Ride to the South and East (Parking on Willoughby)

Here is a ride Dylan and I did the other day. It’s real pretty down south and it’s nice not to have to ride all the way down Hagadorn or College.

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/mi/okemos/802274959772

Gmaps Pedometer; best for biking or walking routes??

Gmaps Pedometer Example (bike route)

I see that many free map services don’t allow you to put routes in. Community Walk is one exception. Also, this Gmaps Pedometer site is pretty simple. It will let you save a map with a route in it and give you the URL. The one I put here is a simple loop route I like to ride near my house. My odometer says this route is a bit longer than indicated on the map. I don’t know how it’s supposed to useful for counting calories when it forces an as-the-crow-flies route construction method. Then again, why would someone care; just get out there and burn some.. I don’t know if routes are important for using mapping as a potential writing or other assignment in a class, but they are pretty key for walking, hiking, and biking.

America’s 10 Best Trails

America’s 10 Best Trails

I just have to go ride some of these.

Mapbuilder for Map Mashups

Google map mashups are easier to make than you might think. I took about an hour to get going on my first one, a simple list of mountain biking trails. It could be a neat activity or assignment for a writing class, design class, or something similar.

Mountain Biking Trails in Mid Michigan (example)

I used Mapbuilder for this one. I plan to try Platial next.

Update, Apr 3: This one has several good options for publishing your map, but seems to lack a capacity for including routes. I’m not dismissing it yet. Update again: I think this is a contender. It seems to avoid the ads problem, trying to make money by selling premium services to real estate folks.