If you haven't yet started planning your summer adventures around the city by bike, the Active Transportation Alliance can help. The nonprofit released the 5th edition of its extensive Chicagoland Bike Map today with the tag line, "You can go anywhere in Chicagoland by bike." The updated map features "expanded coverage to the north (up to Lake Geneva) and south (all the way to the Midewin Prairie in Grundy County), more trail and on-street biking networks for you to explore, icons for all the bike shops in the region, and historic military sites." It's $10 non-members, $5 for members, and free for new or recently renewed members. more ›

For those of us who travel primarily by bicycle (or want to), Google Maps is about to make your day. You might have already all but memorized the solid, if somewhat unwieldy, RideTheCity site, or dealt with the clunky (but also appreciated) official online bike map from the city, but the wizards at Google have input the city's bike paths and trails into their already-comprehensive map system, which means you can now get your directions for two wheels as well as four. more ›

Many of us at Chicagoist are biking enthusiasts and rely on the two-wheel (or in my case, three-wheel) method of getting around town. But that's not always an easy task: ever tried biking down Ashland at rush hour? Not a pleasant experience. The city has a comprehensive map that shows which roads have bike lanes and shared lanes, but it can still be difficult figuring out how to get around town on specific routes. Luckily, CitySpokes is here to fill that void and now they've got their Chicago site live. Using a Google Maps interface, the site lets you search for the best bike routes between destinations. At the moment, the site only covers part of the city - from the lake west to Kedzie and from Lawrence south to Cermak - but that's still a good chunk of the city and they tell us expanding the coverage area is their first priority. So go ahead and give it a whirl this weekend while planning your next bike outing. more ›