About two months ago, I bought a road bike on the cycle-to-work scheme and have thoroughly enjoyed it. My route to work is really short, so I’ve been working on distance rides at the weekend. So far, my longest ride is 20 miles, but as that seemed a bit of a doddle, I’m aiming for 40 this weekend. :s
As a newbie to cycling, I like to plan my routes in advance and know what I’m up against, especially giant hills! I was excited to see Google has released cycling directions for the US, hopefully it’ll hit the UK soon too. The maps team must have been real busy because they’ve also released an elevation API.
Until cycling directions hit the UK, I thought this was a great chance for a little mashup. I’ve used the Google Maps, directions, and elevation APIs to create a little tool for planning cycling routes. What makes it special? It used to plot the cycle route with gradient information, allowing you to foresee any giant climbs!
Note: The Cycling Route Planner tool is no longer available.
It needs more work but I wanted to get a prototype online. The vision was to allow users to enter a route and have it display inclines in red and declines in green along the route.
Feedback appreciated, just comment below.