Google Maps Releases Bike Routes For 150 Cities, Including Chicago

By Karl Klockars in Miscellaneous on Mar 10, 2010 7:20PM

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.

We've checked a few of our usual routes and while it's not perfect (can't figure a route between home and Montrose Avenue beach, for example) it's certainly better than being told to ride down the shoulder of the Kennedy when you're trying to get somewhere. In addition, there's no more guesstimating the length of your route if you don't have a distance meter. Even if you've memorized most of the bike paths, parks and trails in the city, it's always good to find new routes around familiar places or to have your usual self-sourced directions justified.

Plus, with some more 50 degree days in the forecast, there couldn't be a better time to help feed our desires to get back in the saddle (unless you're one of those lunatic winter bikers like Sudo). After the jump: educational video about use of the features.