feature really makes it a lot less useful for me now.

Appreciate the working link to the classic version, unfortunately it sports the same message at the top about it going away soon that the old link to the classic version had. Hopefully they will hold off until they restore some functionality to the new Google maps... :/

it's not just google maps. many websites are being redesigned, apparently
by fixie-riding hipsters, who are great at spiffy site design, but unfortunately
never use, or have no concept of, the service the site was originally designed
to provide.

look at the piece of carp that has become of weather underground. i'm sure
it looks snazzy on your iphone, but the poor format and lack of real detail
makes it pretty much useless.

sadly, my broker is going the same route. hired some groovy marketing
dudes who hired some interior designers to migrate the dataset to a new
platform....or some similar carpola.

and now? they've removed the popup stock/fund quote window. great!
now i've got to go to another broker to get a quote before i can buy/sell
through my present broker.

and google maps? too many popup window moving stuff on the screen
can't see the damn roads.....ah, screw it. i'll just buy a freakin' paper
map.

My theory is that even though a product has reached its peak of user access, intuitive function, as well as usefull features, those employed by the company feel that they have no choice but to continue "tweaking" things in order to justify their employment.

I tend to use Google maps as an auxiliary to paper. My one time using it as my exclusive bike route tool involved two miles of streambed, and a whole day of horrible dirt farm roads before I
found a map at a gas station.

Misery loves company and I'm glad I'm not the only one similarly fooled by Google maps. Once down by the Ohio River, Google showed this "road?" that turned out to be a farm lane of two dirt tire tracks with uncut grass growing in the middle. 2-3 miles of a whole lotta fun.

I've had a few paper maps leading to dirt tracks and quad trails. I don't find them any better.

True, but a paper map does not generally have a "bike route" function that recommends the poor road. If I get on a rutted dirt road using a paper map, then that somehow feels different to me, more like an adventure, the success of which depends on my own wits and decision making. Having an online mapping service give a route that is horrible feels like an empty promise. The one time I used google exclusively was a destination oriented trip of 500 miles. There were really great things about using it, some of the turn by turn directions through small Midwestern cities were really cool(though I think I was trespassing on private property a few times), and it took me to some bike paths that were long abandoned and unmarked.

This is the only picture I can find of that road, mostly because Flickr and Photobucket have been redesigned since I posted them and are no longer as accessible to me due to improvements to their sites!

[IMG]securedownload by maruishi, on Flickr[/IMG]

Maybe it only works on some browsers, but I can see topography in the new google maps with the Terrain link near the search bar:


I use the earth overlay, or the satellite image in the old google maps, to distinguish paved and dirt roads.

DeLorme had Topographic isobars.

Disregard earlier post, just figured it out.

Thanks for the very useful tip.

i like the maps (both paper and google) that send you on this
"major highway" in laos!

Probably both collected from the same source, Millions if not billions of roads in the world, there are bound to be some errors. I am amazed Google is accurate as it is.

Just be happy you didn't take the train!

You can't blame Google Maps for that. Many paper maps don't show bike paths at all, you can't zoom in or use street view to see what the road looks like. No elevation chart or business search. Once I was plotting a route on Google Maps and it took some weird detour. It turned out a bridge on the main road was out.

sweet

I've been using that for the past month. Unfortunately it only uses the local language for all labels, which makes it much less useful for foreign travel.

Yes one must be fair. I tried a local shortcut last year after seeing it on Google. Assumed it was a bike path but turned out to be barely even walkable. Kinda funny, I was pushing thru scrub & trying to avoid poison ivy as the path became narrower & overgrown. I ended up trying to cross an 8" plank over a creek & there was no way to pick up the bike without falling into the little creek. So I was stuck on the plank, couldn't even go back. Amazingly a walker couple showed up right behind me & the guy helped me over the creek.

But Google Maps, despite all the good work they do, has some mysterious elements. Finding help info can be tough.

Looks like this link has been "converted" to "New & Improved" Google Maps, too.

I try to avoid these pitfalls by trying to verify the route with Earth/Satellite views and hopefully Street view.

Sounds good but Google doesn't give you a whole lot of street views of rarely used farm lanes. The other problem I often have and maybe someone can clue me in here is that it is often difficult to tell a gravel road vs. lighter chip and seal used in these parts when the image runs out of magnification or no street view is available.