back to article Google Maps can now tell cyclists how HIGH they will get

Google has added elevation information for cyclists into its online Google Maps offering, a boon for those biking in unfamiliar areas, as well as for those who – like your humble Reg reporter – are well past their prime. The feature is accessed simply by clicking on the bicycle icon in the map's info box after you input two …

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  1. the spectacularly refined chap

    Appears to be a US thing

    At least in part anyway. I just tried entering a trip I know well on a bike here in the UK and was actually surprised to see it select the route I would take - it isn't very long since Google took you out of the way with those locations to send you along main roads. However, no elevation figures.

    Google tells me that it is 6.2 miles. Ordnance Survey tell me that end to end it is an overall 300' climb - no easy way to tell the actual amount climbed since it is up and down along the way. On the other hand I give the route one way (uphill) and it quotes the time as 36 minutes which is about right. In the reverse (along the identical route) it states 30 minutes whereas I reckon on it being closer to 20, although admittedly that's on a dedicated road bike, mountain bikes may need to slow down a bit more for corners.

    Overall conclusion must be that it obviously knows something of the terrain even if it isn't quoting the precise figures.

    1. Guus Leeuw

      Re: Appears to be a US thing

      Dear Sir,

      riddle me this: "mountain bikes may need to slow down a bit more for corners." (compared to what has been termed a dedicated road bike, not sure how a road bike can be dedicated, but there you go).

      Thank you,

      Guus

      1. the spectacularly refined chap

        Re: Appears to be a US thing

        riddle me this: "mountain bikes may need to slow down a bit more for corners."

        Primarily that's down to the tyres, although there are umpteen other less significant factors: ultimately it shouldn't be too surprising that a bike designed from the outset to be as fast as possible on roads is faster on roads than one designed to navigate dirt trails and rough terrain.

        Road bike tyres don't give an awful lot of grip (most methods of improving grip cost speed) but the grip they do provide is very consistent as the amount of lean varies - the tyres have a semicircular cross section and are either completely slick or have negligible tread. It doesn't matter if the bike is vertical or keeled over 45⁰ - the size and shape of the contact patch with the road doesn't significantly alter.

        Mountain bikes in contrast have much broader tyres with deep treads to provide additional grip on lose surfaces. They are also made of tougher compound which is naturally less sticky to provide the strength needed for that deep tread, and are more oval in profile. That means that as the bike is leant over the contact patch gets smaller as you get more onto the shoulder of the tyre.

        This gets worse with "combination" tyres, where the tread becomes a lot more pronounced as you move away from the centre - the idea there is that in an upright position with fully inflated tyres you have little tread in contact with the road which is what you want for grip, but if you partially deflate the tyres for off-road use the additional "knobbles" engage with the looser off-road surface. With those if you lean the bike over you stop riding on the low-tread area, resulting in a pronounced (and sometimes abrupt) loss of grip.

        The net result is that a road bike is much more grippy at a decent angle of lean than a mountain bike, and it's that which ultimately governs how fast you can take a corner.

        1. Guus Leeuw

          Re: Appears to be a US thing

          Thank you, refined chap. Road cyclist for 35 years, and I indeed thought that mountain bikers don't stop for anything...

          Thank you again for taking the time to explain.

        2. Extra spicey vindaloo
          Joke

          Re: Appears to be a US thing

          For SF streets you need a mountain bike, some of those potholes are best described as mini sink holes.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Appears to be a US thing

      > mountain bikes may need to slow down a bit more for corners.

      We do not slow down for anything.

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This is not what cyclists need

    Show us which goddamn roads are paved and which aren't. Seeing roads and then getting there and finding they're gravel makes Google Maps useless for finding cycling routes!

    1. Ole Juul

      Re: This is not what cyclists need

      I'm with you about paved roads, but I think we're showing our age. Gone are the days of 3/4" tyres pumped to 115lbs. These days people are riding mountain bikes with (what we would call) balloon rubber.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: people are riding mountain bikes

        not really, unless they're suckers for punishment. More likely riding hybrids, that can take some gravel, but really want to know if they have to share their space with metal boxes ...

        1. Ole Juul

          Re: people are riding mountain bikes

          Yes I'm aware that a lot of city folks ride hybrids but the world is a lot bigger than that and different parts of the world are not the same. There are more trails than roads in the greater area where I live. In fact there isn't a lot of paved travel to be had. The Trans Canada Trail is across the street from me and all I see are mountain bikes (and quads of course). It's the bicycle of choice in BC and that has a lot to do with the kinds of roads we have and the kind of terrain that is available.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            650b is your friend....

            :)

            Good reasons why the Porteurs of Paris used that size...:

            http://janheine.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/a-journey-of-discovery-part-3-wide-650b-tires/

            Grand Bois Hetres FTW.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: people are riding mountain bikes

            Paved travel? In Canada? Isn't that kind of rough on the dog sleds? For that matter, how can you ride mountain bikes on flat, snowy glaciers?

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: people are riding mountain bikes

              > For that matter, how can you ride mountain bikes on flat, snowy glaciers?

              Like this

              1. Ralph B

                Re: people are riding mountain bikes

                > Like this

                Ah, so you mean, get off and push. I see.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: This is not what cyclists need

        Gone are the days of 3/4" tyres pumped to 115lbs

        Maybe where you live, but around here the majority of people who ride outside of town are riding road bikes or hybrids. There are some mountain bikes, but they're a minority. I have a hybrid, and I can travel on gravel if I want to/have to, but I prefer to avoid it. It isn't even the gravel so much as how rough the gravel roads are, and the risk of getting sprayed by gravel when someone comes flying by!

        Gravel roads are often washboarded which makes terribly rough going unless you have a suspension bike, have deep potholes that are invisible when covered by gravel, and are a complete mess for days after a heavy rain.

  3. Andy Christ

    What are the system requirements to see this new elevation info, anybody here know? Because it doesn't appear on Maps using my old PPC Mac desktop. Even on my up to date iPad using Atomic Web Browser set to spoof Safari Desktop I don't see elevations, just get the same site as on my Mac.

    Yes I know I am a planker for owning Apple thingies, can we move on please?

  4. Dave Pickles

    UK-only alternative

    www.cyclestreets.net gives alternative routes for speed or quietness, and displays a height profile for the journey.

    1. jpennycook

      Re: UK-only alternative

      open.mapquest.co.uk also takes elevation into account for cycling routes.

  5. Chris G

    How High?

    Reading the title I thought perhaps Google had found a way to include a blood test app for Android, there have been some very naughty cyclistas here in Spain.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ride the City (www.ridethecity.com)

    Ride the City is a bicycling tool (and mobile app) for routing that also displays elevation data. It's available in something like 45 cities (including SF) and has been around for years.

    Ride the City, unlike Google, does not route bicyclists on gravel.

    1. Decade
      Happy

      Re: Ride the City (www.ridethecity.com)

      I'm planning a route, and I know that a couple miles of it have a moderate incline that will tire my riding companion. Google says the route is "mostly flat" and doesn't give any elevation data. Ride the City says there's an "elevation gain" of 190 ft, but doesn't say where the gain will be.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Ride the City (www.ridethecity.com)

        > I know that a couple miles of it have a moderate incline that will tire my riding companion. Google

        > says the route is "mostly flat" and doesn't give any elevation data. Ride the City says there's an

        > "elevation gain" of 190 ft, but doesn't say where the gain will be.

        Unless the 190 ft elevation gain is in the form of a wall that you have to ride up on, your riding companion needs to get in better shape.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    600 feet is worth reporting? People in Colorado are laughing at you.

    1. bob, mon!
      Trollface

      People in Colorado don't need this to find out how high they're getting.

      They need blood tests.

    2. hoboroadie

      Steep

      I am posting this from Red Rock Hill (south of Twin Peaks and east of Mount Davidson) and I find this quite valuable for determining which routes won't overtax the caliper brakes on the bike I'm riding these days. (Tweakers stole my modern, disc-brake model.)

      Hey! Just because we have a useable amount of Oxygen in the atmosphere here is no reason to laugh.

  8. Graham Marsden

    Ok, but...

    ... how about along with "Fastest Route" and "Shortest Route" they provide an option for "Flattest Route"?

    Why plot a route that takes you over a hill when there's a route around the base that will save you a lot of energy and may well not take you much longer?

  9. Crazy Operations Guy
    Joke

    "pleasant drive aorund San Francisco"

    Until you realize the cheapest place to eat is a food truck selling burritos made with kimchi and bacon for $20...

  10. DaveeD

    Before the revamp Google Maps for Android used to be able to show an elevation profile if you enabled it in the settings. It might have come under Google Labs or something but it seemed pretty accurate when I used it in and around mid-Essex, UK.

  11. Oh Homer
    Facepalm

    According to Google

    The 700ft drop from my cottage down to my local village qualifies as "mostly flat".

    By that standard, I suppose K2 is a "bit hilly".

  12. Zmodem

    gps essentials will tell you everything and does everything and way point target tracking on a dashboard, and offline maps, for any aspect in life or work

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mictale.gpsessentials

    dont think you can get rid of the adverts though

  13. philby

    Will be very useful for car trips too

    I've had a couple of automobile trips where I really wanted to figure out elevations - basically long trips in the Western US, not in summer, unfamiliar roads.

    Wanted to find lowest elevation in case of snow. E.g. thru Payson AZ or Flagstaff AZ. I picked Flagstaff and slid off highway 17. Got back on with no problem... maybe Payson would have had snow also...

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