We’ll have these Official Mobile Social Party Hats for the ride attendees @sxsw and in Seattle during the Bike Expo.

Note: limited edition and quantities.

Uploaded by Hugger Industries | more from the Bike Hugger Photostream.

Hugger Industries posted a photo:

We'll have these for the ride attendees @sxsw and in Seattle during the Bike Expo.

It's hard to write about the new bicycling tool at Google maps without prefacing the term "bicycle route finder" with such adjectives as "amazing," "cool," or "way cool," but I'll try.

Sweepstakes

First, Google maps made the official announcement of the biking directions tool with a Google Share Your Ride Sweepstakes complete with a $2,500 voucher for American Cyclery. Win by simply posting links your routes to Twitter.

Here's what Google says about the project at The Official Google blog and the Google LatLong blog.....

Various reactions to the long-awaited announcement regarding biking directions on Google maps:

Andy Clarke, League of American Bicyclists (Google made it "official" during the opening session of LAB's National Bike Summit):

“This new tool will open people’s eyes to the possibility and practicality of hopping on a bike and riding. We know people want to ride more ...

Google built their new Bike Maps right here in Seattle and Product Manager Shannon Guymon posted on the Official Google Blog this morning with instructions:

Let’s say you want to bike to work, or maybe you want to drive less and spend more time outdoors. Biking directions can help you find a convenient and efficient route that makes use of dedicated bike trails or lanes and avoids hills whenever possible. To find biking directions, select “Bicycling” from the drop-down menu when you do a directions search:

I’m riding over to the Bike Expo this weekend and tried a route …

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Very Much a Beta

As Google told us, the Bike Maps are very much a beta and they’re asking users to report a problem with the directions. Problems will be found because the maps are generated based on a variety of data sources, not all of them are accurate when it comes to bikes. We’ve all mapped out a route and then found out that it’s not ideal when we got there, but this tool will benefit from user feedback. The route mapped to the radio station puts me on the West Seattle Bridge — not a good place to ride a bike! However, another reader just wrote to say

just mapped my ride to work and the suggested route was pretty dang good. Happy to see that my avg time is about 20min faster than the bot.

Faster than the bot! That’s a new personal best measure: faster than the Google bike bot.

Meet the Bike Map Makers

Google is riding with us and partying at the Mobile Social this weekend in Austin. They’re creating a community with the Bike Maps and want to talk with you much more about it.

Google Maps, my go to website for directions and maps, has now added “biking” for directions. Prior to this update you could only select car, public transit and walking for mode of travel.  Google would then calculate the best route, distance and time dependent on your mode of transportation.

Quickly looking at my home town of Charlotte, NC, this morning, you can see a few different colored lines.  The dark lines seem to be the bike paths or greenways in the area and the dotted lines are what I think to be bike friendly roads.

Anyone who has ever tried to bike across San Francisco knows the value of a good bike map in helping to avoid 200-foot hills and city streets that behave more like freeways. Google Maps users have created their own bike maps for cities like New York and Minneapolis, but Google itself hadn’t taken that step until now.

Google obtained much of its data from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in putting together the maps, and will have detailed information on bike routes in 150 U.S. cities as of Tuesday night’s launch, said Shannon Guymon, Google Maps product manager.

Bikers will be able to find bike-only paths, bike lanes on city streets, and bike-friendly streets when searching for directions using the tool. Google will also include an estimated travel time alongside the results that factor in hills and fatigue.

Source : CNet.com

Learn more at http://maps.google.com/biking and Google Maps “Bike There.”

Frame / Size / Year:
Bianchi D2 ALU PISTA

Frame / Size / Year:
bareknuckle 58cm '08

Mr. Armstrong gave us a personal
welcome and thank you at the
opening reception party.
-Slideshow below-
(Photos © J. Maus)

First day is in the books here at the 2010 National Bike Summit — and it was a big one. Lots of excitment, record attendance, the launch of a major national promotional campaign, big news from Google, a guest appearance (via video) from Lance Armstrong, and lots more.

Check out the slideshow below (or browse the gallery). It contains all my best shots from today, including a visit to Bikestation D.C., a few snaps of the local bike-sharing solution, Smartbike DC, and photos of advocates from around the country:

Bike Summit coverage sponsored by Planet Bike. More stories on ">our special coverage page.

Bikes Belong executive director Tim Blumenthal.
(Photos © J. Maus)

As reported earlier, Bikes Belong revealed a major new campaign tonight aimed at unifying a million voices in support of bicycling across America. The People for Bikes campaign was launched to a room packed with bike advocates and industry leaders from across the country at the opening reception of the National Bike Summit.

During the announcement, Bikes Belong executive director Tim Blumenthal shared a bit more about the campaign. He also shared a video they used as inspiration for the campaign (watch it below). Blumenthal said the official public launch will take place at the Sea Otter Classic bike race and festival in California on April 15th-18th.

Andy Clarke as Wile E. Coyote.

During a slideshow presentation, Blumenthal illustrated the goal of the campaign by sharing a Photoshopped image of League of American Bicyclists director Andy Clarke as Wile E. Coyote jumping a bike over the Grand Canyon. One side was labeled “250,000 advocates” and the other, “50 million riders.” Blumenthal also shared one of the campaign ads and said, “You’re going to see these ads everywhere.”

Assisting Bikes Belong on the campaign was creative firm Colle McVoy . Blue State Digital, the database technology and online strategists behind Barack Obama’s meteoric rise to popularity are also involved. Bike parts maker SRAM also played a key role as a “special investor” in the project.

A video was also played during the launch presentation. Blumenthal said it was created during the development of the campaign and shows the kind of spirit they’re after. I recorded the video with my iPhone. Watch it below (and listen to the rousing ovation at the end!):

Bike Summit coverage sponsored by Planet Bike. More stories on ">our special coverage page.

Frame / Size / Year:
Unknown Frame 58cm 1982 Supposedly pinarello, though pretty sure it's not

Hugger Industries posted a photo:

Google Bike Maps just launched and the developers will ride and hang out with us at the Mobile Social SXSW.

Before heading to Florida on a work trip several years ago I lay sprawled across my den with a giant road map of the area, a set of highlighters, a guide book and my laptop. A frequent traveler, I like to bring my folding bike with me, and I like to head out on bike rides between meetings or trade show stops.

As I looked up cycling routes in my guide book I’d compare them to a Google Map search of the area and then stencil in the most suitable rides with my various highlighters. Guidebook, Google, map, guidebook, Google map. It took me about two hours to sketch out the various trips from my hotel room to the surrounding environs, none of which would be necessary if Google Maps included the feature the company is rolling out today, a new bike layer with directions in major metropolitan areas.

Google, who is joining Bike Hugger at the Mobile Social in Austin at SXSW to talk about this exciting new feature (more on that in other posts) has taken a lot of time to develop the much-requested cycling layer for their popular Google Maps tool. No mere add-on, the new functionality provides cyclists with some impressive features thanks to an overhaul in how Google Maps works.

In many ways, Google’s technology will be more accurate and more detailed than anything that regional planning groups or municipal governments tend to provide as it will indicate not only state-designated or city-designated bike lanes and routes, but trails and other bike paths as well.

The Google Map bicycle layer not only displays these key bits of cycling’s connective tissue but routes cyclists on the most efficient (read “least hilly” and “least congested”) This is combined with a newly designed bike-route display on the site that decreases the emphasis on vehicular routes and displays three levels of bike route. A dark-green route indicates a trail that’s bike only (and therefor the safest and most preferred route on Google Maps), light-green to indicate a bike lane that follows a road, and a dotted-green lane that shows roads without designated bike lanes but that are suitable for cyclists.

It’s that last part that’s the standout for me, as it’s the part that’s hardest to discern from most regional maps. By indicating safe non-designated routes (and we all know there are more of these than designated routes) the occasional or visiting cyclist can navigate between points without fears that their chosen bike path with come to an end right at a major and uncrossable highway.

While these features have been requested for what feels like eons now, Google was only recently able to begin development on the features. In October the company rolled out a new data set for Google Maps domestically that allows the company to include vastly more information as part of their mapping technology. This change made it possible for the team to work with groups like the Rails to Trails Conservancy to include not only locally-designated bike routes.

It will also make it possible for areas to submit feedback to Google about alternative routing, which will help make the new bicycling features the most comprehensive anywhere.

At launch there will be several dozen cities available (see the list below) including not only the expected favorites (New York City, Mountain View, Portland, Seattle, etc.) but some unexpected cycling regions (Plano, Texas; Aurora, Illinois; Overland Park, Kansas, etc) and more are in development currently.

It looks like this coverage will be constrained to the US until all of Google Maps share the same underlying technology, but it only took the division six months to go from technology rollout to product here in the States, and the demand for cycling routing in Europe and other regions is obviously high.

Here’s the list of cities covered, from Google, and you can try this out for yourself at maps.google.com, just look under the More… drop-down on the top of the map.

Mesa Arizona Huntsville Alabama Mobile Alabama Anchorage Alaska Chandler Arizona Gilbert Arizona Glendale Arizona Phoenix Arizona Scottsdale Arizona Tempe Arizona Tucson Arizona Peoria Arizona Anaheim California Bakersfield California Chula Vista California Fremont California Fresno California Glendale California Huntington Beach California Irvine California Long Beach California Los Angeles California Modesto California Moreno Valley California Oakland California Oceanside California Ontario California Oxnard California Pasadena California Rancho Cucamonga California Riverside California Sacramento California San Bernardino California San Diego California San Francisco California San Jose California Santa Ana California Santa Clarita California SANTA CRUZ California Santa Rosa California Stockton California Corona California Escondido California Hayward California Lancaster California Palmdale California Salinas California Sunnyvale California Thousand Oaks California Torrance California Aurora Colorado Boulder Colorado Colorado Springs Colorado Denver Colorado Fort Collins Colorado Lakewood Colorado Hartford Connecticut New Haven Connecticut Washington District of Columbia Cape Coral Florida Miami Florida Orlando Florida St. Petersburg Florida Tallahassee Florida Tampa Florida Port St. Lucie Florida Atlanta Georgia Honolulu Hawaii Boise Idaho Aurora Illinois Chicago Illinois Rockford Illinois Naperville Illinois Indiana Polis Indiana Des Moines Iowa Overland Park Kansas Wichita Kansas Kansas City Kansas Lexington Kentucky Louisville Kentucky Baton Rouge Louisiana Baltimore Maryland Boston Massachusetts Detroit Michigan Grand Rapids Michigan Minneapolis Minnesota St. Paul Minnesota Kansas City Missouri Springfield Missouri St. Louis Missouri Omaha Nebraska Henderson Nevada Las Vegas Nevada North Las Vegas Nevada Jersey City New Jersey Albuquerque New Mexico Buffalo New York New York New York Charlotte North Carolina Durham North Carolina Greensboro North Carolina Raleigh North Carolina Winston-Salem North Carolina Cary North Carolina Akron Ohio Cincinnati Ohio Cleveland Ohio columbus Ohio Toledo Ohio Oklahoma City Oklahoma Eugene Oregon Portland Oregon Salem Oregon Philadelphia Pennsylvania Providence Rhode Island Sioux Falls South Dakota Knoxville Tennessee Nashville Tennessee Amarillo Texas Arlington Texas Austin Texas Corpus Christi Texas Dallas Texas Fort Worth Texas Houston Texas Lubbock Texas Plano Texas San Antonio Texas Carrollton Texas Salt Lake City Utah West Valley City Utah Arlington Virginia Newport News Virginia Richmond Virginia Virginia Beach Virginia Alexandria Virginia Bellingham Washington Seattle Washington Spokane Washington Vancouver Washington Bellevue Washington Madison Wisconsin (North) Wisconsin (South) Wisconsin Santa Clara County California South San Francisco California San Mateo California South Burlington Vermont Mountain View California Farifax Virginia

The long wait is over for bicyclists who want to use Google maps to find the quickest, safest way from Point A to Point B.

Google maps launched a Beta version of its direction finder for bicycle routes on Wednesday. (See the "How to" video on the jump.)

The biking directons release comes in conjuction with the opening day of the National Bike Summit in Washington DC.

Folks who use their bicycles for commuting and running errands have been advocating for Google to add a layer for bicycles to its "Get Directions" function for cars, public transit and walking.

A petition started by Peter Smith at Google Maps 'BikeThere' received more than 50,000 signatures from bicyclists who wanted the service.

Google had hinted that the project was underway back in October 2009 when it announced that it had added 12,000 miles of bike paths ....

Google is joining the Mobile Social SXSW for the ride and party at Mellow Johnnys. Meet the developers who built the new bicycling layer for Google Maps.

Meet the Bike Map Makers

Google’s Bike Maps were built right here in Seattle by cyclists like us and for those of you in Austin for SXSW, you can ride with and meet the developers. Look for these shirts on the ride

and for Google at Mellow Johnnys.

More on Google Bike Maps:

• NY Times article with a quote from me
• Techflash article with another quote.

“Over the past two years, actual contract costs have come in much lower than the estimates on which rates were based. These significant savings mean we can make these Green Streets investments without impacting rate payers.”
— Mayor Sam Adams

Last week, the City released the ordinance language behind Mayor Sam Adams’ plans to find $20 million to “kickstart” funding of the 2030 Bike Master Plan. According to the ordinance, the $20 million would be allocated from the capital project budget of the Bureau of Environmental Services and directed into bike boulevards via BES’s Green Streets program.

Also released last week was a memo from BES stating where the $20 million would come from. That memo grabbed a lot of headlines because it said the $20 million would come, in large part, from funds set aside to fix old, leaky sewer pipelines. As you can imagine, that idea rankled some Portlanders.

But, as Adams pointed out via Twitter yesterday, that memo was from BES, not the Mayor’s office. In response to an update I posted that linked to an article in the Tribune titled, Swap sewers for bikes?, Adams tweeted, “this is Saltzman’s bike funding $ list not mine. Mine tomorrow.”

So, just where will Adams’ promised $20 million come from? According to a statement from Adams’ office, he’ll bring a proposal to council Wednesday (3/10) that will “re-allocate a portion of the unused contingency and contract savings that have become available within the Bureau of Environmental Services as a result of the recession.”

That idea is not new. Adams mentioned it at the Council hearing on the Bike Plan back in February 11th. What is new are the specific details behind the idea.

In his statement today, Adams calls Green Streets funding a “double-win” for Portlanders because of how they treat stormwater and calm traffic (learn more about Green Streets in this video).

Here’s how Adams explains the contract savings:

“Over the past two years, actual contract costs have come in much lower than the estimates on which rates were based. These significant savings mean we can make these Green Streets investments without impacting rate payers. As a result, millions of dollars in contract savings give us the opportunity to reprogram funding for Green Streets investments.”

And here is Adams’ detailed list of funding sources that account for the $20 million for each of the next three years (through FY 2014):

Grey to Green – $3.0 million
This funding is already slated for city-wide green street projects. It would be redirected to Green Streets projects to enhance prioritized bicycle boulevards through 2014.

Recession-related contractor bid/contingency savings – $15.4 million
As analysis from the City’s Office of Management and Finance shows, BES has experienced millions of dollars of contract savings over the past two years, providing the opportunity to reprogram funding for Green Street investments.

1% for Green – $0.8 million
Water, BES and PBOT pay 1% of construction costs for projects in the public right of way which do not trigger the Stormwater Management Manual requirements. Some of this money currently funds green streets. This would redirect all of it through 2014.

Innovative Wet Weather Grant $0.8 million
This is money received as a grant from EPA to build innovative stormwater facilities. Green Streets projects are an allowable use of these grant funds.

Total – $20 million

Adams also released a matrix of BES and PBOT projects prepared by the Office of Management and Finance that detailed contract savings amounts.

This proposal will go in front of Council on Wednesday. More coverage in the Portland Tribune.

There it is.

The League of American Bicyclists has just sent out a press release confirming what I speculated (and all but confirmed) earlier today — Google has turned on biking directions for Google Maps.

Google will publicly announce the big news at Wednesday morning’s Opening Plenary Session. About the announcement, the League’s Andy Clarke says, “… It is a game-changer, especially for those short trips that are the most polluting… This new tool will open people’s eyes to the possibility and practicality of hopping on a bike and riding.”

In addition to an option for “Bicycling” directions, Google also has a new layer view that include

A view of Portland with the “bicycling” layer turned on. Green shows bike routes (note for you non-Portlanders, the green line on Waterfront Park is an off-street, multi-use path).

According to Google, bike directions have been the most requested addition to Google Maps.

I tried out the feature using Portland as my base location (I’ll confirm tomorrow what cities the bicycling layer works in) and it worked well. With the “bicycling” layer turned on, I noticed it automatically found off-street paths like the Waterfront Park path and the Springwater Corridor Trail.

Here’s a blurb from the League’s press release:

“Simply enter a start point and destination and select “Bicycling” from the drop-down menu. You will receive a route that is optimized for cycling, taking advantage of bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly streets and avoiding hilly terrain whenever possible.”

Read Gabe Tiller tried a route from Northeast Portland to Oaks Park via the Springwater and reports that it’s not the exact route he’d use. Another person via Twitter said it recommended riding on West Burnside, a very unsafe street for bikes.

I’ve got a demo scheduled with a Google rep tomorrow. If you have questions you want me to ask her, leave them in the comments. In the mean time, I’d love to know if the bicycling feature works for you. Give it a try and report back in the comments 1) if it’s turned on in your area and 2) if it works.

Bike Summit coverage sponsored by Planet Bike. More stories on ">our special coverage page.

Hincapie, Farrar and Cavendish on tap in Italy

Universal Sports kicks off its 2010 pro cycling coverage on Wednesday with Italy's Tirreno-Adriatico, followed up through the season with the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana along with other cycling events.

The partnership of NBC Sports and Intermedia Partners says it will offer at least 10 premiere road cycling races this year on its broadcast and online platforms.

All races will be available live online at UniversalSports.com; same-day coverage will be provided on cable at Universal Sports stations in major TV markets. ....