Wired Magazine are ‘crowdsourcing’ reviews, asking people to try their route and see what comes out of the system. It’s a generally savvy crowd, so they aren’t assaulting Google (or their data sources) for errors.

Meanwhile, others are claiming Google is providing hazardous directions. The notable in this category is the NY Post, who found that Google’s data on NYC bike routes is not accurate. Commenters on this article are embracing the general run of bike-hater joy, discussing running bikers off the roads, how this is all a liberal conspiracy, etc. You know, the usual.

As someone who works with Google services every day (for money!), I’ll say that I come closer to the opinions of the Wired folks. It’s a beta project. The pedestrian walking routes instructions have also been notably erratic (routing people onto highways, onramps, sidewalk-free zones). There are prominent buttons to provide feedback. Garmin and other GPS instructions haven’t been 100% either.

GPS services and Google Maps are always going to be limited by their data sets. I think anyone going somewhere unfamiliar, or coming in from out-of-town, needs to view Google Maps as a guide. Talking to a good local bicycle shop, or a local bicycle club, will ever be your best bet for getting the real (and most current) poop on local bike routes, including road construction, reality of what traffic levels are like, and even if they’re scenic or not. No online data set will ever match the know-how of the local cyclists!

• Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)

• Governor Jack Markell (D-DE)
• Peter Rogoff, Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration
• Peter Birch and Shannon Guyman, Google

League of American Bicyclists Director Andy Clarke kicked off the proceedings bright and early at 8 AM, clearly freshly caffeinated and excited by having over 700 bicycle advocates and friends of the cycling movement in the house at the Ronald Reagan Building/ITC in Washington DC. He handed it over fairly quickly to Congressman Blumenauer. The Congressman stressed the great strides the bike/pedestrian movement has made in the last 10 years, but also stressed that the need for ongoing involvement and more involved people remains great.

A few highlights from the Congressman from Oregon:

• He presented the plans for bike lane striping on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, linking the Capitol and White House.

• He touted the introduction of HR4722, the Active Community Transportation Act (or ACT Act!).
• Discussed HR4021, an extension of Safe Routes to Schools that expands funding to high schoolers.
• Discussed HR3271 Green Routes to Work, and stressed that part of building a bicycle- and transit-friendly America is providing citizens with choices as to how they travel to and from their everyday destinations.

A key message is that we aren’t anti-car, but that much of the funding and legislation has tilted the playing field in favor of the car – even though 30% of all car trips are less than 1 mile! Most people say they would bike or walk more if they felt it was safe or that facilities were available to make it possible (like sidewalks in subdivisions).

Governor Jack Markell of Delaware was next up. Among his campaign events was a bicycle ride across Delaware. He’s especially proud that DE went from 31st most friendly state for cyclists to 9th in only a year. One of the components of that was the passage of a Complete Streets bill to encourage developers, landowners, cities, counties and the state to work together to plan communities and roadways to accommodate all users.

He also discussed the teen labor that work in Delaware beach towns over the summer – many from Europe – and the unique safety issues they’ve presented, and how the state has addressed those issues with education.

He capped his part of the presentation with a top 10 list about riding in Delaware:

1. You can brag to friends about riding across the state in a morning.

2. Hills – they’re nice, but they block the view. No issues with that in Delaware!
3. It’s fun to drop the Governor on rides.
4. Scrapple.
5. Punkin Chunkin.
6. It’s easy to outpace chickens on the roadside.
7. All their transit buses have bicycle racks.
8. Politics end on bikes (although he says Republicans have nicer bikes).
9. You can ride through lots of spray irrigation systems on hot days.
10. On windy days, you can draft behind fancy Washington DC lawyers on Route 1.

Peter Rogoff, of the Federal Transit Administration, spoke next.

He talked about how policies and programs have to address the new reality. People want choices as to how they get around. Transit use boomed when gas went up to $4/gallon, and has stayed high even as prices have dropped. Many families have dealt with the recession by downsizing – getting rid of a car and going with only one, or no, car.

Cycling and transit, together, create a powerful combination for many families. They need to work together seamlessly and be a credible option.

Thanks to the Recovery Act, transit spending rose 84% in a single year. This has really helped given that many communities have had funding struggles for transit due to the recession’s impact on property tax revenues and other tax streams.

Administrator Rogoff stressed several things:

• The potential role of bicycles in the First Lady’s campaign against childhood obesity – if kids can ride, they won’t get fat.

• The need to continue investing even though revenues are tight – transit makes jobs reachable, transit creates jobs.
• Bicycles and multi-modal options need to be built-in.

The morning session ended with the Googlers presenting the new Google Maps for Bicycles options, covered separately.

Peter Birch, Product Manager for Google Earth, was present to introduce the new features. Google Maps for Bicycling has routes and information for 150 US cities, including on-street routes and bicycle trails. Shannon Guyman, another Googler, was on-hand to provide a live demo. Each said that this enhancement is part of Google’s commitment to provide maps for people – not just ‘cars.’

We got a nice live demo, but as always, Google created a nice video demo for the rest of you:

Like other Google Maps options – cars, transit, and walking routes – the biking layer is routable. To provide directions between two places, the algorithm looks for routing info in the following order:

• Bike paths/trails

• Dedicated bicycle resources (bike lanes, sharrows, other bicycle facilities)
• Roadways that have been designated as bicycle-friendly by some data source, often signed routes

The Maps team have also adjusted estimated trip times based on average cycling speeds.

Trails and on-road facilities are marked on the bicycle layer, and okay roads feature a dotted blue line. Minneapolis’ downtown is below (clicky to enlarge):

You can either just look at an area, or route between two points. When routing between two points, you can drag the route to change it. To see a local area map, click the ‘More’ button and select ‘Bicycling’ to see suggested routes.

Google is also doing a Twitter content to give away a bike worth up to $2500 of the winner’s choosing. Deets on that are at http://maps.google.com/biking.

I also spoke to the Product Manager after the presentation. Right now, the Bicycle layer is not showing anything more specific in terms of businesses or landmarks than is shown normally. We discussed the possibility of using the Local Business Center data of businesses, many of which are tagged by business type, to potential preference showing bicycle businesses on the map, and adding ‘Bicycle Parking’ as an option for business owners to indicate on their Business Center listings. These are both long-term potential upgrades, which would make for some sweet marketing potential for bicycle-friendly businesses like ice cream shops, cookie parlours, and bike shops.

I know that relative to Minnesota, we have the excellent cycle-route wiki Cyclopath, so some of the locals may not be impressed. However, in a broader sense, this is a good development in the sense that this covers 150 cities and may assist local visitors to various towns – not just MSP. Unlike Cyclopath, this isn’t a user-contributed system, so it may not always provide the best routes. In cases where routes offered are a bit bunk, Google have asked that users provide feedback to improve the system.

As such, it’s always nice to see new rest stop opportunities open up along the route. Yesterday, near Raymond and Territorial, just north of University, a great new cookie shop opened up. The St. Paul Classic Cookie Company is just a half-block west of Raymond on Territorial, and serves up a variety of homemade cookies and muffins, and offers old-fashioned cups o’ joe too.

I sampled several flavors of oatmeal cookie there last week, and I will be plotting bicycle routes that go through this stop, particularly when riding with my son. Delicious!

Right now, the littlest cyclist rides in a trailer. He gets a bit bigger, we may use a child seat for a while before graduating to tag-a-longs and eventually a tandem. With any of these options, I think routing is a key to making the experience good for parent and child. here are key elements I’d want in any route used for family cycling:

• Reasonable distance: Distance is both a factor of parental fitness (especially with a trailer!) and child willingness. Know your kid, and plan accordingly. Toddlers require input and diversion. This can either be built in as stops to allow for longer mileage, or shorter mileage can be planned to accommodate the kiddo.
• Destination/Rest stop: As above, where will you be stopping? With a toddler, a chance to play and run about a little is nearly essential. Ice cream or a tasty snack – either carried along or purchased on route – is also a big plus. My kid loves the ice cream stops – a genetic predisposition, to be sure.
• Terrain: With any sort of extended trailer, trail-a-bike, etc., be sure to avoid anything especially technical. The idea of taking the downhill next to Fort Snelling, which is steep and has a sharp left turn at the bottom? Just say no. If the kid is an active participant, ease into hills.
• Timing: We like to time rides such that they coincide with Natty’s nap. The gentle rhythm of the trailer puts him straight into zonk-zone.

This last weekend we rode 18 miles, mostly via trail or trail-option routing. We stopped at DQ. It was flat and shady, and Natty got Blizzard and hot fudge. Happiness.

Ice Cream Sundae – 18 miles (jpg)

It’s a slightly revised version of my Great Googly Moogly route, as featured in the Minnesota Bike Atlas. In this case, we dodge the havoc that is the Como Avenue destruction. Rest stop is Dairy Queen.

Map is clickable for a full-size version.

They’ll also enter you for faboo prizes. If you commute more than the 8 times/8 weeks, there’s apparently more benefits available, but Metro Transit is vague.

HI-MN will be distributing it via local book shops shortly, and it’ll also be available at the Minnesota Ironman Bicycle Ride on April 27. Note for those who have not done the ride previously that this is not an Ironman like a triathlon – it’s Ironman like ‘are you ready for a long freakin’ ride at the end of April when the weather could be agony or ecstasy?’ Last year’s weather was perfect, although it was the first time in 10 years I didn’t attend – I had gotten married the day before and wearing heels on grassy lawns all day did a real number on my calves. We can only hope for such weather this year, although once again I shan’t be riding, only volunteering.

Ride is about 35 miles, and has some lovely rolling hills. The rest stop is late in the ride, but there are some chances at biffies and water prior to the orchard as needed. Several of the country roads do not have much shoulder, but are not especially busy. Riding single-file is suggested on such roads.

• Candy Apple Gray – Map (PDF)
• Candy Apple Gray – Cue Sheet (PDF)

7 SUN 1:30 PM B 32-38 mi. CANDY APPLE GRAY. Depart from Ramsey Beach, on Hwy 96 just east of Highway 61, White Bear Lake. Same start location, different route, different orchard. Explore some rolling hills on route to an apple bakery for apple pie, cookies, and turnovers. Faster riders welcomed so long as they leave some apple treats for the leader. Julie Kosbab, 651-253-2493, julie-at-rideboldly.org.

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Plugin by Taragana]]> http://www.rideboldly.org/2007/10/05/sunday-107-ride-candy-apple-gray/feed/ 0 http://www.rideboldly.org/2007/09/16/cue-sheet-template/ http://www.rideboldly.org/2007/09/16/cue-sheet-template/#comments Sun, 16 Sep 2007 13:40:46 +0000 Julie http://www.rideboldly.org/2007/09/16/cue-sheet-template/ People have asked me repeatedly to make my cue sheet template available.

One issue with that: Typically, I lay out cue sheets using Adobe InDesign, which is not a particularly common piece of software on most home/work PCs.

I have finally done a version that uses Microsoft PowerPoint, which is a common piece of software. I’m trying to figure out how to build a working PowerPoint template (.pot), so right now what I have is a PowerPoint Presentation slide (.ppt). Text should be selected and replaced with proper directions. The fold lines and panel numbers are included.

I printed my cue sheet for today from this document, just to prove it kinda works. Beyond the kinda works, no other guarantees or warranty should be implied. I’m not sure I’m going to provide ‘support’ to the template, either, although if you have a question on it, go ahead. I just can’t promise useful answers. This is not really what PowerPoint is meant to be used for, so I’m kind of working against purpose in order to be working in a common software.

Cue Sheet Document – Microsoft PowerPoint (ppt)

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