This weekend some friends and I are going on a 75 mile bike ride. In preparation for the ride I created a map on Google’s My Maps and shared it with the group. My Maps makes it fairly easy to create shareable maps of biking and hiking routes.

To create a biking or walking route map on My Maps first sign into your Google account then open My Maps. After signing into My Maps select the “draw a line” tool then choose “add biking route.” To draw your biking route click on a starting location on the map then drag the line along a road. My Maps tries to predict where you are going to draw your route. The prediction feature can be handy when you’re trying to make short biking routes. When you’re making longer routes you will have to draw over the predicted lines if you don’t want to use the suggested routes.

Applications for Education
The summer is here (in the Northern Hemisphere) and it’s a good time to encourage students and their parents to enjoy some healthy outdoor activities. Creating some maps of safe biking routes and walking routes then posting them on a school website could be a good way to encourage participating in outdoor activities.