Uk gets Google maps bicycle directions

[shotaway]

At last google maps has bicycle directions in the uk.

should be pretty good. altho id hope opencyclemap nabs it from google.

Did anyone see the google street view bicycles? almost went for a job with them when i lived in bristol..

[hexhome]

The cycle routes which I've tried are less than ideal. However, it's a growing area of resources, and they will undoubtedly improve.

[sirmy]

In my area it looks like they've just highlighted Sustrans national routes

[tykeboy2003]

It doesn't recognise even the Sustrans routes in my area, specifically route 63 which runs through the estate where I live. The only option it gives me is to follow the only road out of the estate, whereas route 63 goes onto gravel paths at the other end of the estate.

[tykeboy2003]

Mind you, you can't blame Google, the Sustrans web page says route 63 is only open between Donisthorpe and Great Casterton and between Ufford and Wisbech.....

I can categorically say that it is open between Donisthorpe and Church Gresley where I live and fully sign posted.

[shotaway]

Well it looks like opencyclemap.org has 63 mapped correctly then..

[tykeboy2003]

Yes openstreetmap looks right to me.

It shows a gap between Swadlincote and Newhall, this area is an Industrial Estate area and development site with quite a lot of building going on including a Hotel. I suspect that Sustrans is waiting for the dust to settle on this bit before they know the route. It will be nice to avoid the bit of the A444 which this new route will hopefully bypass, its quite narrow and up hill heading towards Burton with double white lines, I've had several very close overtakes there. Not pleasant.

[stork]

I guess the problem is always going to be that one person's idea of the 'best' route to cycle might not be someone else's. Even on my route to work (only a 3-mile journey) there are numerous options and my idea of the 'best' route changes depending on the circumstances (have I got the children with me, or the trailer, is it dark or wet, is it peak time or off-peak?).

I did get some bizarre results, though, with Transport Direct when I first tried it. For a 23-mile ride I often do on my road bike, it suggested a partly off-road (i.e. rutted muddy track) route as the quickest, and a roughly 65-mile trip as the quietest!

[stork]

I've had a look at the Google maps directions, and I get some pretty odd results there too.

For my commute, I get a mostly-acceptable journey, although not a route I'd choose as it ends up dumping you in a 3-lane one-way system and adding distance too.

For the 23-mile ride, there's so much off-road riding that it would be great on an off-road bike (if you've got the time, and even then some of it is virtually unrideable sand), but no good on 23mm tyres!

[Geriatrix]

Out of curiosity I requested bicycle directions from London Bridge to Purley station to see how much it differed from the route I would take. In the instruction panel the 1st two stages instructed "walk your bicycle". I didn't get an an equivalent "push your car" when I requested car directions.

[Mark1978]

The routes aren't the best yet. For example through Teesside it directs you onto the A19, for those who don't know it's a motorway in all but name, three lanes, heavy and fast moving traffic. To top it off I know a cyclist was killed there a few weeks ago, only managed a couple of hundred metres on the A19 before being mown down...

[Richard Fairhurst]

Well it looks like opencyclemap.org has 63 mapped correctly then..

Hope so. I mapped that bit.

Interesting to know that development is underway between Swad and Newhall. I believe that there's a track which NCN 63 is intended to follow from Newhall to the edge of Burton (where it resumes). Agreed about the horribleness of the A444 - I cycled out that way a few weeks back and didn't enjoy it a whole bunch.

[meic]

Here is a bit of background to the new facility.

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/about-sustra ... WV,2OCO1,1

[hexhome]

So that's why the routes are less than ideal

[Dynamite_funk]

Email Google your suggestions and they'll improve it. It's worth pointing out it's a BETA version too so not perfect. I'm sure that within a year or two it will be much improved, also remember that it's free!