How to Plan a Fun Bike Route with Google Maps

Updated on August 17, 2023

Everyone agrees that bike rides make beautiful days more memorable. Bikes are everyone’s go-to ride whether you want to go around your town or a long ride to the woods. No doubt, bikes are fun but going to unfamiliar places can be a little difficult. People rarely use paper maps these days, this is when google maps act as a lifesaver. Millions of people use google maps every day and it has made life so easy without getting anxious about getting lost in a new place.

Are you someone who loves to travel on his bike but unfortunately you have no time to explore the place? You will be glad to hear that it is not even a problem to cancel your trip because you can plan it on google maps. Now you may be wondering how to plan a fun bike route with google maps, right? It is not a tough task, just follow the steps mentioned in this guide and you will learn it easily. This will come in handy whenever you need to go to a new place.

How To Plan a Fun Bike Route With Google Maps

Many people are already aware of the advancements that technology has made in the past recent years. Google maps are one of the amazing advancements of technology and are easily accessible through smart gadgets. You may get surprised by knowing that you can actually plan your trip route with google maps. So to know about this amazing feature of google maps read the guide below.

First of all, you need to plan everything about your bike ride. You can plan it using your laptop and share all the planned routes on your smartphone. It is because during the trip accessing the directions through the mobile phone is the most convenient. To plan a bike route on google maps you need to have a rough sketch of your trip in your mind like:

• Starting point
• Your final destination
• Time of departure
• Restaurant or tourist sites you want to visit during your journey
• Choose the route that suits you best
• Finally back route

Step 1

Browse google maps on your personal computer or laptop. First of all, set the starting point for your bike route on google maps. You can add the starting point on google maps by using the search bar at the top. The starting point could be your home address or anywhere near your house.

Step 2

After setting up the starting point, you can set waypoints too. Many times we plan a trip and it happens to have some really beautiful locations on its way and you want to see it by yourself. For this purpose you can add waypoints, these waypoints are the locations or places you want to stop by during your bike trip.

Use the directions icon on google maps to add the waypoints to your bike route plan. From there after selecting the cycling mode add the second location there. You can also switch up the location using the double arrow key to change the starting location. You can add as many waypoints as you want by adding the addresses in the search bar. After entering the address, click on the add destination icon to add it to the list of waypoints.

Step 3

After creating a loop between your starting point and your destination you can switch to bicycle mode. To turn this mode ON you need to click on the menu’s icon and select bicycle mode from there. This mode is bike user-friendly and will allow the rider to access the roads, streets, and trails that are bicycle-friendly to reach your destination without any difficulty.

Step 4

Sometimes google maps show more than a single route to your destination. So you need to adjust your route according to your convenience. Simply click and drag the route you think is easy and more bike-friendly. This will show the change in route on the map which will need some readjustment that google maps do itself. After the readjustment, you can keep on following the new route using google maps.

Step 5

After planning and setting all the routes of your trip on your laptop, simply send it to your mobile phone. You will be able to use this option only if you have google maps signed in on your phone. If not, you can send this route information to your email and open that link on your phone later. Gladly, this is not limited to computers or laptops. You can follow the same steps to plan a fun bike route with google maps on your mobile phone.

Now you are all set up to enjoy a fun bike ride route with your google maps but keep in mind to check the route before you move out. Also, the GPS of your mobile should be active to access all the routes easily. It is important to use a bike-friendly route while planning your bike trip. And if you haven’t selected a bike-friendly route then you should because it lets you enjoy the whole journey. You can also follow the below-mentioned additional features of google maps to make your bike trip more fun.

First of all, you need to change the riding mode on google maps to bicycling. As soon as you start your journey google maps will show you the best possible route. It will appear as a solid blue line on the maps. This is the simplest way google maps use to show directions but did you know google maps has some special features for bike riders? If not, then you can read them below.

Utilizing the Biking Layer

A special feature on google maps is a biking layer, you can select it from the bottom. After selecting this option you will get access to all the terrains, lanes, roads, etc. that are bike-friendly. By utilizing this feature you will be able to see the bike-friendly routes with a green solid line. So you can readjust your route by moving the blue cursor to the green line to take advantage of this feature.

Utilize the Satellite View

You can also change the display of your google maps to the satellite view. This will enable you to analyze all the bike lanes of an area, the number of trees on a route, traffic lights, etc. You can say you can use this feature to estimate the traffic, buildings, roads, etc. that you may come across during your bike ride.

Utilize the Street View

It is best to be used in a congested area where other map display options may mislead you because of confusing intersections. To activate this mode, look for the yellow human figure at the bottom of the screen. Just drag the human figure to the desired point and you will enter the street view.

Benefits of Planning a Bike Route

Planning a trip beforehand is always beneficial. You get to avoid many inconveniences by deciding everything in advance. If you plan your bike route you will get to choose all the bike-friendly routes for your trip. So if you don’t plan your trips in advance then you should start doing it now because it lets you enjoy the following benefits

• If you plan a bike route in advance you will easily avoid busy roads and will get to decide the route that suits you best.
• Also, it saves your time and energy by not getting stuck in a heavy traffic route.
• You get to choose the route to avoid busy roads, industrial areas, or any other inconveniences that you will never get with an unplanned trip with google maps.

FAQs

How do I plan a bike trip on Google Maps?

Planning a bike trip on google maps is super easy. All you have to do is enable the bicycle mode on google maps. You can plan your trip by adding information regarding your starting point and destination. After adding all the information about your trip on google maps you are good to go.

Is Google Maps good for cycling?

Google maps are one of the best route guides for cyclists. It lets you take the safest route for your trip as well as you can avoid heavy traffic roads using google maps.

Does Google Maps use bike lanes?

Google maps have the best features that entertain bike riders. You can utilize the bicycling mode to find bike paths and directions to reach your destination without any difficulty. You get to access bike lanes, street views, and bike-friendly roads to make your trip enjoyable.

Conclusion

Many times we go to places that are totally unfamiliar and new to us. Exploring a place is a fun activity and doing it on a bike is an incredible experience. But the fear of getting lost in a new place never leaves us. This is when you can take help from google maps as paper maps are quite an old way of exploring a place. To plan a fun bike route with google maps you need to follow the following steps. All you have to do is browse google maps and start planning your trip.

• Decide the starting point and your destination.
• Locations you want to stop at during the journey.
• Enable the cycling mode and choose the route that suits you best.

For the final step, you can send your planned route to your smartphone to go on your trip just as you planned. You can reroute your path by changing the directions according to your ease and comfort. I hope you follow our guide about using google maps while planning a fun bike trip in the future. Thank you for reading.