Google is working on something cool for cyclists all over the United States: Google map directions for bike riders. They made the announcement as part of the National Bike Summit on March 10th. They’re working with the Rails-To-Trails Conservancy to include bike trails; roads with dedicated bike lanes; and roads that are bike friendly, though they might not have lanes.
Right now, as best as I can tell, the Western Massachusetts map only includes our regional bike trails such as the Manhan trail in Easthampton and the Northampton area trails (see the Friends of Northampton Trails and Greenways for more info). As part of the beta release of these maps, 150 cities were included (more than 12,000 miles of bike trails). Very nice that the Pioneer Valley was included in the beta.
To find the bike map overlay on Google Maps, search for Northampton, then on the map look under “More …”. There you’ll find the option for the bicycling overlay option. And if you have suggestions or problems with the cycling map, look at the bottom of the left side frame for “report a problem”.
Here’s the Google video promo for the service: