Map Your Motorcycle Ride
There are quite a few motorcycle sites out there to map your ride. You can use Google Maps and do up a nice ride map. The other day I stumbled on Motorides.com and think I found one hell ‘of a mapping site. They have been around a couple of years, but within the last few months have done some major updates.
They have added Google Earth 3-D plugin (very cool), and divided the rides between loops (originating and returning from a single point), routes (for users piecing together trips), and bike destinations.
Unlike other ride sites, motorides.com places more emphasis on the visuals of the mapping system.
Content on the site is posted by users but only published pending editorial review to keep things consistent.
The site also lets users rate rides, edit ride descriptions like a wiki and ad comments for temporary updates like construction or hazards.
It has a pretty thorough directory system for local clubs, tracks, schools, etc which get linked to the rides in the respective areas.
It also lets users post personal pictures that can be toggled and displayed on the map. And it has a no bull-shit member forum.
With the Google Earth 3-D plugin you can zoom right down to ground level or do a fly over on your entire route.
Below are some screen shots of a ride I did out of Loveland up to the Alpine visitors center in Rocky Mountain Park.
Going up we took hwy 34 up through the narrows of the Big Thompson Canyon into Estes Park and entered the Park via the Fall River Road North entrance. Following this we turned around at the Alpine visitors center after hitting the highest paved road in North America at 12,183 feet, well above the treeline and into tundra. The ascent is equivalent to driving hundreds of miles north into the arctic regions of Canada.
Make sure you check out Motorides.com and map your ride.
Enjoy,
Wow, I’m stoked over this find! You know me…I really like maps of the places I’ve been!
Comment by Chessie — June 4, 2010 @ 6:37 am
Dear EGIB (Jeff):
I am amazed at what can be done with maps on-line these days. I am meeting a friend for a four-day ride, starting tomorrow. He asked me to find a spot where we could rendesvous equidistant from our departure points, on a stretch of road I have need been on before.
I went to “Google Maps,” zoomed down to a patch of highway, and located a bar with a lunch menu. I could do everything except look in the windows of the place.
Fondest regards,
Jack • reep • Toad
Twisted Roads
Comment by Jack Riepe — June 6, 2010 @ 7:16 am
I cant believe google doesnt have this on their maps as a feature of their own. I need to plan a ride and it is not a straight line or onew ay trip but a loop. This is a wonderful tool that I am sure I will use and share.
Comment by Jay Bird — January 13, 2012 @ 10:14 pm