IT likes bikes. We don't necessarily ride them all that often (one of us didn't learn how until she was 13 and is still freaked out by sharing the road with cars), but they definitely rank highly in our pantheon of eco-friendly means of transportation. Since we're fond of bikes, we're always excited about helping those who ride them. So, this week, we're excited about Bikely.
This two-month old website is a database of bike routes around the world, posted by members (it's free to join) and available to everyone. Route listings include at the very least a Google map with numbered points, and more detailed ones include annotations about scenic views and other route features. All routes are available for download as .GPX files for use on a GPS device.
Since its launch, the site has already gathered 1,880 routes from a variety of different countries. Australia is currently the best represented by far (almost 800 routes), followed by the U.S. with over 500. Other growing lists include Brazil and Portugal, and there are small lists for the likes of Hungary, Sweden, and Japan. Distances covered range from a whimsical half-mile (765 m) around-the-block jaunt to an 1,868-mile (3,006-kilometer) transcontinental trek across Australia.
There is still much cyclable globe to be covered, though—two-wheeler hotbeds China and the Netherlands are still entirely unrepresented. To remedy the situation, Bikely is actively seeking new submissions. So don't keep the ride to work you took years to perfect a secret. Share it with your neighbor (and the rest of the cycling community). Or at least go look; maybe someone else has already posted a better one…
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