Upon the urging of biking advocacy groups, Google Maps has risen to the challenge and delivered. There is now another handy “tool” to get us on our bikes and enjoy our rides.

Biking information has now been added to its existing information for motorists, public transport and walkers. For starters, they include bike directions in over 150 US cities with 12,000 miles coverage, many of which are algorithmically weighted towards actual bike trails.

As shown here, the routes between destinations are marked light green for dedicated routes and dotted green for recommended ones. Bikers can also customize their own routes.

Software engineer John Leen writes that the aim was to recommend bike trails, dedicated bike lanes, roads that are deemed good for bicyclists while helping them avoid congested areas, busy intersections and steep hills. Additionally, their suggested directions take into account – the slope of the road, mass, wind resistance, amount of effort to be exerted and the speed likely to be achieved. From this, time estimates are derived for the routes.

This is still in beta and more data is expected to be added, they encourage users to provide feedback for incorporation into this handy and long awaited feature.

Whether it is commuting to work, running errands or family recreation, we can plan ahead the best routes, really enjoy the ride and get there mostly hassle-free. Wouldn’t it be nice to see more and more people out on their bikes, what a difference that would make to our health and to community-building – how do you feel about it?