After one too many close calls with a screeching, honking car, Peter Smith had officially had enough.  Tired of eating dust and getting cursed at by angry drivers, the dedicated bicycle rider from Austin, Texas, started circulating a petition.  Over 2 years and 50,000 signatures later, and he finally achieved his dream:  Google Maps has now added bicycle-friendly directions to its directions node.  You can discover the Google Maps bike trails for yourself at http://maps.google.com/biking or click on the handy bikes button under Google Maps.

Not only has Google helped out commuter bicyclists like Peter, they’ve also helped out the recreational rider.  Google Maps has also added a layer to normal Google Maps to help riders explore bike-friendly streets and trails without the need for, you know, a place to go.   The Google Maps direction-finding algorithm takes into account hills, congestion, etc., to put together the best direction map for bikes it can, and it appears to be pretty accurate.  So long as you avoid the roving gangs of frogmen, that is.

Tags: Google, Google Maps, Google Maps bike trails, Google adds 150 bike trails to Google Maps, bike routes, bicycling, maps.google.com/biking, Peter Smith, Austin, Texas

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